By Kelly Davio.
Flex Your Professionalism Biceps
Most writers hope to eventually publish a book-length work rather than handfuls of individual pieces over time, but as in every discipline, we build our careers over time. Just as an artist might pain multiple studies of figures before attempting a final canvas, and an athlete will train year-round for a single event, so too do writers hone their craftsmanship and their professional skills over time; a cover letter for a short story submission may differ from a query letter, but the voice, clarity, and professionalism that you develop in writing the former translates directly to the latter. Journal editors are not so different from agents in that we all want to work with writers who can follow our guidelines, follow up only when appropriate, format work as requested, and demonstrate an attitude of goodwill toward others in the writing and publishing world. Flexing your professionalism muscles in your submissions to journals will only help you in your chances of making a positive impression on agents and publishers down the line.
Get Comfortable with The Writer’s Closest Companion
I’m talking about our old friend rejection. While the literary industry changes seemingly by the moment, rejection is a staple. It doesn’t matter how brilliant a writer is—no one’s work is a perfect fit for every venue’s editorial needs every time she submits. It takes time, research, and often many rounds of submissions to find the right home for a book, and the same is true of an individual essay, story, or poem; rejection is part of the publication process.
For many writers, the first few rejections take on a soul-crushing weight, but over time, rejection becomes easier to handle; when writers realize that a “no” from one editor isn’t referendum on talent, it becomes that much easier to move on to the next submission without spiraling into self-doubt. As anyone in the process of pitching discovers, fortitude in the face of “no” is a quality we must all develop.
Learn to Play Well with Others
If you’re looking for an agent or a publisher, chances are good that you have an ideal working relationship in mind; you probably want to work with a pro who’s not just great at his or her job, but who’s also responsive, understanding, and respectful. Not shockingly, agents and editors have the same wishlist for working with writers! Fostering a good working relationship is an onus that falls on both sides of a working relationship.
Here’s the hitch: writers are—and should be—highly invested in their work and its presentation. That can lead us to be a little overly demanding or, dare I say it, high-maintenance. One great way that writers can learn how to keep their cool through the publication process is to work with a literary journal. As you move from the “have they read it yet?” fidgets to the high-five-everybody delight of getting your acceptance letter, and slog from the painful process of killing your darlings at your editor’s behest to the seemingly endless period before you get to check through your galleys, you have the opportunity to demonstrate that you can work cooperatively and appreciatively with an editorial team. When you make it a practice to treat all your contacts at a journal—from interns to the editor-in-chief— kindly and professionally, not only can you develop long-term editorial relationships with the journal in question, but you also develop a positive work model that you can rely on in the stressful time when you begin pitching agents, and, later, when your agent begins pitching your work to publishers.
Forget Platform for a Moment—Build an Audience
To the writer hoping to sell a book, the word “platform” takes on a larger-than-life importance. At times, we writers may feel that, unless we emerged from the womb with fully developed curriculum vitae or reality TV pilots already shot via ultrasound, we are woefully behind in developing our platforms. The good news? Literary journals love to break new writers into print; not only do we not mind a writer without a platform many miles high, we are also a great way for writers to build an audience. When, over time, your work has found a home in a variety of literary journals—whether with excerpts from your book-length manuscript or with short work written specifically for the magazine market—you’ll find that you gain a readership. While your adoring fans may be few in number at first, over time, you may well find that you count notable writers, editors, and, yes, even agents and publishers among your readers.
So, Where Do You Start?
Of course, I’m partial to Tahoma Literary Review, especially because I like to see writers get paid for their work. But beyond TLR, services like Duotrope, New Pages, and The Review Review can give you an excellent vantage point on the many literary markets in the US and worldwide. Follow those submission guidelines, send out your best work, and happy submitting.
