Submitting to a Literary Magazine
You want to submit to a literary magazine? Great! Here’s everything you need to know.
1. Literary Magazines Publish Literary Fiction Which Is Different from Genre Fiction
Literacy fiction is less comfortable then genre fiction. It’s usually more character driven, more unexpected, it might be more open-ended, and it really tries to get the reader to think differently.
While there is still science fiction lit mags, and there are a few lit mags that accept things like art, photography and interviews, mostly lit mags just accept lit fiction.
They look for things that look like fantasy/romance but don’t go in the usual direction.
2. Do your research before you submit
While lit mags are themselves a very niche writing, the different magazines can also be very specific. The magazine’s website will usually say exactly what they’re looking for and they usually suggest reading through past issues to get an idea of whether your work is a good fit or not. There will be a magazine that fits your work, you just have to find it. There are ones for science fiction, comedy, fantasy, horror, and so on.
It’s important that you read the guidelines and follow them. There are very specific ways each magazine wants you to format your submission.
Additionally, each magazine is different regarding payment and the rights of your work. Some magazines can afford to give a good amount of money, some can’t give any money, and some offer a free issue of their magazine.
3. The submission should be your final polished version
Your submission should be ready for publishing. It should have already gone through all the revisions, editing, and proofreading it needs. I should be polished as much as possible because the editors do not have time to work with you.
If you get accepted they’ll do a brief copy edit, set you up with a contract and that’s it. So you better be happy with it.
4. Include a cover letter
They’ll usually ask for this in the guidelines. Be straightforward and professional. It should be a small paragraph of your name, the title, a quick bio, and a word count. You do not need to include a synopsis. Do mention your publication credits. You might mention that you’re familiar with the magazine, but flattery won’t you published. A cover letter won’t get you published either, but it might get you rejected, so be careful.
5. Lit Mags usually ask for first serial rights
This means that your submission could not have appeared anywhere else in a publication or online. Yes, this includes your blog. They are paying for the rights to publish your work first. The contract might be just the first right or exclusive rights for a year or longer. Make sure you read your contract.
Never accept a contract in which they own all rights to your work. You want to be able to have the right to publish it at a later date, in another magazine, on your blog, or in a collection of works.
6. Get involved and develop a relationship with the magazine
Every university or college probably has a literary magazine and there are plenty of private/indie ones as well. Volunteer at one close to you; get to know the magazine better. This won’t get you published but it will make them give your work a warmer read.
Attend writing festivals. You can meet editors and other writers and get cheap back issues of magazines.
If you submit to one particular magazine often they’ll remember you and you can build a relationship.
Many of these magazines also do contests. These are more expensive and require you to pay to participate. But the pool is smaller and it increases your chance of getting accepted. Being shortlisted for a contest is a good thing and it’s a credential you can use when submitting to other publications. It gives your work credibility which looks good to publications and agents.
8. Simultaneous submissions
This is submitting to multiple magazines the same submission at the same time. These are usually not accepted, but reading times are so long, it can be months before you’re told you’ve been accepted, that you really of have to do it. You do have to let them know as soon as you’ve been accepted elsewhere.
Only 4-6% of submissions are actually accepted. Even top-level writers get rejected. The volume of submissions is so high and they might have issues four times a year or even once a year which means they have very little room to work with. Rejection is just part of the game and you need to prepared for it and you cannot take it seriously.
It does get easier after you’ve been accepted. Shorter works might have a higher chance of being accepted just because it takes up less room.
The most important thing is persistence. Good work gets rejected all the time too. You need to turn off the critiquing/defensive part of your brain and just set up a system – if something is rejected immediately send it back out.
A good rule of thumb is after 5 rejections, then you can look at rewriting it and then send it back out to different venues
A handwritten rejection is extremely significant. They took the time to write personally and this is really helpful for building relationships.
So Why Submit to a Literary Magazine?
Rejection is so high, I can’t post my work anywhere else, I have to wait forever to know if I’ve been accepted or not, the payment is small if it even exists at all; why should I submit to a literary magazine?
Well, other then the fact that it is a publishing credit, it is a good path toward traditional publishing.
Many literary magazines like to publish new and emerging writers and many of them are “destination mags” which means publishers and agents use these magazines to look for new writers.
Being published in a literary magazine adds credibility to your work which looks good to editors.
But, just keep in mind that this is only one path to publication and there are so many other ways to do it that are just as valid.
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