Dive into my latest tips and resources for writing and submitting work to creative writing magazines.
Improve Your Writing
Writing Resources
How to Identify Great Poems
A handout full of tips on what makes a great poem.
Submit Your Writing
Submitting Resources
While not comprehensive (there are so many good journals out there), this list includes a wide range of submitting venues for short work, from top-tier journals that are nearly impossible to get into (like The New Yorker and POETRY Magazine) to small-press journals like Soft Union and lavender bones. The magazines included on this list are all journals I would be proud to publish in.
You can also find new journals by exploring Submittable‘s Discover page.
If you’re new to submitting, here’s a quick overview of the main variables among creative writing venues.
You’ll see journals that:
- offer free submission / paid submissions (usually about $3)
- accept submissions online /. via snail mail / via email
- accept / don’t accept simultaneous submissions
- accept / don’t accept multiple submissions
- are open to submissions all year round / only during scheduled reading periods
- have very specific formatting requirements / very few guidelines
- publish all genres and forms / only some genres and form / one genre or form
- will take work on any theme / prefer work that follows a specific theme
- host contests with prizes (typically between $15-30 for entry)
Literary Journal Directories
To learn more about a specific journal (such as who publishes it or why it hasn’t been active in a while), you can visit online directories that pool specs about literary magazines. Here are a few of my favorites:
Save time tracking your submissions by simply filling out a Google form for each journal you submit to. The form will automatically populate a spreadsheet for you, enabling you to keep a running list of all your submissions in one place.
To use, simply make a copy of this Google form, connect it to a Google spreadsheet, and start tracking your submissions.
Alexandra Malouf 