This weekend I was determined to get through my pile of submission guidelines. I was supposed to submit something to every single one I had. All you experienced writers stop laughing – I might have done it. Okay so I didn’t.
I did go through and submit a large number of fiction and poetry to a variety of places. It was so much easier now that I have things organized the way I want them. I was able to just grab a stack and work. However, submitting work is never as straight forward as just attaching a file to an email.
No you have to research and look at the type of work that the magazine publishes. Then you have to figure out which of your pieces best fits the criteria. You have to read it and make sure it doesn’t need editing, make sure it follows the guidelines that they set down. Some of these guidelines are as simple as we want fiction to as complicated as a nuclear bomb.
If you are submitting poetry some want it in the body of the email, others want it to be one file. You have to follow their guidelines to the smallest minute detail. If you don’t, you are rejected. Hell even if you do, you are often rejected.
I got 35 items submitted this weekend and I’m only about a third of the way through my stack of guidelines. One of which has already been rejected. I’ve also discovered a new place to look for leads for publishers so I have to now find time for that too. I know I got a lot done this weekend but I still feel like I have just scratched the surface. Perhaps because my pile of guidelines is still too large and there seems to be no end to the possibilities.
If only I could go without sleep I could get so much more done.