Where to Submit

Since last week I talked about submission guidelines, I thought maybe I would continue that trend and talk about places to submit. I know that some writers are discouraged because when they go to a publisher's website it says "No unsolicited manuscripts accepted" and when they go to an agent's site is says, "Not currently accepting manuscripts." So the question is, where do you submit? First off, don't limit yourself to just manuscripts. There is a pretty big market for short fiction as well. It doesn't pay nearly as well, but you can start branding your name through the short stories.

There are two tricks to learning about contests and submissions. The first one is to subscribe to literary news items. This can be online magazines, journals, or even social media. There are plenty of places that advertise through these mediums. These will take some time from your writing but you will get to a point where it is quick and easy to peruse through the ads looking for what you want. The second trick is to ask other writers. I have entered several contest because a friend told me about them. I wouldn't have found them on my own. In exchange, I try to pass along information about the contests I know about.

There are plenty of writing contests available, and while not all of them will be as distinguished as being accepted by Tor or Baen, they are a way to start getting your name out there.