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LEELA’S TIPS & TRICKS FOR GETTING PUBLISHED

i’ve been getting a lot of questions lately on the publication process, so i thought i’d make a post sharing some of the things i’ve learned since i’ve started submitting my work! i’ll probably keep rbing this post with more info, so if you have any questions that i haven’t covered in this post, send ‘em on in and i’ll try my best to give you an answer.

quick disclaimer that i am in no way a professional and/or experienced AT ALL, so please take everything i say with, like….a tablespoon of salt. this is a learning experience for me, too, and i’m always open to feedback! so, without further ado, here we go:

1. how do you find places to submit to?

twitter! if you look up one magazine (you can even start with the ones i’ve been published in), it is stupidly easy to fall down an endless literary magazine rabbit hole. the publishing community does this follow friday thing where lots of magazines tweet lists of their favorite places to submit to, so honestly, they do most of the work for you. in addition to all of that, @birdpoems on twitter made a huge directory of badass inclusive indie lit mags accepting work in a variety of genres, which you can find here. if that’s a little overwhelming, my personal lit mag spreadsheet (which hopefully will be bigger soon, haha) also has a few lit mags accepting work in the genres i generally write in (poetry/prose).

2. i really want to submit my writing somewhere, but the possibility of rejection scares me.

…which is a whole MOOD. writing is so so personal and letting someone (whom you don’t know beyond a name & maybe a photo) read it and decide whether it’s worth publishing is frankly terrifying. and just because of this, SO MANY utterly fantastic writers never get published or gain an audience. obviously, there’s nothing wrong with that–if you’re happy just writing for yourself (or social media), go for it! this perception of art needing to be seen or artists needing recognition to be “real artists” is a capitalist myth, and you should create for yourself before you do it for anyone else. that said, if you genuinely want to be published, the possibility of rejection (while scary) shouldn’t be what stops you. i mean, i have rsd and just the IDEA of submitting my work used to give me heart palpitations. but. just keep in mind that all of us are shitty writers who have absolutely no fucking clue what we’re doing, and the only way to feel even a little better about the whole shitshow is to support each other and try our best to believe in ourselves !!! i believe in you and i love you and you’re going to be just fine !! another thing to bear in mind is that the people reviewing your writing are often writers themselves – meaning they know how awful it is to get rejections. all of the rejections i’ve gotten (and that’s a LOT: i got 3 before i got my first acceptance – hell, i got one this morning! i also fell down the stairs this morning, but that’s not the point) have been super nice and encouraged me to submit again. we’re in this together, folks. don’t forget that. and if you ever want me to be your personal hypeman (woman??) send me an ask!!! i am more than happy to scream from the rooftops about how pretty your poetry is & your fantastic use of imagery.

3. i want feedback on my writing. how do i get it?

there’s a few different ways you can go about getting feedback. 1) if you peruse the depths of Publishing Social Media™, you might be able to find some informal writing exchanges. my friend gaia rajan (@gaia_writes on twitter) is currently running a workshop where writers can get/give feedback for their work (register here). you can also probably find some people on here (+ other social media platforms) that are willing to chat about writing as well. (i’m always on this damn app anyways, so dm me if you want feedback on anything!!) 2) some literary magazines offer feedback on submissions. a few that come to mind are dishsoap quarterly and kalopsia lit, but there’s definitely a lot more, so keep an eye out. this market also opens up a little bit more if you’re a poc – some magazines do require you to pay to receive feedback, but lots i’ve seen will waive that charge if you’re a poc. (which, fun fact, i did not know when submitting to a magazine i’m being featured in in september and just thought that they gave that much feedback to everyone – EXTREMELY confusing to me given their response time + audience. but no, turns out i’m just stupid.)

4. what’s the deal with only “previously unpublished works?”

the short answer: lots of lit mags only allow you to submit work that hasn’t been featured anywhere else. but what this means in practice can vary sometimes – for example, some lit mags count social media as a previous publication and others don’t, so be sure to read their guidelines carefully. if they don’t say whether they include social media, it’s best to err on the side of caution and not post it. (note that when they ask for “first north american serial rights/FNASR” i’m pretty sure you’re not allowed to post it, but the contract’s wording is kind of weird, so if anyone knows for sure on this one, please notify me!)

most lit mags also allow simultaneous submissions, meaning that you can submit the same works to different magazines as long as you notify them of it and keep track of all of your submissions.

5. how the hell do i write a cover letter?

i fucking hate cover letters.

okay, but all jokes aside, writing cover letters is annoying and kind of nerve-wracking at first, but you do get used to it. eventually. (or at least, i hope you do.) context: a cover letter is basically two paragraphs of stiff nonsense telling a lit mag who you are, what you’re submitting, etc etc. they don’t really have to be super formal, but it shouldn’t be like you’re talking to your friend either.

anyways, i’ve made a stock format for writing cover letters so you don’t have to go through the weird cover letter induced panic attacks i had when i first started submitting to lit mags:

Dear [name of lit mag/name of editor],

My name is [insert name], and I’m [you can either say something along the lines of being interested in submitting to their journal or insert a tidbit about you – for example, i sometimes do, “a queer Indian-American high schooler from Phoenix.” this last part is especially for writers from marginalized communities, which i will get back to later.] Please consider my piece(s) [insert title(s) of your work here] for the upcoming issue of your magazine. [if they already have an issue out, you can say something about how you enjoyed reading it. if they don’t, you can say something about appreciating all the hard work & dedication that goes into running a lit mag.]

[lots of lit mags ask that you include a short third-person artist bio in the body of your email. i’ll address how to write that later, but know that it generally goes here.]

Please note that this piece is a simultaneous submission. I will notify you as soon as possible in the case that it is accepted elsewhere. [obviously, this part is optional depending on the specifics of your submission]

Thank you again for taking the time to read my submission. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely [best regards works as well],

[your name]

notes: don’t overthink it. it shouldn’t be all that complicated, and usually the magazine ends up sending you a response so casual that it makes you feel weird for doing all this shit in the first place. also, just don’t be an asshole – don’t misgender the editors, include trigger warnings, don’t say anything rude/offensive. it’s stupidly simple but just the Concept™ of submitting to a lit mag can be a Lot, so just take it step by step.

6. what do i put in an artist bio?

anything you want! if you look at other people’s bios, they generally say something about what they do for a living, where they’re writing from, & credentials (past publications + sometimes degrees) if they have them. if you don’t have credentials, you can say something about what you like to do in your spare time or drop your social media handles. (lit mags really like when you give them your social media, fyi – they will almost always do something to boost you on their twitter/insta). i’ve said it before, but read the fine print! some lit mags have specific word limits or things they want you to include in your bios–pronouns, etc. (for example, windows facing windows review does not want you to mention credentials, so keep an eye out for stuff like that!) generally bios are super informal (if you’ve ever seen mine i put random + probably very unfunny shit in them) so have fun with it !! go wild !!! talk about your love for paper airplanes !!! all writers are weird so i promise you will not be judged for it !!

7. you mentioned marginalized communities before. are there lit mags that exist specifically to uplift minorities?

absolutely! here are a few of my favorites: ghost heart lit (see if you can find anyone familiar on their list of august contributors ;) runs a monthly feature for poets of color (with an emphasis on trans/queer poc) called chambers. saffron lit is a journal specifically for brown asians & north africans. currently, non.plus lit has an open call for submissions of personal essays by black writers (they’re paying $50 per accepted piece, so go submit!). stone of madness press (which i’m being featured in soon!) is a magazine for queer, trans, & neurodivergent writers. kaloponia collective features work by or for visually impaired writers. mariás at sampaguitas aims to uplift all poc, lgbt people, & disabled/neurodivergent people and currently has issue submissions open for anyone with filipinx heritage. there are obviously a lot more, but here’s a starting list to work off of!

okay, that’s all i got for now!! if there are any questions i haven’t answered on here, feel free to dm me/send me an ask & i’ll do my best to answer + rb it with the addition. happy submitting !!

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