LITERARY MAGAZINES - SUBMISSION TIPS FROM AN EDITOR, by r soos
I am often contacted by writers who want a book published. I
have one "must" rule for writers submitting book manuscripts here -
you must first appear in Cholla Needles magazine. If your work isn't good
enough to appear in the magazines, we're not going to publish your book.
That saves me a lot of reading of poor material, because
folks instinctively know when their work isn't good enough for a magazine. A
magazine reaches a wide audience, and many writers these days are only writing
for themselves and could really care less about an audience.
If you're still with me, you're now interested in submitting
to a literary magazine. In the golden oldies days, we were taught to read an
issue or two before submitting. With 27,000+ literary magazines in the United States
alone, it’s impossible to learn them all these days, but you can still pick a
few to start with.
So, where do you start? My suggestion is to find a writer
you admire, and see where the poems in their book were published. Most will
have between 5 & 12 different magazine credits in their acknowledgements.
Google the magazines and find out how to get a copy of the magazine. Read a
copy and see if you admire at least a few of the writers in there. If you
don't, then why would you want your work to appear there? Chances are great if
you dislike everything in the issue, the editor(s) will dislike your work.
Sending your work there is wasting your time and their time.
If you love two or three of the writers in the issue (or
more) then you'd be pleased to have your work appear in that magazine. So, now
it's time to check their submission requirements. Here's the kicker - many
magazines it's best to follow their directions and double check before shipping
off the manuscript, whether electronically, or by mail. Some weirdos, like
myself, have very loose requirements. I'll explain why we are loose here.
I find I like/love poetry that moves readers. I really could
care less about the writer - who they are, or all their credits. My heart is
focused on giving the readers a great experience. So, writers who are great at
what they do but lousy at following step by step instructions on which font to
use, or which program to use, or using some on-line submittal process that
they're forced to subscribe to is already being set up by the system to fail. Alternatively,
I'm looking for folks who communicate well, not folks who are rich enough to
afford at do all the technical stuff, and have the spare time to cross their I’s
and dot their t’s. If you love to write for others to read, and you're homeless
but can make your way to a library or a friend’s house to send an e-mail,
you're welcome here in the same manner as people who have won 200 different
awards and are poet laureates of wherever they hang out. Just remember, that’s
odd, and that's me. And you'll see on our submission page - send 6-12 poems to
introduce yourself and get the conversation started. We'll know pretty quick if
we can get along.
But, that's just here. If you're sending to Super Poets
Anonymous Circle Magazine and they want a word document with 4 1/2 poems, using
Tambler Font, and no names on the poem pages, with a separate page with Poem
Titles and your name, then - do as you're asked. You've already seen copies and
you know you love the magazine, so follow directions. And don't worry so much
that every magazine has different rules. That's part of the process, no
different than going to high school and having to make 30+ teachers pass you
through their classes for four years. They all had different rules, and you
made it through. If you're writing great material but couldn't get through High
School, well you've got a magazine like ours to submit to because you're most
likely lousy at following rules.
Another often asked question is "who owns the
poems?" 99.9% of the time you'll find in literary magazines a disclaimer
that says - all rights revert to the author upon publication. So, the poems
always belong to you, and you will be able to include the poem(s) that appears
in the literary mag in your eventual book.
Most magazines will also have the right to include your work in any
future anthology they put out, and that's a good thing for you.
So, your next question is "what about the .1%?"
I've ran across that only once in my time (I first started submitting work in
1965). It's kinda rotten - they will ask you for a fee to republish your own
work in a book. It's not common, so don't worry too much.
A similar question is: "will an editor steal my
work?" That seems a bit absurd. I can't say it's impossible because I
simply do not know everything. But think about it - everyone has a personal
style. If someone made a living stealing poetry written by others, they'd have
no distinct style, and thus never gain the audience necessary to become known
as a poet. Every editor I know becomes
an editor because they love sharing the genius work of other writers. And every
editor I know is constantly on the lookout for new voices who have something to
say.
Yes, you'll run across the story of "Footprints",
which has made $$$ for many different people besides the author. That’s because
the author had the work published in a pamphlet which was not copyrighted. That
story is well-known, but I've never heard of others like it. Lesson there is an
easy one. Check that the magazines you bought sample copies of and love are
copyrighted. You'll find 99% of the print magazines are - to protect you as a
writer and the magazine. Do be aware that of the 27,000+ magazines, many are
on-line and run by well-meaning people, but they are totally unaware of things
like Copyrights and ISSN numbers. So do be aware that work published in those
places are in the "public domain", and could theoretically be used by
anyone. Thing is - most writers are serious and want to express themselves, not
express what others expressed. So even if you find your work published on one
of those 20,000 websites, chances are great you'll never have your work
"stolen". Unless it is something like "Footprints", which
has universal appeal. Check the copyright notices - make sure your editor knows
about it.
Next question - "Rejections". Inevitable. If you
find yourself being accepted by every magazine you submit to, you're choosing
the wrong magazines to submit to. Seriously. There are on-line magazines that
publish everything they receive. That's fine and good, but will not allow you
to grow as a writer. Find editors who will work with you to make your work
represent you in the very best light. Some of what I've said thus far may make
you think I'm against on-line magazines. That's not true at all. There are
100-200 powerfully great on-line magazines. But they, like print magazines,
will reject work that does not work in their magazine, and will encourage
writers to re-submit if something is 90% "there". You'll also see
those sites have an ISSN number and a Copyright notice. In other words, the
editor(s) have been educated and are interested in protecting you and your
work, as well as their reputation as a serious literary magazine.
Anything else you should know? Sure.
1) Be nice to editors. You're talking about the people who
you may be hitting up in the future as a reference if you apply for a full-time
job as a writer. Cussing out editors who reject you is a weird way to try to
succeed. This is a good place to say - rejection does not mean your work is
poor or absolutely needs to be revised. It simply means you haven't found the
right audience yet.
2) Having your work appear regularly in 4 or 5 different
magazines will help you when you're ready to get an agent - you're letting the
agent know that there are a handful of editors out there who are able to work
with you. When you approach an agent, they will be sending your work to
editors, and they need to know you're able to work with different editors. Winning
the "Glass Houses Poetry Prize" will mean nothing, unless you have
other publications on your resume. Winning The “Pulitzer Prize” is another
matter altogether.
3) Having your work appear in 300 literary magazines means
next to nothing to serious folks like agents or book publishers. Using that as
a calling card simply means you are not part of a specific literary community,
nor do you wish to be. You've probably not even read this far because I
obviously believe in building a literary community, so I'll shut up about that
theme.
4) Be careful about telling editors about being a
"loser". A common calling card I get from writers is "I've been
nominated for 37 prizes". Since it appears on the websites of so many poor
writers, and even on book covers by poor writers, it's become something that
new writers cherish. Again, think it through. If you win a prize, that's excellent
– be proud of that. If you've been nominated along with 180,000 other people,
well you look ridiculous even talking about it. I am an editor and I nominate
people for prizes all the time. I never tell them, unless they win. I know the
temptation is there for people to use losing as a "badge" because
many other writers do it. Don't fall into the trap of bragging about losing.
So. . . time to stop reading the tips and get back to
writing. Do submit to literary magazines. Make good connections with good
people, be professional, expect and accept rejection, and continue to grow
confident that you are a writer. Let everyone you talk to know you are a
writer, even if you've yet to be published. You will be published when you've
found the right audience. From there you'll gain confidence to submit to other
magazines, which means more connections with editors and readers. One of my
many joys as an editor is letting writers know when readers send me specific
notes about work that makes a strong impact on them. You will get into
conversations with actual readers beyond the editor. Good times!!!
r soos was the editor of Seven Stars from 1973-1998, and is
currently the editor of Cholla Needles from 2017 to the present day. Both are
monthly literary magazines. Click here for how to submit to Cholla Needles.