How to Get Published
By Cynthia Washington, N2Arts Correspondent
Submitting your work for publication
 

hat does it take to write and successfully submit your original work for publication? There are several steps. Getting an idea and writing it down is your first step. Researching facts, rewriting the piece and finally, finding a potential publisher for the article comes next. Some writers suggest that you find your target publication first. They argue that you can then write your piece to “fit” the personality of the magazine or webzine.

The Writer’s Market, The Poets Market or The Christian Writer’s Market Guide are useful references that list magazines and what they are looking for in articles. They also list the type of reader who subscribes to their publication, a word count, submission guidelines (how to send in your work) and names of contacts. You can find writer’s markets in your local library.

Writer’s guidelines are very important. If you ignore them, believing your piece is good enough to wow an editor into making an exception, you are setting yourself up for a rejection. Writers are often rejected because their submission might not appeal to the publications readers. The best poet could submit their work to a magazine that doesn’t mention poetry in their guidelines and expect a “no thanks” in the mail.

Here’s an example. Young Voices, a print magazine that features the work of anyone High school age or younger, accepts original drawings, photos, poetry and short stories. The editor requires a S.A.S.E. (self addressed, stamped envelope) if you want a response. Compared those guidelines to N2Arts.com. N2Arts.com accepts 350-600 word how-tos (articles offering practical advice) on the performing and fine arts. The readers are 12-18 year olds, so you probably wouldn’t want to submit a short article on how to write a letter to Santa Claus. The guidelines also don’t mention poetry – if you write poetry, send it to Young Voices, but not N2Arts.com.

If you send out your work, you can expect rejects. Some can be avoided if you do a little research using the Writer’s Market. And the good news is that not all rejects reflect the quality of your writing, so don’t grow discouraged if you get lots of them. Getting a “no thanks” means you are sending your work out for publication, a gutsy step that many people would never take. This means that you are one step closer to getting published. When you receive a reject, reread your work and perhaps do some rewriting, then send the piece to a different publication.

It is extremely rare that editors will consider a piece that is substantially longer or shorter than the word counts they suggest. Does this mean that your piece must be exactly 350 or 600 words? No. But don’t send in a piece that is 150 words or 750 words, either. Line counts refer to the number of lines in a poem.

Want to make a good impression on an editor? Be sure your spelling is perfect, put enough postage on your S.A.S.E., and don’t ask your dad to send it in for you with a cover letter on his business stationery. What impresses editors is good work, following their guidelines and the impression of professionalism that comes with submitting the work yourself, though it’s always ok to ask someone to help you. 

Cynthia Washington is a freelance writer with a degree in Literature from Rutgers University. She lives in Washington state and has published online and in print media. She can be reached by email at res6ovrw@verizon.net.