The submissions editor position is back at yeah write

It had been open so long, most of you relatively new to our yeah write community were only vaguely aware that being published on the challenge grid isn’t necessarily guaranteed. You can read more on why yeah write works the way it does on this page and, as we continue our original intent and tradition, we would like to introduce to everyone Obed Medina as our new submissions editor.

Obed Medina, yeah write submissions editor

On Tuesday, as the yeah write #147 weekly writing challenge grid opens for submissions, Obed will introduce himself and his philosophy based on the yeah write way of reading your posts first as a reader, then as a writer, and the third time as a mechanic as outlined by Richard Grohowski for Flash Fiction.

Some of you got to meet Obed behind the scenes of yeah write #146 when you received a love note explaining why your submission didn’t meet our submission guidelines in one way or another. We really do want to help you become a better writer, especially for online audiences. Obed has no intention of forcing you to defend your position, and that’s why we invite those outside of the guidelines to submit to the weekend moonshine grid as opposed to resubmitting to that week’s challenge twenty minutes after receiving the critique. Rethinking takes time, editing takes time. Submit your very best stuff the first time around. Or work on it for another week.

You can read Obed on his personal blog A Life in Words and you can follow him on Twitter at @obedmedina. Please welcome him in comments!

Because the submissions editor position is back, the  moderated queue also makes a return

Beginning with yeah write #147, yeah write will be going back to its fully moderated challenge grid. This means your submission will be held in our moderation queue until Obed releases it based on his interpretation of our submission guidelines. If your submission is accepted, it’ll appear on the grid like magic (only instead of magic, it’ll be because of your hard work). If it’s not accepted, as though you’d submitted to a literary publication, you  will receive notification of why it’s being returned to you. Open minds, open hearts, moderated submissions. Just like God intended.

Please also welcome two new contributing bloggers to yeah write

Each week, Samantha Shanley of famtasia will open yeah write voting day on Thursdays. Erica M’s children had been eating cold cereal for dinner for 145 consecutive weeks (that’s more than two-and-a-half years, you guys) as Erica M wrote the voting post and monitored the voting process, making sure it was fair for everyone involved. Samantha has graciously agreed to write the weekly post, and yeah write editor Stacie is now tenaciously validating each vote. With new perspectives on the process, we can only make it better. Please welcome Samantha! Thank Stacie for keeping this from turning into a clicking contest. Handmade chicken nuggets and whatnot for Erica M’s kids.

Have you seen our new yeah write interview series? Called Who’s on Fourth? because it falls on the fourth Monday of each month, Arden Ratliff of Musings of a Dancing Wino will interview a yeah write superstar for our readers to get to know better. January’s interview was Christie Tate of The Outlaw Mama. February’s interview will be announced in a couple of weeks. Please welcome Arden in comments.

Yeah write #147 weekly writing challenge badges are ready
Please find the badges for both the challenge grid and the weekend moonshine grid in the sidebar. Start drafting, start writing, start editing. Add the badge to your final draft, and we’ll see you on Tuesday.