Submit, Publish, Repeat: How to Publish Your Creative Writing in Literary Journals

by Emily Harstone

Submit, Publish, Repeat is the definitive guide to publishing your creative writing in literary journals. It helps writers of all levels navigate the often confusing world of literary journals.

In this book, you’ll learn how to find the right literary journals to submit to, maximize your chances of publication, and build momentum in your writing career.

Publishing in literary journals is one of the best ways to find the attention of major publishers. Many, many books deals had their origins in publication by literary journals.

A literary journal is a magazine that specializes in publishing works of literary merit. Some focus on a particular genre, like science fiction or crime writing, and others publish poetry, short stories, or flash fiction. Most are open to work of all kinds. Many are open to visual art, as well.

If you want to publish poetry, short stories, creative nonfiction, or any type of creative writing in literary journals, this book is for you. It gives you an easy-to-follow formula for publishing your work.

139 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 29, 2019

Reviews

[Carl Bluesy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve been written in public stories for a few years now, and I spent countless hours researching how to better submit to give me the best chance of acceptance. I’ll save myself hundreds of hours I got my hands on this book earlier.

Personally I didn’t get too much out of this book because of all the research are done prior to reading it. But for people who are new to smitten, short stories or poetry, this would be a fantastic resource. Everything it says is true although some things might be a little out of date
depending what version you read. One thing I did get this book is confirmation that I am doing the right things when it comes to submitting short stories.

So, if you’re new to smitten, short story or poetry, that would be a great book for you. If you already been doing it for a while, this would be a good check up to make sure there is no gaps in your knowledge.

I did find this book to be rather dry, which I think is both a good and bad thing. It didn’t worry about it any for any extras they had a point it wanted to make, and it made it, no more no less.

I wish I could find more books that towards specific parts of written, like this with the submitting process, instead of books that try to cover everything that has to do with writing in one book.

[Lloyd Earickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my writing group members circulated a copy of this as a resource for finding new places to submit our stories.  That’s always useful, especially as I’m trying to be better about submitting my stories to more places rather than resorting too soon to publishing here on my site, and I planned to save it to my computer for reference later.  When I started glancing though it, though, those glances became a more-or-less thorough read.  I don’t know what proportion of my audience here consists of fellow would-be or active writers, but for those of you who are, this is an excellent resource.

It is a guide to submitting your work for publication, mainly short stories and poems – the actual submission process, nothing about the writing or revising processes.  Harstone walks the reader through different levels of places to submit, how simultaneous submissions work, what to expect, cover letters, formatting, and so forth.  It is mostly applicable to fiction writers, although the author had more anecdotes about submitting poetry.  There is less that is specific to genre fiction writers, so if that’s you (which it probably is, if you’re reading this site), there are a few parts that won’t apply, and not all of the forums mentioned will accept your kind of writing.

Not that I can speak from all that much experience, since at the time of this writing I’m still relatively new to the submissions cycle, but most of what Harstone has to say makes sense.  I do not, however, entirely agree about the propriety of paying and being paid with regards to submissions to literary journals.  Despite being new to this game, I think it is reasonable to look for journals that pay their authors at least a little – at the very least, that helps tell me that the journal is sufficiently established and significant to have financing for content.  As for paying to submit to journals, I think that is a more complicated question, but I am not prepared to take Harstone's definitive stance on the matter.  Especially if the submittal fee is only a couple dollars, I would be willing to consider it for a particularly reputable journal.

This is a brief read, more of a pamphlet than a book, but it is hugely valuable if you’re new to trying to get your stories published.  I know I’ll be using it as a reference in the future for more than just places to submit, and it provides some valuable context that will boost your confidence if you’re new to this submitting game.  For a long time, I would agonize over submitting stories, thinking that I had to ensure that I was only sharing my very best stories.  While I’m still not at the point of cavalierly shooting out my stories to dozens of different journals simultaneously, I am submitting more stories, to more places, more frequently.  This piece might help you to do the same.

[elemsr · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

Very informative and useful for writers like me who have just started getting into the world of publishing. I would've liked however more tips and advice and fewer lists of literary journals.

[Chester Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a useful resource, paired with the website. It's so rare to find something like this that is not just a sales funnel. The website itself is fantastic and the information in this has been a real boost to morale. I have submitted more work in the last month than ever before, nothing accepted yet, but hopefully it's just a matter of time.

[Ronel Janse van Vuuren · Rating 4 out of 5]

“In my experience, one of the best ways to become an established author is not by sending out hundreds of query letters to agents and independent publishers. Instead, all of my professors in graduate school, including famous authors and poets, became established the same way: by publishing their work in literary journals. Some of them found their agents this way, others their publishers. This did not happen overnight. For many of them it took years, but it ultimately led to book contracts, book publication, and stable teaching jobs.”

That is the “why” of this book. If you want to go the traditional publishing route and have a prestigious teaching job in the writing field, this is a must-have book. The author covers everything from what to write, knowing when a story is ready, how to submit, who to submit to (various types of literary journals, anthologies, contests and more) and what the next steps should be.

An in-depth guide to boost your writing career. An excellent resource for any author’s shelf – whether they’re indie, traditional or hybrid.

[Erica Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It took the fear out of the submission process and had me submitting my work in no time flat!

[M.L. Bull · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great source of instructions and advice for submitting work into literary journals and how they can benefit the writing careers of authors as well as other creatives by opening new doors for more opportunities.

[Susan McCartney]

Fifth Edition of this book was offered by Authors Publishing. I have it on file and have used it repeatedly. I am looking for the next edition. Any clues on how to get ahold of Sixth Edition?

[Vincent Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Literary writers, here is a book that you must read. If you write to be published widely, to be acknowledged by mainstreams, to be endorsed to the 'snobbish' book/publishing industry, this is the book to read. Any newbie, too, should read this book. It offer helpful guide to submission guidelines and how to navigate the waters. Good luck (me, no. I'm book pariah).

Submit, Publish, Repeat is the definitive guide to publishing your creative writing in literary journals. In this book, you’ll learn how to find the right literary journals to submit to, maximize your chances of publication, and build momentum in your writing career.

If you want to publish poetry, short stories, creative nonfiction, or any type of creative writing in literary journals, this book is for you.

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent guide to better explore publishing venues for poetry and short stories, in both online and print literary journals. Contains valuable advice and some resources for opportunity seekers.