Getting Your Writing Accepted

A.I. Generated

Well, you’ve done it. You’ve written that story, poem, novel. A true labor of love to complete. You were challenged all the way from start to finish; drinking gallons of coffee and many sleepless nights. But it’s finally finished and you can reap the rewards of your labors. Now you get to hurry up and wait.

 And wait and wait and wait.

    Why is the acceptance letter taking so long to get to you? Was it lost in the mail?

Did you give the publisher the wrong email address?

    The truth is, if you're only writing to collect a paycheck, you should explore other options. If you're only writing to get paid, your prose/poems are probably suffering.

    But let’s say you put your heart and soul into whatever you write. The fact is, on any given day, the person reviewing your work could love it or hate it, or worse, be indifferent to it. Today they want eggs and bacon, tomorrow they want waffles, the next day they want biscuits and gravy. And so on. My point is, even if you get your work in front of the right person, it may just be the wrong day.

    If you’re submitting to a contest with thousands of entries, that big name judge probably won’t even see your piece unless it gets past the screeners first. So not only does one person have to love your piece but possibly several people will need to approve it and pass it on.

    Getting published is hard. Even online magazines often begging for content, may not accept your masterwork. What can you do? Keep submitting (not to the same publisher) but spread it around. If you only submit to The New Yorker, you will probably never be published. Great if you are, but very unlikely.

    Rejection letters are not inherently evil. A kind constructive rejection letter should be accepted in the spirit it is given. First, the publisher took the time to read your piece and respond. Even if they didn’t accept this one it doesn’t mean they won’t accept anything from you. What I do find frustrating is not receiving any word at all. You could be twisting in the wind for a long time before giving up and moving on. So at least appreciate the time you didn’t waste, waiting for the approval that never came.

    There are sites on the internet that can help you find the right publisher at the right time. Submittable is one, Submission Grinder is another and there are many more. The websites are usually paid by publishers who specify what content they are looking for.

    If your goal is to be published, don’t give up. Keep trying. The right person will come along and it will all be worth it.

(I am not paid by the aforementioned websites)