In today’s post I’m going to talk about submitting your work. I’ve talked about this before in lesser degree, but today I plan to go into a bit more detail. Authors, who submit their work to literary journals, reviews, magazines, and websites, find that it’s a cool way to get their books noticed. People love to read examples of an author’s work and authors get free publicity for their books when they submit work. It’s a tried and true methodology to reach readers you might not get a chance to reach through social media networks.
Until recently I had no idea there are informal rules when
it comes to submitting a piece of work and I learned this the hard way. I kept sending
poems, flash fiction and short stories to online and traditional magazines,
literary journals as well as websites and kept receiving rejection notices. I
found myself sending those letters to the recycling bin or throwing them in the trash after
reading only the first few lines. Then I would get depressed and upset and
eventually stop writing. Yeah, I was being childish.
But then I came across this site called The Review Review. In their
post: What Editors Want; A Must-Read for Writers Submitting to Literary Magazines,
the author Lynne Barrett talked
about facts that anyone submitting to a
magazine should understand. I read her post and it was like a light bulb had
come on. I was going about things all wrong because I didn’t understand the
etiquette of submitting.
After reading her post over a few times, I submitted a poem
to an art and literature magazine and within weeks I received my first
acceptance letter. I was excited to say the least. My piece “Butterfly’ was accepted to a real
magazine and the publication will be out this fall. How cool is that?
Now you are probably
asking yourself, what was in that article that changed things around for me and
can it work for you. Well you can always go and read Lynne Barrett post for
yourself. I suggest you do she has a lot to say that I haven’t added in this
post. I have put together what I gather from her article here.
I have come up with 6 points to submitting that I think will
help you receive my results.
1)
Read, Taste, Needs
This is basic but so important. How can you know what to submit if you have
never read any of their issues or posts?
Editors hate it when someone submits a
piece of work that has nothing to do with their readership. “Help the editor by
sending work that is developed, complete, thoroughly revised, and—of great
importance—appropriate for the magazine.”
Know their taste, are they
basically a magazine for readers or both writers and readers etc.… Do your
research. This will also help to feed
the editor’s need for suitable content.
2)
Read the directions!
How can you know what to write if
you don’t follow the direction? Read and follow the submission guidelines
outlined by the site. Submit only work in exactly the style, file-format, and
manner they request. This is elementary. Don’t give the editor a reason to throw your
hard work out before he reads it. Also
keep records, where, when, and who or if you submitted simultaneous submissions
from an editor. They help keep track of
your work.
3)
Cover Letter
Yeah, you’ll need one. Look online for sites
on how one should look, but don’t get overly worked up over it. Let your work
do the talking for you. It’s not a bad idea to let the editor know that this
isn’t your first rodeo. It’s fine and acceptable to mention other places your
work has appeared, and any awards. Go ahead and brag a little, its expected.
4)
Learn from Rejection
Read the whole rejection letters even if
it’s harsh. If they critique your work you can learn from them. You might be tempted to but don’t respond. Editors do not want to hear back from you.
What you can do is celebrate somewhat
encouraging rejection letters. “It could mean the magazine wants to see more of
your work in the future.” That’s good news. But wait; don’t send them a thank
you email. Barrett says wait until “you submit something else to them. Then let
them know how much their letter of encouragement meant, then spring your latest
on them,” thus pushing your work to the front of the line.
I recently got a personal note from an
editor along with my rejection letter. That was a big deal let me tell you, it
meant they looked deeper at my work. “But keep in mind that this critique is,
in a way, a compliment….” Barrett points out in her article. “Be sure to
mention your appreciation of the editor’s comments when you submit NEW work in
the future.”
5)
Acceptance
Always respond to acceptance letter. Tell
them how very excited you are and how thrilling it would be to see your work in
their magazine. Get them any bio info, address info and whatever else they
requested ASAP. Don’t send them a revised version unless they asked for one.
6)
Simultaneous Submission
If you submitted the same piece to another
same tier magazines let the other one know, that is just common courtesy. Good
manners show.
Today I got another rejection notice, thus
this post, but it hasn’t stopped me from submitting as much as I can. I won’t
go into a temper tantrum, or cry myself to sleep this time. What I will do is
learn, grow and submit some more.
Check out the original article at The Review Review
Copyright © 2013 Glynis Rankin
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