As I type this, I’m two hours into my flight back to New York and have about two and a half more to go. I’m crammed between an older gentleman who is reading a book by Orhan Pamuk[1] and a Stony Brook professor who also attended AWP.[2] And I keep peeking up the aisle to see if the snack cart is coming by anytime soon because my stomach is aggressively growling. But, more importantly, this five-hour flight has given me a serious span of time to reflect.

Heading into AWP my goals were simple:

Enjoy myself and my friends.
See if any small presses were looking for reviewers.

I may not have walked out of the book fair with my usual suitcase load of swag, I would say the conference was a success!

I got to hang out with some of my closest friends. Hosted George Mason’s Instagram. Drank my weight in coffee. Went to local dives like Pine’s and Stumptown Coffee. Had my first Voodoo Doughnut. Experienced Powell’s Bookstore. And, of course, I spent three days walking through the Book Fair and chatting with various publishers and writers, and I did in fact get a number of contacts who are looking for reviewers—yay!

So, here are some people, presses, and companies I would recommend checking out:

Campfire. It’s like Scrivener but with some notable differences. With Campfire you can input and track character arcs, relationship dynamics, and do a whole lot of world building (e.g. design your own maps). It’s a tool that challenges you to take all your research and planning and put it into a narrative arc.
Forest Avenue Press. Their tagline says they publish “page-turning literary fiction” and from what I’ve read of Robert Hill’s The Remnants thus far I can attest to the fact that they are nailing their motto.
Barrelhouse. I’ve always been a fan of this publication. The people are just rad and they host a bi-annual conference called Conversations and Connections, Writer’s Camp, and of course a kick-ass magazine.
Anne Panning and Anita Felicelli. These two ladies just published with Stillhouse Press and I finally got a chance to hear them read at one of the offsite events. Anne and Anita are lovely, active in the literary community, huge advocates for small presses, and the definitions of literary badasses. Seriously, go check Dragon Fly Notes and Love Songs for a Lost Continent right now!
F(r)iction Magazine. One, their covers are always gorgeous. Two, their stories are weird and spectacular. Three, they're occasionally looking for interns.
Story Magazine. Story just went through a major overhaul and just launched a new issue. I got a chance to chat with Michael Nye, an editor at the magazine, and he mentioned the magazine is definitely looking for some dedicated readers to help tackle the slush pile.