Creating tailored submissions

In many cases, a submission window will have a specific theme or requirements (like word count, or not allowing pieces that have been submitted elsewhere), meaning you’ll have to create new work specifically for entry. The very first Impish Fen blog post covered getting your previously written work ready for submission, but what if you’re going to write entirely new stuff?

Well, as always, read those provided instructions carefully – and take this advice with a pinch of salt, as protocol is likely to differ from place to place. But this blog post will hopefully highlight the main things to be aware of when creating, editing and sending your specifically-tailored work to magazines and journals.

Finding a home for your work

Planning should already be a huge part of your writing strategy, but even more so when it comes to submitting your work. Researching, especially before you start putting pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) will save you a lot of hassle in the long run. Additionally, it may even increase your chances of getting published.

Look at open submissions calls, and make a note of their deadlines and any other important information. Make sure your work will be eligible by making sure you take content warnings into account, and identify a publisher’s relevance to work you’ve previously written. Make sure to organise your findings, as well as the submissions you do send off!

Writing to fit guidelines

Without being a know-it-all, all the information you should need will be found on the publisher’s call for submissions. They expect to get work from many authors, so providing a web page of instructions or even sticking them with the submission link means that they don’t have to waste their time re-explaining it, and also should make your job a lot easier.

Publishers stress it constantly, so this blog post is going to be no different. If you can guess what’s coming up, well done – you’ve done your due diligence: read the guidelines. Scour the page, and make sure you go through every line to work out what they want from you. Depending on the magazine’s niche, you might be looking for traditional formatting, or the wackiest concept you can muster – just make sure you understand what they’re asking for from writers. On that note…

It’s recommended to read some previous issues to get a feel for what they like to publish. Many have an archive of their old releases, but oftentimes, you may have to dip into your pockets to buy a copy. If you’re really skint, but still want that extra insight, have a look at the published authors’ other stuff (if you can find their names), or ask around. That way, you can be inspired by what worked, and you may even discover some hidden gems.

Writing with restrictions

Think of those previous points as preparation – now that you have a checklist of the main things to be wary of, go and write! Actually, in the off-chance you do have something stored that fits the bill, as long as it also adheres to whatever criteria the magazine has on simultaneous submissions, you can submit that as well. Whether that’s pruning a poem or starting a new script from scratch, making your writing fit the brief will put you in good stead for getting accepted.

When submitting, as well as your author bio, you may be required to submit a cover letter. Keep this sparse – just the title of your work (plural if you’re submitting multiple), some contact information and whether your work is a simultaneous submission. This is not the place to explain away your work, so no background info, but maybe a friendly greeting or acknowledgement of the editor would be nice.

Submitting your literary work

If you’re writing to fit a submission window, ensure you’ve got the dates right. You may be waiting months (or even a year!) for it to appear again if you’re dead-set on getting your work into a specific publication on time. Manage your time well, splitting it between drafting, writing, editing and sending it off, so it’s ready. Don’t scoff, but it may be helpful to impose your own deadline a little earlier than the window closes, just so you’re doing more than kicking tyres.

If you’ve submitted your work and are waiting for a reply, make sure you check whether there’s an expected time to hear back by listed. If so, and the time has passed, you can send a follow-up to check its progress. However, if there’s no indication of a waiting period, and you haven’t heard back in 3 months or more, you should probably get in touch. Otherwise, it’s best to sit tight and wait – trust the process.

Fine tuned: firing off emails!

Hopefully that was enough information about creating writing specifically for submission. Find the right place to house it first, so you can shape your words around the specification. Then, take advantage of the people who have succeeded, and use them as examples to find the winning formula. Best of luck!