You certainly wouldn’t want to be rejected every time you submit your story. Neither would you want to get involved with bad publications. This is why you need to be selective when it comes to submitting your literary work. You need to ensure that a publication is the right fit for the work you’re submitting. An excellent strategy for submission needs a lot of thought and time.
Sending your novel or a collection of poems to every single publication you know is not advisable at all. It’s simply a wastage of time and efforts. You also need to know what you’ll be getting out of that publication if they select your work. So, here are the three most important things you need to consider before submitting your literary work:
1. Does the publication meet all your requirements?
You must see whether you really like what they publish. Just because a publication is a reputed one doesn’t mean that it will be the right one for you. If you don’t like what they publish, it’s better to look for another one. Especially the one which comes out with the kind of literary works that you like. Next thing to know is whether they’re likely to publish your story or collection of poems.
If your work doesn’t fit the kind of works that they publish, you might be simply wasting your time. Look for publications where your stories or poems will co-exist with everything else harmoniously. The moment you come across such a publication, know it’s the right one for you.
2. Where will your work be published?
There are several possibilities where your literary work will be published. It can be a website, a print magazine, or an ecommerce site such as Amazon. The publisher might also make it available in a print as well as an e-book version. If it’s a website where your work will appear, it will be on a particular page. You might also find it buried deep in a one-page issue.
In case of print magazines, there’s only a limited editorial run. So, these are the things you need to consider along with a few others. Know where your story or collection of poems will be published before the submission. You might want your work to be available only in the e-book format. If this is the case, then don’t send it to a print magazine.
3. How long will the publication take to respond?
Before sending your work it’s always good to know the amount of time a publication typically takes. Waiting for acceptance can be frustrating and this is especially true if it’s a long wait. Most of the well-known publishing houses mention this in their submission guidelines. In case of magazines, you’ll need to turn to a good source of information.
Some of the websites such as Submission Grinder can provide you the right information in this regard. Waiting for more than six months with a 99.9% chance of rejection would be a bad idea. If you’ve come across such a publication, it’s better to move on to another one. Of course, there are certain publications that are worth the wait. However, they’re quite rare.
