Query

[violachic]

I want to start sending in some poetry and short fiction to magazines and stuff to get published. I have some addresses of a few magazines such as The New Yorker, but that's kinda high-falutin' stuff and I may not be good enough yet for that kind of stuff. My questions are:

1)Where are good places to send in work? I don't want to deal with 'zines or underground or anything like that- I don't think I have enough teen angst left for that.

2)Isn't there a protocol to follow when sending work in? I vaguely remember learning about cover letters from high school creative writing class, but I don't know if they're always necessary, or how to write one, or anything like that.

3)Is it done to send in more than one piece of work at a time? Should I send several things to see if anyone likes them, or should I send one poem/short story at a time?

4)Uh........ I feel like I should be asking more questions, but I can't think of what......

Comments

[sixfeetabove.livejournal.com]

you need to buy a copy of "the writers market 2003"

they have it at major bookstores and it contains a great amount of contact addresses and instructional type stuff! It will answer all your questions fully.

[violachic.livejournal.com]

boo-tee-ful


Now I just have to talk someone into buying it for me. I'm poor.

[hapcollins.livejournal.com]

Bigger libraries will carry it...you really only need to copy the, say, twenty or so pages of addresses that might interest you.

If possible, find people who write stuff like you do who are a few steps higher up in the literary food chain and submit to the magazines they've published in. You won't break into the New Yorker...you might break into a quality small press magazine.

Similarly, find a bookstore in the city that carries what you write, try to find magazines that are small press that you like, and submit to those.

Although I'm not really writing right now, I would be surprised if I was published in Mother Jones, could potentially be published in the Baffler, and could probably be published in, say, a small press run chicago political magazine. Does that make sense?

Atlantic Monthly, etc, are far too highend to try to break into. When I say small press I don't mean underground...just not uber-well known.

Some zines cross the boundaries between zines and magazines, alhough less so for fiction.

There are probably a number of good how to books at the library...the writer's manual probably has several good how to get published articles before it reaches the addresses of magazines.

Oh yeah, there's a seperate Poet's market book made by the same people. Well, at least there was ten years ago.

[violachic.livejournal.com]

*smooches* I knew I could count on you

[hapcollins.livejournal.com]

Re: magazines, to summarize, find something you think your work would fit in well at that is a small press publication.

[rettstatt.livejournal.com]

try glimmer train (glimmertrain.com). you can send stuff to them online and they are a high quality and well respected litmag. they have regular contests for short fiction and short short fiction

other popular litmags:
the atlanntic monthly www.theatlantic.com
conjunctions www.conjunctions.com
grand street www.grandstreet.com
granta www.granta.com
harper's www.harpers.org
the paris review www.parisreview.com
ploughshares www.pshares.org
tin house www.tinhouse.com

all hard to get published in

also check out poets and writers (www.pw.org) for a list of contests going on

for regular submissions to litmags it's usually best to submit your best single piece and wait a while before submitting another. for contests you can usually submit as many as you want as long as you pay for each one.

litmags tend to have pretty specific submission guidelines. you can find them on the web sites or you can send in for them by mail

[violachic.livejournal.com]

sanx. Incredibly helpful :)