
What your letter shouldn’t mention is every place you’ve been published (up to 5 will suffice). You can also add a personal touch by mentioning a previous story or issue you particularly enjoyed. Typically, a cover letter will mention a couple of the previous places you’ve been published as well as any other relevant experience you might have. So let your cover letter mention the important bits, make sure it provides any specific information that’s requested in the submission guidelines, and let your entry do the heavy lifting. But if your submission isn’t strong, your cover letter is going to mean nil. If you’ve written a great story and have publishing credentials to boot, sure, your cover letter might help win them over. Keep your cover letter short and to-the-pointĮditors are not won over by cover letters. Because chances are those are the magazines that are going to be most interested in the kind of things you’re writing. The best magazines to submit to are the ones that you actually enjoy reading. When it comes to making your list, don’t only consider what magazines have prestige, huge audiences, or hefty cash payouts. This is not only a good way to make sure you’re giving each submission care and attention, it’s also a good way to make sure you don’t get the same piece of writing accepted by two different magazines, forcing you to pull your submission from one of them. Tier One can be your top five magazines, Tier Two your next five favorite, and so on.

Instead, make a list of the magazines you want to submit to and group them into tiers. Editors can usually scout fairly quickly the pieces that have been submitted en masse, without any regard for their specific publication. So spending your time ensuring your submissions are targeted at the right places is much more valuable than sending your writing to as many different publications as possible. As mentioned, all magazines have their own styles. “Cast a wide net” shouldn’t be your mantra when it comes to submitting to lit mags. Don’t submit to tons of publications all at one

So before you decide to submit to a magazine, make sure you do your due diligence and research what kinds of things they publish, and where your work is really a match. All this is to say that the range of lit mags out there is broad and the kinds of things they publish also ranges - from short lit fic to flash space operas, and everything in between. Maybe you think of university-funded quarterlies like The New England Review.

Or it might go to independent webzines that specialize in very niche genres. When you think of literary magazines, your mind might automatically go to The New Yorker. Tips for submitting to literary magazines Ensure you’re submitting to the right places That being said, having your work appear in a literary magazine isn’t as easy as hitting “submit.” While they can act as a stepping stone for writers who wish to go on to have a career in publishing, you shouldn’t view literary magazines as simply a means to an end - if only because doing so will very likely reduce your chances of ever actually being featured in one of them.Īnd on that note, let’s get started with our first tip for getting your work featured in some of the best literary magazines out there. If you’re an aspiring author, submitting to literary magazines is a great way to get your foot into the door of the publishing industry, as it allows you to build up your credentials and reach readers. Poetry, short stories, essays are all forms of writing that own very tiny shares in the publishing landscape - except in the world of literary magazines, where they reign supreme.

Salinger, George Saunders, Alice Munro, Flannery O’Connor, and many more.įor centuries, literary magazines have highlighted works that would otherwise struggle to reach readers. The halls of literary success are paved with authors who got their start appearing in literary magazines - such as Zora Neale Hurston, Truman Capote, William Faulkner, Edith Wharton, Ursula Le Guin, J.D. Run a literary magazine? Submit it to our directory! We publish all forms of creative nonfiction, from personal narrative to lyric essay to immersive journalism we appreciate when an essay moves beyond the personal to tell us something new about the world.įrequency: 4 times a year Online submissions: Yes Submission guidelines
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Poems that are passionate about subject, language, and image are welcome, whether they are traditional or experimental, whether in formal or free verse (closed or open form). Real wives swallowing cum.We like stories that start quickly and have a strong narrative arc.
