Ravenous

A friend and I were talking and were both working on screenplays. But after research shes decided that theres a slim chance hers will happen and is currently converting her movie to book form. I somewhat agree with her and I have alot of other great stuff that I want to get out from poetry and short stories to entire books (even a childrens ). But I was wondering if anyone here can help me out or give me some advice or at least point me in a direction on what I can do to get something published. Any links or people I can write letter to would be great. I dont care if its to get a book published or to getting a short story in a magazine. I just want to get my stuff out there and get a little check.

Any help is greatly apprecited.

djmont

First step is to write something great. Pick something you're really interested in and that you're good at writing and concentrate on that.

If you're just trying to break into print, maybe try a newspaper?

Pointyskull

Start out with small expectations. Don't expect to have your first written piece ever published appear in some well-known glossy magazine or periodical. It could happen, but the odds are against you.

You may need to try a small indie publication that pays little - if at all - just to get something in print. That's what I did, at least. That's still a thrill, and it can hopefully grow from there for you.

The main thing: keep writing.

I suggest you pick up a copy of Writer's Market 2007....

wlmowery

When looking to break into print, if you have a field of specialized knowledge you might be able to get a journal publication accepted easier than a fictional work (as a first step). I know I would try to leverage my legal background and my editorship of a legal journal if I ever tried to publish a fictional work (which I have thought about).

I also second the recommendation of the purchasing a competent writer's guide like mentioned above.

benedict

From years gone by, see also:

How hard is it to get published?
Any authors here?

cornyt

What type of material are you trying to get published? If it's "literary" short fiction (non-genre based) I might be a little help.

Ravenous

Good suggestions. I have written a few things and short stories but Im not too sure I can be in the newspaper. Not due to language but my stuff seems longer and more complex than whats in my local paper

Ive had others read my stuff and it goes over pretty well. Albiet its a small circle and we read to workshop our work.

I have alot of stuff corny. Even some literary short fiction. If theres anyway you can help out, Im all ears.

TimeandTide

I recommend entering contests. The prizes are often small but at least you'll get a bit of recognition for your work and potential publication of your material.

I won TNT's first Rough Cut Screenplay Challenge and Wizard Magazine's scriptwriting contest.

The trade magazines available at B&N and Borders usually have contest listings and deadlines.

cornyt

Cool (I always hate writing the "literary" part, but I can't think of any other name for it).

Here's some basics for short story publication, if this can help at all.

1. Manila envelopes so the submissions will not be bent.
2. Cover letter and SASE along with submission.
3. Submissions should NOT be stapled, only paper clipped so it's easier for them to flip through (always use plain white paper).
4. Be very careful of grammar because many of the readers will assume if not enough attention is paid to the little details, the larger details will also be problematic.
5. Cover letters are generally straight forward: college/grad school attended; previous publications. Nothing too much beyond that. I know someone who works at a lit magazine and says there's a big board where they put up cover letters that they find too self aggrandizing.
6. Some places state that you should not simultaneously submit, but generally you can ignore this (do NOT state in your cover letter that this has been sent to another magazine). Stories take between 1 month at the earliest, to 3-4 months for them to respond to.

Generally, most magazines are run through colleges, so most of the first round of decisions are made by graduate students. Which means you won't be looked at by more established writers until fairly late in the process. Stories often go through about three rounds of readers.

Contests are a good idea, since there are generally a smaller pool of submissions but there is a submission fee, from $10 to $25. Prizes often run from $1000-1500.

Here's a site I like that lists various places to submit:

http://www.duotrope.com/

I'll write in more if I think of anything else.

cornyt

Also, it's important to note how competitive this can be. A magazine wrote that they received around 300 submissions for 3 pages of poetry, which means they had to turn down about 297 poems. I don't think this is unusual at all. So be prepared to submit. A lot.

If you are less concerned about pursuing the very competitive magazines (Glimmertrain, Ploughshares, Zoetrope, etc), it might be worth looking at some of the newer, up and coming magazines.

Also, since a lot of them are college-run magazines they are closed during the summer, so check the dates when they accept submissions or they will send a rejection without reading.

mgbfan

In answer to your thread title: Yes.

As other people have said, you just have to write well. The whole idea that "getting published" is some esoteric, unreachable mystery is total crap. If you're talented and persistant, you'll get published. And I don't mean webzines and garbage fanfic magazines that pay 2 cents per word.

There are no secret handshakes, no magic words, no esoteric passwords. It's not a matter of jumping through hoops or knowing the right people. Those are the things that untalented writers tell themselves to self-soothe. I won't deny that persistance is key, especially early on, but that's really the easy part.

mgbfan

This is true only if you have no confidence in the work being submitted. It's basically your way of saying to yourself "the odds of more than one person liking this are so slim as to be ignored." And if that's your position, you probably should be sending it to a file of a different kind.

Trevor

I have !!!! The National Library of Poetry selected my poem, "Ode to Ultraman", as a finalist! It was one of the best poems of 2006 they say!

I just needed to send them $49.95 for a hardbound collection featuring my winning poem.

And they even said it was good enough to be put on CD, read by a famous person! I just have to send another $59.99 for that.......

djmont

This is a popular item of debate among writers, but I come down on the side of NOT paying to enter contests. As a writer, your goal is to be paid for your work, not to pay other people. There are enough legitimate markets for writing out there that do not require you to pay them in order to be considered. (This is a point on which reasonable people can differ, but this is my position.)

It is also important to note -- and this is NOT an item of debate -- you should never under any circumstances pay an agent or a publisher reading fees, submission fees or any other fees of any kind. If a person wants to publish your work or represent you and they ask for money, they're con artists.

(In answer to the original question... Yes, I've written for the New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Boston Globe and about a half-dozen other large newspapers.)

cornyt

I would argue with this. The field is very competitive though you're right that persistence is key. I know a lot of people debate this, but I believe with the turnaround from turning in a story to hearing back from them being such a long time, why not simultaneously submit? Sometimes they don't respond at all, due to many reasons (one grad student I knew kept a stack of 30 manuscripts in his apartment, unread, for an entire semester).

I heard at a panel from a pretty well-established writer, who won a Flannery O'Connor Short Fiction Award (a big prize) that it would have taken a decade for her to publish her stories if she had not simultaneously submitted. She has three or four books out now and, not that it means anything, I think she's extremely talented.

I don't think it's lack of confidence; it's playing the odds. No matter how talented a writer you are, rejection is likely part of the process. And what's the worst that can happen? Withdraw it from everywhere else if it's accepted some place. If it's taken by two places, you'd have to craft a good response to say why you want it published somewhere else or, at worst, you have one magazine out of many closed to you for awhile.

In any case, many magazines are finally doing away with the ban on simultaneous submissions so it's not a big issue.

cornyt

Just a quick question, but is the first step to publishing for newspapers (freelance) collecting clippings and then submitting a proposal to the editor? I've had book reviews published for smaller papers and would love trying for the bigger market papers.

Sean O'Hara

Think of the worst book you've ever read -- bad characterization, clunky dialogue, exposition handled through giant infodumps, writing that creaks -- and remember, that got published. Most of the stuff in publishers' slush piles ranges from sub-literate ramblings to The Eye of Argon. So if you can write better than that, you have a good chance of being published outside of the Internet or a vanity press.

You should check out the Science Fiction Writer's of America's website, which has a lot of great articles on how to prepare and submit manuscripts, and how to avoid publishing scams.

djmont

I addressed that question on my blog a while back, so I'll just point you to that.

But the brief answer is: yes.

djmont

In most circumstance, I don't think there's anything wrong with simultaneous submissions. And I don't think I've ever heard a writer say they didn't do it. It's not a lack of confidence in your work; it's an acceptance of the realities of the marketplace.

Sean O'Hara

There's nothing wrong, as long as you don't get caught. But if you're story's good enough that two publishers bite, you're going to piss one of them off when you say, "I got a response from Other Publisher first. Sorry for wasting your time." If you're writing genre fiction, where the publishing field is pretty small and incestuous, this might get you a bad rep with other publishers. In short, only do it if you don't think you're likely to be accepted by more than one publisher.

Now, if you've written a novel instead of a short story, there's a way around this -- a query letter. Publishers only count it as a submission if you send in the manuscript (or, more commonly, the first few chapters and a summary). You can instead send a letter to various publishers saying, "Hey, I'm a writer who's had short stories published in Popular Fiction Quarterly and Northern State Literary Magazine. I've written a novel called The Vorpal Sword. It's about .... Would you be interested in the manuscript?" You can research the publisher to find which editor is most likely to be interested in your book and send the query directly to him. Not only does this allow you to query multiple publishers, but if one asks for the MS, you'll bypass the slush pile.

cornyt

Thanks for the link.

djmont

If you've written a novel, you're better off looking for an agent, not querying publishers directly. Most of the publishers you'd want to deal with don't look at unsolicited manuscripts. (And, if you do get an offer, you're going to need an agent to make the deal for you anyway.)

Sean O'Hara

I know quite a few published authors who didn't get an agent until well after their first book was published -- and some not even then. The general consensus among science fiction and fantasy writers is that it's nearly impossible for an unpublished writer to get a reputable agent, and even some short story credits aren't likely to get you in the door.

Seeker

Getting published, as others have said, is 'simply' writing something great.

People WILL notice and you will get published.

You can also publish yourself, if you feel you want more control, or if you are worried about rejection by others. All that means is that you either write crap and still want to publish, or you write gems, but just want to be in control.

djmont

That's a bold statement. I know a lot of writers and generally the only consensus they can form is that yes, they will have another round.

Unpublished and unknown writers get agents (and deals) every day. So I still recommend that as the best course of action for any would-be authors. The major problem facing an unagented writer is that nearly all of the major publishers simply won't read unrepresented manuscripts.