Where can you publish short stories, essays, and poetry?
If you’ve ever wondered about the process of literary journal submissions (aka “literary magazine submissions”), this blog may be able to answer some of your questions about how to get published in these types of periodicals.
Recently, Authors Publish magazine offered a free talk from writer Shannon Mann titled “How to Increase Your Chance of Literary Magazine Acceptance.” (You can view the entire recording HERE). Listening to Shannon speak reminded me of my own days in graduate school, as a fiction submissions reader for Southeastern Review and of my experience submitting poetry to various online and print publications. (You can check out my published poetry on THIS page).
I am also fortunate enough to remain friends with some incredible creative writers of short stories, essays, poetry, and more, and witness their successes (and struggles!) with publication in journals and magazines.
In this blog, I’ve compiled an overview and provided some insight into how to get published in literary magazines and journals. I hope it helps you in your journey!
How to Get Published Tip #1: Register on Submittable
If you’ve done any literary journal submissions already, you’re likely familiar with Submittable.com, but if you’re new to submitting, you will find this platform both common and useful. For many publications, submitting via this platform is required, for others, it’s optional but may perhaps be more convenient for you. If you have a lot of material you want to publish, you ultimately could have many submissions going in many directions. A central hub for managing and tracking them will be a lifesaver.
How to Get Published Tip #2: Start with Research
There are thousands of publications, publishing every type of writing, and you can spend a lot of time and money throwing your best pieces against the wrong walls, hoping they will stick.
If there are certain magazines you subscribe to and like their stuff, start there in your search of options for literary magazine submissions. If you’re not sure or if you don’t write the genres that your favorite magazines publish, here are a few places you can look to start keeping a list of potential new homes for your words. Consider subscribing to their newsletters (where available) for frequent and easy updates and information on opportunities as well as tips on how to get published.
- Writers Digest
- Authors Publish
- The Sub Club and Publishing … and Other Forms of Insanity newsletters
- The Chill Subs and Duotrope databases
- The acknowledgments in books, essays, bios, etc. of writers you admire
- Social media including hashtags (#MSWL) and Facebook groups such as Calls for Submissions Publication Announcements.
How to Get Published Tip #3: Draft a Plan
First, understand that knowing how to get published is only part of the battle; you must understand your true why. Ask yourself, why am I submitting? Is it simply because I want to share my words with the world? In her webinar, Shannon discussed common reasons people submit to literary journals or magazines, including a sense of community, for validation, for prestige, to reach interested readers, and/or to build or support a writing career. If you’re trying to make money, she warns and I can confirm, these types of publications are not the way to go.
Sure, you might win prizes or get paid some (small) fees for some of your accepted submissions, but literary magazine submissions alone (likely) won’t be enough to allow you to make a living off your writing. And if you’re submitting to publications that charge reading fees, you could pay out more than you make back. So factor that into your plan. (You could, of course, target only those publications that don’t charge a submission fee).
When you’re formulating your submission plan, I advise asking yourself the three following questions. Consider your true goals and strategy, and follow your heart when it comes to the answers.
Consideration #1: What am I submitting?
While reviewing potential publications to submit to, be very clear on which pieces of yours are ready to send out. A couple short stories, a batch of poems, an essay or two that might be ready in a few months. You may want slightly different strategies for each piece, but your literary journal submission process will likely look a little different for each genre.
First: Determine the genre. The number one place you will look for any publication to clarify how to get published with them is their submission guidelines. Look at what they require or what types of pieces they prefer to publish, and tag your work with descriptive keywords/tags to keep yourself organized. Then, you’re basically matchmaking between what you have and what the magazine is looking for.
If a publication is looking for flash fiction and you have only nonfiction essays to offer, it’s not a good match. Know what you have, organize it for yourself, and make it easy to find when the time comes; this will give you the best chance possible to match up the right piece with the right publication at the right time.
Consideration #2: What practical information do I need for submitting?
After you’ve created your short list of pieces to submit and your short list of places to submit, you’re on your way!
First: Consider the upcoming timelines. You might want to schedule a single day once per month to go over upcoming deadlines and send out your submission packages. If you have a lot to submit, maybe you schedule a few hours every week. But whatever your planned schedule, you’ll be far more efficient if you have one, and far more likely to actually follow through on your literary magazine submissions if you make it a regular item on your to-do list and block off time on your calendar.
Second: Plan ahead for fees that need to be paid. Don’t wait until the last minute to see if you have the money and find yourself overspending. Incorporate that as part of your plan and make sure to budget and have the card you want to use prepared.
Third: When it’s submission day/time and you sit down to send off your writing to your publications of choice, pay attention to the submission guidelines for each of them. Every publication will tell you exactly what they want you to include in your submission package and how they want your work submitted. If you can’t follow these basic guidelines, expect to receive rejection letters for every submission.
Don’t spend time formatting your literary journal submissions or your cover letter in any way other than what the guidelines ask for. If there are no instructions, assume that a common font like Times New Roman or Arial is preferred, and stick with a medium-sized font like 11 or 12. I’d suggest 1.5 or double spacing as well.
However, if they are specific, follow all instructions. If they ask for no more than a certain number of pages or poems, don’t go over the limit. If they ask for all work to be single-spaced, then format it as such. Etc.
This may seem tedious or nonsensical to you, but they have their reasons, and if you want to play on their team, you’ll just have to play by their rules. It’s as simple as that. The best advice on how to get published: Follow all submission guidelines to a T.
Consideration #3: What do I say in my cover letter?
Many submissions will have you attach your work to an email or upload it to a platform. Either way, it’s appropriate to include a cover letter that addresses the recipient of your message (email or otherwise), providing some basic information regarding your literary magazine submission.
If the publication has a masthead and/or you can identify the name of the submissions reader at the publication, address them specifically. Remain professional, not overly personal, but addressing your message to the specific person is more welcoming and warm than “To whom it may concern.”
Keep the letter short and sweet. It’s appropriate to open with something you like/admire about the editor’s work in particular or the publication’s work, such as an example of a story they published that you enjoyed, etc. This can help establish a personal connection.
Include any information asked for in the submission guidelines, and tell the editor you hope they enjoy the attached [insert work here] (five poems, two essays, partridge in a pear tree, etc.).
Special Note!: Simultaneous Submissions
Always pay attention to whether the publication allows concurrent/simultaneous submissions. Many publications will ask you to let them know if you are submitting the same piece simultaneously to multiple places. You may need to include a line about whether any of the pieces included in this literary journal submission package are being simultaneously/concurrently submitted to other publications. If asked to include this information, be sure it’s in there.
If the submission guidelines ask for an author bio, give them what they ask for. Usually, an author bio is expected to be between 50 and 100 words, written in third-person, and include info such as where your writing has been featured befor, or if you’re a debut/new/emerging writer who is excited to publish their first piece. Use a little humor and showcase your personality here.
How to Get Published Tip #4: Expect Rejections
It’s reasonable to expect that between 0% and 20% of your literary magazine submissions will get accepted. If you’re really good, your stats might be above that, but even professional writers know that not every piece is right for every publication at every time. Maybe your beautiful poem about your mother’s death happens to get submitted a month after they published another poem on the same theme by a different poet, and they don’t want to publish the same type of material in back-to-back issues. So it goes. Timing is out of your hands. Rejections happen for any number of reasons other than just “my work sucks,” so it’s time to get ready to grow some thick skin.
Related blog: How to Face Rejection as a Writer: https://srdeditingservices.com/how-to-face-rejection-writer/
Consider: What is a Successful Submission?
Now, one interesting thing that Shannon discussed is that a custom rejection letter is a successful submission. Why? Because editors don’t write custom rejections for everyone. They have standard form letters/templates that are sent to most people. But, if you receive something that seems like the editor genuinely liked your piece, or it contains a personal detail that is outside the realm of a form letter, then make note of that in your submission records/notes. You should try that publication again later, with a different piece. Because there’s a chance that editor will remember you, and there’s a chance that your next piece might be more along the lines of what they’re looking for.
How to Get Published Tip #5: Execute Your Plan, Track Your Data, & Adjust Your Approach
Of course, you will not see results from a plan you do not execute. Once you’ve laid out your strategy for a literary journal submission process, you must follow through. Those dates you marked off on your calendar, reserved for sending your materials out in the world? You must sit at your computer on those days, follow the guidelines, and put the plan into action. Send your writing into the world.
After some time – typically a few days to as long as a year – you will begin hearing back from the publications where you submitted. (Even if you haven’t heard back when your next scheduled submission date comes around, proceed with the plan!) You’ll need to keep track of which pieces were accepted (hooray!) and which were rejected, which means they can now be submitted elsewhere. So now it’s time to choose a new potential home for them and put them back in the submission queue!
After a few rounds of literary journal submissions, you’ll begin getting the hang of the process and know a bit better what to expect. As you learn more about how to get published in your genres or in your dream publications, make adjustments to your approach. Workshop the materials more if need be, and always update and customize your cover letter. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, so making tweaks to suit your personal style and goals is the only way to reach those goals and fulfill your why.
Consult with SRD Editing Services for Literary Journal Submissions
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