Who is publishing work by new writers? If you’ve been in the publishing industry long enough, you’ve probably heard a writer lament, “In order to get published, you have to be published already!” And yet, if having publishing credentials in order to get published was truly necessary, no one would be published at all.
There are many publishers, presses, literary magazines, and publishing houses that acquire the books, short stories, poems, and novels of new, unpublished writers. It’s just a matter of being at the top of your game, and knowing where to look.
Local Papers, Private Publications, and Specialty Publications
While having your work published in a small, monthly hometown paper (whose editor was at your barbecue last year) might not be the most glamorous publishing credential, smaller publications in your region are a great place to start. Often, editors of local magazines, e-zines, and community newsletters are thrilled to print the work of up-and-coming writers from their area.
If you want to tap into this market, be sure you’re the right person to do it: If you’re not truly enthusiastic about participating in your community with like-minded readers/writers, you might not be a prime candidate for this type of publication.
You might also consider writing for a specialty newsletter. For example, many corporations, religious organizations, and clubs issue community bulletins and newsletters on a regular basis. Why not see about getting your writing published there? Or keep your ear to the ground to learn about local magazines targeted to a specific audience. Many locales will have smaller poetry magazines or periodicals about nature, education, or local living. Those are great venues for new writers.
Once you have a few smaller publications under your belt, you’ll be ready to take the next step: publishing your creative writing in literary magazines.
Online Literary Magazines
New writers would do well to take the booming world of online literary journals very seriously. As the Internet continues to evolve, a writer’s online presence (and online platform) will become increasingly important. Ignore online journals at your own risk!
We’ve been writing a lot about online literary magazines in recent weeks (we love them), and we hope you’ll check out some of our articles listed below. In the meantime, here’s what you—as a new writer—need to know about online journals.
Because online journals don’t typically have the same kind of operating costs as print literary magazines, they do have a little more leeway to take a risk on a new writer. Choose your online journal submissions carefully, and you could end up with a fantastic portfolio. Don’t know which online magazines are best for your work? Writer’s Relief can help.
Articles About Online Literary Magazines:
Online Literary Journals: How To Determine Quality And Reputation
Online Writing Submissions: Mistakes Writers Make Submitting To Literary Agents And Editors
What Is Considered Previously Published Writing?
Print Literary Magazines And Journals
For new writers of poetry and creative prose (short stories and essays), literary journals are a rite of passage into writing maturity. While online journals are increasingly important, many literary journals are also available in print editions (though the number is shrinking).
Print literary journals DO frequently publish work by new writers. At Writer’s Relief we’ve been helping writers submit their work to literary magazines since 1994—and we’re not going to tell you that it’s easy to be accepted for publication in a print magazine. Generally speaking, only about one or two of 100 submissions make(s) it all the way to publication.
That said, literary magazine editors truly are on the hunt for exciting new writing. And to many editors, your writing background matters very little. It’s the quality of the writing that dictates whether you’ll get published—that and how well you researched and targeted your submissions.
At Writer’s Relief we’re proud that we’ve helped writers publish their work more widely. Some writers-turned-clients came to us with no publishing credits at all and left with many publications AND a literary agent. Learn how you can become a client of Writer’s Relief.
Writers can also publish with several well know Print-on-Demand publishing services. They create the book that ends up on Amazon.com or Barnesandnoble.com. The book gets out and is available for purchase on Amazon soon after the book comes out. This could not be done only a few years ago. It is still cutting edge publishing even though Authorhouse a company connected with I-Universe have published and released thousands of titles of basically first time authors.
Yes it costs the writer some start up fees but that’s how it works. This is just another way to go or an alternative to traditional publishing and very picky agents.
I would like to hear your thoughts about this other path to publishing a book and making it available for purchase.
Extra help is a necessity. I am in the process of having my first poetry book published through iUniverse. It has been a struggle, but I have learned so much. Most of the things I learned I should have had under my hat before I started out.
Have a good English teacher,format info, and a good writing club, in order to be truly on top of things before you submit your work.
Make sure you have a writing budget so you won’t be caught off guard. You will be charged fees after your original packet,if your manuscript needs more adjustment.
This article gave me helpful information about getting my work published. Finding places to send your work isn’t always easy. I have three articles almost ready for publication, but I am having a hard time making up my mind about where to send them. I am in the process of querying several places.
Amazon has a sub site, Createspace.com, which is a print on demand service, requiring little in the way of upfront costs. They do offer the editorial services mentioned above as other sites do, but they do not require that you use them. If you are a competent writer and comfortable with a computer, you will find their services very very affordable. I have self-published three books with them, and you can preview those books at Amazon.Com if you go there and search my author’s page (Terry Palardy). I highly recommend this company: they have living human beings answer customer support calls.
And if you do visit my page and books at Amazon, please leave me a note in the open forum … and mention your name and book! We can mutually support our titles’ recognition in this way!
Traditional publishers are in something of a bind at the moment, as ebooks take hold. I’ve been “trad” published for over 20 years, and my last “traditional” was in 2006. I now use Amazon ebook publishing and Amazon print on demand. Costs nothing, is easy to use, and the print versions are excellent quality. So my advice is to give it a try – it costs you nothing.
What happens to articles already published in small circulation(few hundred hits) platforms like one’s own blog, are these pieces eligible for publication in larger platforms like newspapers?
Arun, most editors consider work published on one’s own blog or website to be previously published. You can learn more here.