The Most Important Things to Remember When Submitting to Literary Journals and Publications

All my research on submitting compiled into one post

Photo by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash

**Note that I use the terms publication and journal synonymously throughout this post**

Why publish in literary journals and anthologies?

Having your work published in literary journals and anthologies is the best way to become an established author — it allows you to get your name and your work out there, and it may lead to book deals when other agents, editors, and publishers stumble across your work. However, this doesn’t come overnight. It may take years to build up and get your name and work out there enough to land a full deal with a publisher. So it’s best to get started as soon as possible and keep publishing your work in journals continuously.

The more you publish, the easier it becomes to publish more. Agents and publishers are more likely to sign you, and other journals more likely to accept you (unless they are journals that specifically prioritize new writers) when they already know your work and that your work has been accepted by other publications. Your work may be readily available to them to read and they may have already read it. This gives you a great advantage when submitting to them.

Publishing in literary journals and anthologies helps to gain readership and in a way, it’s free promotion of your work. If you don’t like the idea of marketing your work or are having trouble with that aspect of writing and publishing, having your work appear in different magazines, anthologies, websites, and journals — either online or in print — that are promoted and marketed as a collection can really help give you that marketing boost. Not to mention your name and work might appear alongside those of other established writers in your genre.

**The single most important thing to know when submitting to literary journals and publications**

Yes, those working for publications are called editors. However, they are not there to edit your work. They are there to read it and decide whether or not to publish it in the publication. They…