The
Right Places
By Adam McGrath
Let's clear a couple of things up from the start. Firstly, I'm a published
short fiction writer. So I know what I'm talking about (sort of).
Secondly, I'm-- how shall I put this?-- a mediocre fiction writer. If I
can get published, you can get published.
The question is: how?
It's easy. Simply send me a grand in your local currency, unmarked
non-sequential banknotes if you please. I promise to send you a gilt-edged
copy of your story in a high quality magazine with worldwide readership... Okay,
it's not that easy; it does take some work and perseverance on your part.
Thankfully, it's not that expensive either.
The starting point is your own writing. Just how good, bad, or
depressingly average is it? A little honesty goes a long way here.
If your story is riddled with clichés like the previous sentence, you need to
recognize and accept that fact (you also need to avoid them in future stories,
but this article is about getting published, it's not about improving your
writing).
You have to accept that the world
isn't going to recognize your unique and misunderstood genius anytime soon.
You've probably read (you SHOULD have read) lots of other pieces of fiction, so
how does yours compare to them? Be firm and fair. You don't want to
overrate yourself, but you shouldn't put yourself down unnecessarily.
It sounds like an exercise in ego demolition but it's an important start. Until
you have become the reincarnation of Hemingway, Joyce or Woolf, getting
published is going to be governed by one immutable law. You have to submit
to the right places. There, that's the secret. It sounds blindingly
obvious, and it is; yet so many writers seem to struggle on in willful and
unpublished ignorance. You, on the other hand, are already halfway to
knowing where those right places are. That's because you've just been
brutally honest about the quality of your work.
Shredded self-esteem in tow, it's time for the bit that costs money. What
publications are going to want your piece? This is why it's important to
know your own quality-- there's no point wasting your time and money submitting
to a publication where the standard is far higher than yours-- they won't touch
it. The maxim "to be a good writer, you have to be a good reader"
is spot on; if you are serious about getting published, you're going to have to
start reading a lot of potential target publications.
It's not that daunting a task. It's not supposed to be! A lot of
magazines will have websites with sample stories and writing or submission
guidelines, or back issues for sale without subscription. Don't be limited
by geography either-- if an overseas publication looks promising, buy it!
Independent bookstores will usually carry one or two short fiction magazines,
genre-specialist bookstores often have genre magazines, and even comic stores
can be a good source of potential markets for sci-fi, fantasy and horror genre
stories. Get out there and spend your hard-earned cash; it'll be a good
investment. Be sure to let the editor know I sent you-- I'm working on
commission here.
Buy all sorts; it's important. If you only buy the high quality magazines,
you're either aiming too high or you've got an over-inflated opinion of
yourself. We all want to be in New Yorker, Granta or Interzone, but if
you're still reading "how-to" articles it probably isn't going to
happen just yet. See that pile of A4 and A5 (or 8 1/2" by 11") sized
magazines with soft cardboard monochrome covers? The ones that look as if
they've been put together on a word processor and home printer? You need
to be buying them too. Chances are, they're your target markets.
Having cluttered your living space with all these publications (much to the
dismay of your significant other), read hard. Read for pleasure, by all
means, but read objectively at the same time. How do the stories in these
magazines compare to your own? Look at the standard of writing, the
subject matter, and most importantly the submissions policy. I once
received a rejection letter telling me that the magazine's readers prefer
stories with a happy ending-- my main character committed suicide, so I could
have saved myself the effort if I had known their preferences in advance!
This is the other side of finding the "right place"-- somewhere out
there is a magazine that publishes stories just like yours. With a bit of
luck, it's in one of those piles littered around your house.
Now send it in! This is the technical bit. Take a close look at the
submission guidelines in your chosen magazines. They'll specify how they
want you to format the story-- lines between paragraphs, no indentation at the
beginning of paragraphs, things like that. Different magazines can have
quite different formatting requirements, so pay attention and make sure you have
it right. We're not at the stage where we can trade on the raw quality of
our stories, so everything you do to keep the editor happy is a plus point.
Check details on how they want you to send it as well-- if they accept
submissions by e-mail, you can save yourself the cost of printing and posting
your work. Be careful here as well-- some publications want the story in
the text of the e-mail, some want it sent as an attached file of a particular
type. Some won't even consider stories submitted by e-mail, or accept
submissions via a website only.
The final step is perseverance and resubmission. You're going to get
rejects, probably quite a few, so stick with it. Take another look at your
story, another look at your magazines and find it a new home. It won't be
unusual for your stories to be rejected from one or two places before you get
them accepted somewhere else. Trust me, I know from painful experience.
It is possible for improving writers to get published; all it takes is a bit of
extra work outside the writing process. Look at me. If I can do it,
you can do it. It's all a matter of finding the right places.
Adam McGrath is a part-time
writer living in Dublin, Ireland. His stories, both literary and science
fiction, have previously appeared in Grapevine, GoodGoshAlmighty, Peninsular and
NFG, and his first novel is due to be released sometime in the 21st century.
Or more likely the 22nd at the rate he's going.
