Publishing Your Work in a Literary Magazine

There are many advantages to submitting your work to a literary magazine or journal for possible publication. Although your entire manuscript may not be published, perhaps your best work will be represented in the pages of a major publication. Submitting your work to a literary journal is less arduous and less time consuming than publishing with a traditional publisher. Typically, you can have news concerning the status of your work within a few months of initial submission. While the competition is as stiff as it is in traditional publishing, there are many, many publications to choose from. New Pages compiles a listing of literary magazines, each with annual deadlines for poetry, short fiction, essays, etc. Take a look at the list and consider submitting some of your work.

The benefits of being published in a literary magazine are many. First, publication means that your work is being acknowledged by a notable literary community of writers & editors. It also means that your work is being selected among many other talented writers. Literary magazines and their literary reputations vary, but you can be sure that, whatever the publication, being published is a milestone. It can also be an important marketing element if you plan to self-publish. Along with reviews, noting that you received honorable mention in a writing competition in your latest book can be beneficial in demonstrating just how your work stacks up.

Finding the right fit for your work is important. In order to get a sense of the style of work published and the tastes of judges, do your research. Compare online and subscribe to a magazine. Often a magazine’s editors will allow you to submit your work, for a small reading fee, and obtain the magazine at a discount, this is a valuable arrangement. Take advantage of it where you can.

Last year, I submitted my poetry to three literary magazines for the first time in years. My poem, “The Return” (which you can read in an earlier blog post), made it to the semi-final round of the 2010 New Millennium Writings annual poetry competition. This detail is listed on the cover of my latest book A Dawn Run Hot with Morning. I posted the information in a previous blog (as detailed here), as well as on my Facebook Fan page. I plan to tweet the information soon. Finally, I have communicated the information to key customers & reviewers. Being nearly published in a major literary magazine is as much news as being published, in this case!

In addition to making news, I received an annual subscription to New Millennium Writings literary magazine, as well as a host of others. It has been a great pleasure and a tremendous boon reading the work of my peers. Interviews with competition judges, as well as excerpts of their poetry are also included within the pages of the magazine. Better armed with greater knowledge about the competition, I can make more informed selections when I submit my poetry next year.

"The Return" in Semi-Finals of New Millennium Writings 2010 Poetry Competition

Last year, before my poetry manuscript for Contemplating Eve was published, I selected three poems to submit to New Millennium Writings for publication. New Millennium Writings is a prominent literary magazine with writers such as Nikki Giovanni (poet & faculty member at Virginia Tech) as contest judge. I submitted my writing to this magazine because I wanted acknowledgment for my work from the literary establishment  before self-publishing.

Initially, I decided not to publish with a big publishing house because of the lengthy selection process and the high level of competition. Every writer in the world wants to publish with one of the "big 6."  And, so did I.

But, I wanted to publish in six months (rather than three years), to have full creative control and the promise of better than meager royalties. Self-publishing offered just this chance.

I entered the New Millennium Writings contest in order to gain acknowledgment from established writers & editors and to earn greater recognition as an author. Now, a year later, I just learned that "The Return," a poem that appears in Contemplating Eve, earned a place in the semi-final round in last year's New Millennium Writings' annual poetry competition. It was selected, one of few, among 1200 submissions.

The editor of New Millennium Writings, Don Williams, noted this to me as a semi-finalist in his letter:


"The quality in our contests is high, and you should be proud 
of your accomplishment. I am."

I am pleased that I made it so far in this competition. Here's last year's poem:

The Farmer II

The Return

 

We must return
There must be an exodus
We are too rich, too might a force to
Remain here
I want to see the day
A day when the water returns to the sand
The deserts
We are all on loan here.


The Sahara was fertile
Once
Grew tall trees and grasses
It was called the Sahel
I wonder where deserts come from.

Maybe we belong back there
Maybe this is my story
This is my journey
Back from where we left
None by choice

Sold and stolen
Sold and stolen
Sold and stolen
How many times?

I am Guinea
I am woman
I am country
I am money
The puzzle pieces fit together.

And, maybe I am the water
Maybe I make it rain
Flow---
If I word it correctly
If this is so, then
I think I know where I belong.

If I am Guinea and I am water, then
I wonder where deserts come from.

Sold and stolen
Water
An ever so precious commodity
Ever so cheap
Commodity

Commodity fetishism
is a shame now
is it not?
Now, that is justice clearly stated.

And, the deserts miss the rain.