How to Find the Right Literary Magazine for Your Work

If you want to attract the attention of serious literary agents and publishing houses, it is in your best interest to publish in reputable literary magazines first. This kind of publication will also greatly improve your chances for getting accepted into an M.F.A program, but this is not expected. Submitting to ill-regarded or inappropriate magazines, however, isn't going to help you at all.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Your best work
• Back issues of literary magazines

1. Know what you are selling. If you are able to articulate specifically what kind of piece you are trying to publish, you will be better equipped to determine if it is appropriate for a particular magazine. There are many different kinds of poems, stories, and essays; what truly categorizes yours?
2. Learn which literary magazines are well regarded. Obviously, different people have different opinions about certain magazines, but if you can find the magazine in at least some major bookstores (select Barnes and Nobles locations have literary magazines, for example), then there is a good chance someone is asking for these. You can also check the author's bio in a book you admire, which will often mention in which magazines the author has been published (this is more likely if it is the author's first book). Also, while some fabulous literary magazines have no university affiliation, a magazine that is published by a school with a strong writing program is probably solid.
3. Read enough back issues to be able to determine what kind of work the magazine publishes. Some magazines will send you a few back copies if you ask for them. If not, buy a bunch of issues of a magazine you like. This will let you determine what kind of work the magazine is looking for. If you are really lucky, the editor will include some kind of note summarizing his or her particular aesthetic.
4. Do a little sleuthing or read the comments on submissions to find out how hard it is to place work in the magazine. Obviously, getting published in some magazines is more difficult than getting published in others. Some editors specifically ask for the work of unpublished authors (good for you), or at least mention that they welcome submissions from them. If you see the bylines of several, frequently-published writers appearing again and again, the magazine may be soliciting pieces (not as good for you).
5. Determine the options for submitting and follow the guidelines. Some magazines host contests for which winners receive monetary prizes, while others only have traditional submission processes for which you are usually not paid. Also, some magazines stipulate that you can not have multiple submissions, meaning you can't send the same piece to more than one magazine at the same time. Submit the work in the requested form (hard or soft copy) and include a SASE if one is requested.

Tips & Warnings

• SASE means a self-addressed stamped envelope.
• DO NOT submit work to a magazine you have not read. At best, you will submit something completely outside the editor's aesthetic; at worst, you will send a fiction story to a magazine that only publishes lyric essays.