Last week we talked about submitting more to literary magazines and how to format our work like we know what we’re doing. Lucky for us, literary magazines aren’t all dedicated to capital L literature. There are several that shut the door to genre writing entirely, but there are also many who publish it exclusively.

Submitting to lit mags isn’t the same as pitching a story to a magazine. Pitching is when you submit an idea for a story, and if it’s accepted, you then write it. This is more typical for non-fiction work. Lit mags are looking for completed works that are ready to go for publication.

How to Find Magazines

There are a bajillion places to find lists of magazines to submit to, but these are the most helpful:

  • Submittable. This platform is also where most magazines house their submission portal – the form that you fill out to attach your work and send it to them. Here, you can search by genre, open calls for submissions, calls that are closing soon, contests, and more. You’ll need to sign up for a free submittable account to use this database. You’ll also need an account if you submit to a magazine that uses this platform as their portal.
  • Poets & Writers. You can sort by sub-genre like Historical, Speculative, Horror, etc. They also have a Small Press database if you’re looking to publish book-length work.
  • New Pages. Their listings include calls for submissions, contests, and they even have a list of Alternative Magazines.
  • Clifford Garstang puts out a list every year of the top literary magazines, and has a comprehensive ranking system based on pushcart nominations and prizes, anthologies, etc… He also provides his full methodology. If your work skews more mainstream (Historical Fiction can often fall into this category), you can give his lists a try.

How to Submit

Once you’ve found a magazine that you like, make sure they publish the kind of work that you write. I know that sounds elementary, but as someone who has ran a magazine, I cannot tell you how many authors crop dust the literary market with their story just hoping that it will stick somewhere. It’s a massive waste of time and money.

  • Before you do anything, make sure that this draft is as polished as you can possibly make it. Run it past a few people for clarity, if anything. Then…
  • Ready your document per the guidelines if you haven’t already. If you’ve forgotten some of the terms, we’ve got you covered.
  • Determine a budget you’re willing to spend on submissions per piece or per month. Submission costs usually range from 3-5 US Dollars. More for contests or if you choose the option for feedback. Some are still free.
  • You’ll likely be redirected to a Submittable form or an in house Submission Manager. The steps are pretty straightforward at that point. You’ll upload your work, following their guidelines.
  • You’ll also need an author bio.

Next week, we’re going to cover how to write that pesky author bio, and what to write if you’ve never published before. Later, we’ll cover how to track your lit mag submissions and why you definitely want to do that.