Special EventsDo’s and Don’ts for Getting Published By Nathan Leslie, Conference Moderator The Do’s: Do read quality fiction and poetry. You can’t be a good writer without also being a good reader. Be humbled by the masters; you can learn from them. Do keep practicing, and practicing and practicing. Writing is a craft that takes years to develop. Be patient with your own development. Do polish your work as carefully as you can before you send it out. Eliminate all problems with the poem or story before you submit. This includes typos, spelling and grammar problems. Do format your work correctly. Name, address and e-mail in the upper left-hand corner. Double spaced for fiction. Single spaced for poetry. Center your title. Number your pages. Do make sure you use proper postage. And include a SASE with all snail mail submissions. Do keep your cover letter short and sweet. Mention any pertinent writing experience and/or publishing credits. Be professional. Do address your cover letter to a specific person, if possible. Try to find out the name of the editor (or poetry or fiction editor, etc.) of the magazine. Do try to say nice things about the magazine in your cover letter. Again, keep it simple though. Do read the targeted literary magazine before you submit. This is where Newpages.com comes in handy. Be careful to submit work to magazines that publish the kind of material you write. Do your homework. Before you submit read the magazine submission policies for format, length, reading period and other considerations. Again, see Newpages.com. Do start small—there are many local literary magazines, small print or Web journals in which it will be easier to find success than if you try the New Yorker or Paris Review. Do, at the same time, aim big. You should submit to both smaller magazines and larger, better known magazines simultaneously. Do look at the new magazines especially. New magazines often receive less submission and are more supportive of new voices. This is where Poets and Writers comes in handy. Do steel yourself for rejection. Even the best writers are rejected, and often. Discard and write off form letters as just “part of the game.” Do be persistent. If you get anything other than a form letter (especially anything asking in handwriting for you to submit again) consider it valuable, save it and make copies. Resend to that editor. Follow up. Develop a relationship with him or her. An editor wouldn’t take the time to write a personal note (or send a personal e-mail) if he/she didn’t mean it. Keep track of your submissions. Create a document to list where you sent work, what you sent, and when you sent it. *** The Don’ts: Don’t print your work on weird paper or use odd fonts. Don’t submit handwritten submissions. Don’t send tattered or soiled or coffee-stained submissions. If sending your work via e-mail don’t include a link to a Web site where the editor can download your work. Don’t submit online if a magazine doesn’t allow online submissions. Don’t submit via snail mail if a magazine wants e-mailed submissions. Don’t include a photo with your submission. Don’t get too quirky or cute in your bio: mentioning odd hobbies, pets, and tattoos is generally a turn-off to editors. Don’t break the submission guidelines of any given magazine. If a magazine says they don’t read work in the summer, they mean it. If a magazine says they don’t read fantasy work, they mean it. Don’t overwhelm an editor with too much work: sending 50 poems when an editor asks for 3–6 poems is generally a bad idea. Don’t be impatient. Many magazines take several months to read and reply to work. E-mailing or writing editors after one or two weeks regarding the status of your work is not cool. Don’t submit blindly to magazines. This usually doesn’t work. Don’t focus too intently on the financial side of publishing—unless you are writing journalism, in which case you should always try to get paid for your free-lance work. Mentioning “sales” in terms of fiction or poetry is usually considered gauche, in that most fiction and poetry markets DO NOT PAY. Don’t multiple submit the same story to 10 different magazines. Offering your work to one magazine at a time is just a common courtesy. Editors don’t like to spend time reading work that is then yanked off the table. That said, if an editor holds onto your work for more than 6 months, I would contact the magazine asking for an update on the status of your work and consider sending it out again. Some magazines also do accept multiple submissions, and if they do I would follow the policy of the magazine itself…However, in general multiple submissions are frowned upon because if a magazine accepts your work then you are supposed to tell all the other magazines that your work has been accepted. This creates a problem.
Publishing Resources By Nathan Leslie, Conference Moderator For Magazines and Book Publishers: Poets and Writers: A bimonthly magazine. This is the industry magazine for creative writers. It includes an extensive list of classifieds for new magazines, magazines which need work, contests, and the like. Web site: www.pw.org Newpages.com.
THE online database for literary magazines, online magazines and book
publishers. They also now have a print listing. The Writers Market, The Novel and Short Story Writers Market and The Poets Market. These books, published by The Writer’s Digest, have extensive listings of publishers, magazines and agents respectively. Beltway: Offers links to many DC area magazines. Web site: www.washingtonart.com/beltway/contents.html AWP: The Association of Writers and Writing Programs. Links to many magazines and book publishers. Web site: www.awpwriter.org The International Directory of Little Magazines and Small Presses. This book offers a listing of small presses and literary magazines with a brief description of each. Bookmarket.com: Offers a list of numerous publishers. The Pedestal Magazine: The magazine for which I edit fiction. Web site: www.thepedestalmagazine.com *Many online magazines have extensive links. For Literary Agents: The Guide to Literary Agents. For a list of literary agents with a brief description of each. Agentquery.com: Offers a searchable database of literary agents. Web site: www.agentquery.com *There are many other databases online.
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