Guidelines for Submitting Publishable Fiction

So you've polished up your latest piece of flash fiction, and you think it's finally ready for publication. After garnering a wide list of fresh, hip markets, you're poised to slap that puppy up with postage and send it out to the big leagues. Feels great, right? But before you hit that send button and distribute your magnum opus to all the brilliant ezines out there, take a moment and make sure you haven't committed any of these common submission blunders.

As a reader for one of the coolest literary journals on the net, I've come across my share of the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. I've also sent out plenty of my own submissions, and I have the rejection letters to prove it.

This first bit of advice for would-be authors seems a self-evident banality, almost, but given the letters I've received, it apparently needs to be spelled out to some people. Proofread, edit, revise. More than once. Look, I know you're raring to go. But no matter how eager you may be to get your work out there in the world, you should never send out a rough draft. Readers can sniff them out from a mile away. Simple rule of thumb: if it's not proofread several times, it's probably not fit for publication.

Along with proofreading your work, be wary of the typo fiend. If you expect someone to take your work seriously, then you must take the time to properly distinguish between "there," "their," and "they're." When I see such flagrant disregard for syntax and spelling, I tend to read with a harsher eye. For me, they suggest a lazy writer, and a lazy writer does not really deserve publication as far as I'm concerned. Respect your writing enough to make it readable, accurate, and precise.

Familiarize yourself with the publications to which you are sending your work. Buy a copy of several journals and consider their contents. Peruse markets that catch your fancy, and then ask yourself: is my work appropriate for this particular publication? Do not send a bit of sci-fi slasher bedlam to a tidy, matronly gardening ezine. Easy enough.

If a market requires a cover letter, don't include a detailed explanation of your work. This, for me, is one of the most annoying habits of new writers. It's tedious and presumptuous. I've received letters where writers layout the overarching symbolism behind their fiction, or clue me in on the reason they've employed such figurative language. Spare me. If your fiction really is the metaphorical, experimental, jazzy masterpiece you're hellbent on insisting it is, then let it speak for itself. I know, I know, this thing is your baby. But you've sent it out into the world, so let it go. If it's really good, then it will stand on its own. If it's really great, then it will shine.

In a similar vein, if an editor asks for a personal bio, they are NOT requesting a feature article of your childhood experiences in English class. No one (really, NO ONE) cares about how you used to scribble in journals when you were eight-years-old, or how you prefer moody lyrical pieces to plot-driven whodunit novels. I received one cover letter that ran for a full page describing the author's personal growth as a writer, and I'm afraid it agitated me through my entire reading of her piece.

Giving one's personal history is pretentious, not to mention tiresome for me to read when I have to get through dozens of submissions by dinnertime. Simply include the information an editor would need: your name, any relevant degrees, previous publications, and maybe one or 2 sentences about your personal life (hometown, occupation, and one interesting fact). Nothing more is really necessary.

Follow the particular submission instructions for each individual market. This, one would think, should be so in-your-face obvious, but I find, sadly, that is not the case. Every magazine/ezine has its own methods, and you need to respect the process of each individual market. I think some people become so caught up in the thrill of getting their name in print that they hastily send out mass submissions without so much as a glance at the publication itself. I, myself, can identify with such gung ho excitement. Still, you need to remain attentive to directions.

If an editor calls for attachments, send your piece as an attachment. If they ask for the work in the body of an email, do so. Follow length specifications, genres accepted, how to address the subject of the email. It all matters, and it doesn't take that much of your time to get it right. Many publishers will simply toss incorrectly formatted pieces in the trash, and that's not where you want your babies to end up so be careful and be attentive to directions.

One final suggestion from a fairly seasoned reader: make your piece worthwhile.

Most literary journals are staffed by unpaid volunteers who must sift through heaps of submissions in order to find that one gem. Make yours that gem.

Make it count. Make it something the reader won't be able to put down. Make it something he'll be able to read multiple times. Make it stand out. Make it relevant. If you're writing for publication, ask yourself: "why would anyone else care about this?" Because if the reader doesn't care, then your work is probably not going to see the light of day.

Best wishes in all your writing endeavors. Don't let rejection letters get you down. And send out only the very best.