Submission Tips

Writers can be an antsy and impatient bunch, especially when they are waiting to hear back regarding a submission. Since most of us are submitting our work through Submittable now, things are both better and worse than they used to be. They’re better because we can see the status of our submission. They’re worse because … Continue reading The Truth About In Progress On Submittable: Everything the Impatient Writer Needs to Know

If you're planning to submit anything to a literary magazine or publisher, it’s essential to play by their rules. Some publishers claim to receive ten thousand submissions per month. While you may think that adding a unique touch is necessary to make your manuscript stand out, your deviation from the guidelines will more likely result … Continue reading Playing the Submissions Game: A Guide to Guidelines

Nothing elicits more fear and excitement for a writer than seeing a new email from an editor sitting in their inbox. These emails can bring us great news, bad news, or even something in between. Will it be a rejection? An acceptance? A restraining order requesting you never submit again? Just seeing the unread email … Continue reading If, When, and How to Respond to Emails from Editors

If you’re a writer, you either know rejection really well or you’ve never sent out your work. And if you’ve never sent out your work, then you’re not really a writer yet. In my opinion, you become a writer the first time you’re rejected. Rejection shapes who you are as a writer and is the … Continue reading Do these 10 things every time you submit your writing and you’ll never be rejected again!

If you’re anything like me—and every other writer in the world—you’ve written your fair share of garbage. Stuff that makes you cringe. Stuff that no reputable or even halfway-reputable publication would even think about publishing. So let’s talk about what you’re supposed to do with all that junk. Wait, before we do that, let’s talk … Continue reading What to Do with All Your Bad Writing

If things aren’t going your way in the publishing world, you can always try what Michael Derrick Hudson did: write as a different person. We all know the story by now. Hudson, a white poet who somehow arrived at the conclusion that being white was a big obstacle in his writing career, started submitting his … Continue reading Writers Don’t Have To Be Cheaters