Tips 3-1 for Submitting to Editors

Do…

3. Proofread your queries and submissions

It's important to proofread for typos and other boo-boos. It goes back to showing editors, agents, and anyone else you're submitting to that you're serious about writing. You're not sending in something you wrote off the top of your head, and you took the time to read and reread to check for mistakes. Sometimes it's hard to catch your own mistakes because your eyes see what they expect to see, and they expect to see what  you meant to write. Maybe you meant to write 'she' instead of 'the' but your finger went to the right instead of the left and…you know how it goes. And spellcheck, while a great tool, isn't perfect.

It's helpful to have another set of eyes proofread your work for you. Whether it's a friend with a firm grasp of language and spelling or you hire a professional editor, someone else will often catch those pesky typos before you do, and that will help you create a professional looking draft most editors will be happy to consider.

2. Read previous editions of the journal/publication to see what they publish

Sites like New Pages or the Literary Magazines page from Poets & Writers are great resources for finding journals that publish stories like the ones you've written. When I first started writing historical fiction I searched for journals that published that genre, but I couldn't find any. As a result, I started my own—The Copperfield Review. With so many journals online these days, it's easy to click through their stories to see what they like to publish, and it helps to whittle down your list of possible submissions.

For the first nine years of The Copperfield Review's existence, we only published historical fiction. During that time we received countless submissions that were not at all historical in nature. Writers wasted time sending their non-historical submissions to us. That was one more rejection letter they wouldn't have received if they had checked our website. Even a cursory glance would have shown that The Copperfield Review was a journal of historical fiction.

If you write science fiction, seek out science fiction journals. If you write mystery, humor, romance, inspirational, literary—whatever it is, there's a journal out there that publishes it. Send your work to those journals because you'll have a better chance of being published. And if such a journal doesn't exist, start your own. It worked for me.

1. Follow the submission guidelines exactly as stated

As a writer myself, I understand that sometimes submission guidelines seem petty, even vindictive—you know, a way to make writers more miserable. What does it matter if it asks for a third person bio? What does it matter if I send in seven poems at a time instead of three? But those guidelines exist for a reason, and editors notice if writers don't follow them. You're going to have to trust me on this.

Maybe the problem is the word guidelines, which sounds more like submission suggestions. The guidelines exist because the editors need some semblance of sanity, a method to our madness, to help us weed through hundreds of submissions per edition. For example, we don't accept file attachments because we caught viruses when we did. We only accept three poems at a time and we have a word limit for fiction and nonfiction because we're a tiny staff with day jobs, families, and other life obligations. We ask for a third person bio because books, newspapers, and magazines use third person bios. I understand that to authors it might not seem like a big deal whether they send in a bio in first or third person, but it makes a difference to us as we put each new edition together.

For writers who want a one-size-fits-all file that will work as a submission for fifty different journals, I'm afraid that's not likely. Submissions that follow the guidelines are the ones we look at seriously for publication. Writers careful to follow our specific guidelines at Copperfield  are showing us that they take their writing seriously, they care about presentation, and they're making the process easier by giving us what we've asked for. All I can say is a hearty "Thank you!" to those writers.

It isn't so hard to send in a strong submission. It boils down to being professional, sending in your best work, and following the guidelines. If you can do those things, the sky is the limit for your writing career.

Filed under: Writing Tagged: agents, editors, literary journals, writing, writing tips [image error] [image error] [image error]