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 Publishing your WorkA work of art is not art until it is shared. Even if you are just starting out, there are many online and print publications that will welcome your work. Getting published is like finding a job or a date—it’s all in finding the right match. You have a great science fiction story? Find a journal or magazine of science fiction stories—don’t send it to a nature poetry journal. Here are the steps:Make it good. Revise. Have trusted readers critique it. Revise again. Edit it. Poor spelling or grammar says you’re just a dabbler, a poseur. Decide what kind of work you have. Is it an experimental prose poem? A horror story? Literary fiction? A narrative poem? Not sure? Bring it to the Writing Studio.Find a publication that welcomes that kind of work. Start with an online search: “horror story magazine” “literary journal narrative poems”Go to the website of that publication. Look for their section on submissions. Read it carefully. They may supply a link to an online submission portal, like Submittable, where you will need to create a login. Follow instructions. Publishers and editors receive hundreds and thousands of pieces. They will not read your work if you don’t give them the courtesy of submitting it the way they ask.Do they have a word, page or line limit?What format do they require—doc, docx, rtf, pfd? Where do they want your name, page numbers, title?Do they want short pieces or poems all in the same file or separate files?A short bio is usually 50—100 words. Stick with your life as a writer/artist. Include personal information only if it is relevant. For example, if you have a set of poems about Alaska, you may want to mention that you lived there for a summer. Simultaneous submissions are submittals to several publications at the same time. Most publications are fine about this, but ask that you notify them immediately if your piece is accepted somewhere else.Blind readings mean that the editors select the work without knowing the writer. Put your contact information on a separate page, not on your work. Contact information is name, postal address, email, website and phone number. Genre fiction generally means science fiction, fantasy, romance, Westerns, horror or mystery stories. There is no genre poetry.Many contests require an entry fee, usually $15 to $25 for a story, less for poetry. Do some research before you send that check to make sure they are legitimate.Beware of reading fees. Do not pay to submit work. Send your work with a short cover letter. Sample cover letters—be brief:Dear Ms. Jones (find the name of the editor via website or print journal),Attached are three poems about ice sculptures that I am submitting for your January issue on Winter. I have read The Elemental Journal and feel that my work has the lyrical realism of poems such as Justin Snead’s in your July issue. I am currently a student at Montserrat College of Art and I am working on a set of letterpress broadsides of my poems. Thank you for considering my work.Sincerely,Dear Mr. Smith,I am excited to hear that you are starting a new online journal devoted to fiction about food. I am submitting my story, “Shrimp Boat Lesson,” for your first issue. I am currently a student at Montserrat College of Art. I spend summers working on a fishing boat in Gloucester, Massachusetts, where my story is set. Thank you for considering my work.Sincerely,Most publications take from 3 months to a year to reply. Your work may be accepted—congratulations! The editors may accept your work if you will consider certain changes—the decision is always yours. Your work may be rejected—not you—just the piece you submitted. Editors can receive 300 submittals for each piece they publish. They may have recently published a piece that was somewhat like yours. They may feel they have been publishing too many New England writers lately. Your story about a slimy cheating lover was read by a cheating lover. What do you do now? Send it out again!Online resources for finding publications:These journals publish undergraduate student writing:?Albion ReviewAllegheny ReviewPrairie MarginsCatfish CreekOutrageous FortuneRed Cedar ReviewPolarisSusquehanna ReviewGlass MountainMangroveCollision Literary MagazineThe Blue RouteFirst Inkling is the first national student magazine: list: ................
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