So you’ve written a short story, revised it, and are ready to send it out. Here are a few tips for submitting your stories for publication to literary journals and other magazines.
- If the literary magazine asks for a cover letter with your submission, make it brief. Read How to Write a Cover Letter for a Literary Magazine Submission. Your letter should mention where you’ve published in the past, and should include a very short bio.
- Do submit to more than one place at once. Five is a good number to start with.
- Never send a publication a second story before the editors have responded to the first.
- Never call to check on the progress of your submission. An email is fine if you have not heard from the publication after six months.
- Shorter stories (8-15 pages) are more likely to be accepted than very long stories.
- Speaking of shorter stories, flash fiction is a great way to break into print.
- Always double-space your story, use one-inch margins, and indent every paragraph!
- Never put spaces between paragraphs. That is not proper manuscript formatting.
Here are some of the best online resources for anyone looking to submit fiction:
- Newpages.com—litmags, publishers, and book reviews
- Webdelsol –Contains many useful links to literary magazines and resources for writers.
More great resources for short story writers:
- • Pushcart Prize Anthology (Pushcart Press)–Annual anthology of the best of literary magazines and presses selected by editors themselves; you’ll not only find fiction in here, but a list addresses of prize-winning magazines and presses.
- For current publishing opportunities, check out the Writer’s Chronicle, published by the Associated Writing Programs (www.awpwriter.org)
- Poets and Writers Magazine (my personal favorite) lists upcoming deadlines for literary contests, as well as calls for submissions.
Some of my favorite literary magazines:
- Glimmer Train
- Fourteen Hills
- The Sun
- Other Voices
- Alaska Quarterly Review
- Mid-American Review
- Ploughshares
- Granta
- Boulevard
- Story Quarterly
- Quick Fiction
Reputable Online Literary Magazines:
- CutBank
- South Carolina Review
- Missouri Review
- Bellevue Literary Review
- Blackbird
- Mississippi Review
- Gulf Coast
- Identity Theory
- North Dakota Quarterly
- Sycamore Review
- Exquisite Corpse
While any publication is a big boon and a definite validation of your talent, here are the magazines that can really jump-start a career:
- Glimmer Train
- The Atlantic Monthly
- Harper’s
- The New Yorker
- Zoetrope
- The Paris Review
It never hurts to send to these guys as long as you’re sending out a bulk submission. Many of the top-tier magazines publish mainly agented material, but occasionally a non-agented submissions will make it into the magazine..
Sometimes the hardest part about being a writer is getting the first words on the page. STORY STARTERS: A WORKBOOK FOR WRITERS, features writing prompts, exercises, and craft advice to help you write short stories. A series of flash fiction exercises is especially valuable for helping you to craft very short stories to submit for publication.
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