Publishing the Journal
Step1
Get organized. You don’t have to be super anal, but you’ll need to have an organizational system that allows you to stay on schedule, meet deadlines, record and file submissions, keep track of contracts and get issues published on time.
Step2
Ask for help and keep yourself from getting burned out. Magazines with thousands of subscribers have large staffs, but most editors have very few people working for them, if any. As an editor, you don’t have to wear all of the hats. If you can pay people, great. But some may work for you just for the love of the work. Here are jobs that staff can fill:
1) Slush/first readers: They will read submissions as they come in and pass along to you the work they feel is most suited for the journal.
2) Fiction/poetry/nonfiction editors: If you want to delegate these positions, they would be in charge of accepting work in their respective genres. This doesn’t mean that you, as editor, wouldn’t have a final say on what you publish.
3) Art editor: The art editor can be responsible for choosing artwork for the website or print journal.
4) Copy editors/proofreaders: Every journal needs copy editing and proofreading. You might try to do this yourself, but you can miss a lot of errors because you’re too familiar with the material. Errors in published material will hurt the overall quality of the journal.
5) Layout editor: He will be in charge of designing the overall look of the issue.
6) Webmaster: She will maintain the journal’s website and add updates for you.
Step3
Write clear submissions guidelines. Not only will this let writers and potential readers know what you’re looking for, but it will also help you think about what you want to publish. Be sure to include the following in your guidelines:
1) What genres you accept (such as poetry, nonfiction, fiction, literary, mystery fantasy)
2) Whether you accept postal or email submissions
3) The submissions address
4) File formats for email submissions (such as Word, RTF, PDF)
5) What rights you’re buying
6) How much you’re paying (always give the writer print copies, whether you can pay money or not)
7) How long you expect it to take to respond to submissions
Step4
Create a website. Even if you have a print journal, it’s important to have a presence on the web. You can use the website to publish your guidelines, excerpts from issues, blogs and news. A website is the quickest and easiest way for writers and readers to find out about your publication.
Step5
Keep a blog/LiveJournal or post regularly to a message board. This is a fast way to give writers and readers updates about your journal. You can include information like sneak peeks of upcoming issues, letting writers know if real-world issues are keeping you from getting the latest issue published or responding to submissions and whether you’re looking for certain types of submissions or if you’re getting too many submissions that are not to your preference.
Step6
Market and advertise your journal. You can do this in several ways:
1) Getting your submissions guidelines on a lot of market lists
2) Submitting the work you publish to print and online reviewers
3) Submitting the work you publish for awards and “best of” anthologies
4) Attending conventions like the Associated Writers Programs (AWP), World Fantasy and Mystery Writers of America
5) Sending sample copies/sending information about the journal to writers whose work you admire
6) Giving gift copies to libraries
Working with Writers
Step1
Ask for submissions from writers you admire, especially when you’re starting out. It’s perfectly OK to solicit work from writers you know can deliver. If you can publish established writers in your first couple of issues, it will let writers and potential readers know that you run a quality journal.
Step2
Respond to submissions in a reasonable amount of time. Writers might be wary to submit to you if they know you’re going to hold on to their work for half a year or longer. Plus, word will get around that you take a long time to respond.
Step3
Give feedback whenever you can. It might seem like this would be too time consuming, but letting a writer know why the submission didn’t work for you or giving suggestions for improvement can help the writer improve his craft and give him a better idea of what you’re looking for. You can also let the writer know that you liked the submission even if you’re not taking it.
Step4
Talk to the writer about major revisions before accepting the work. You can accept a submission even if you want minor revisions made, but never make major revisions to a writer’s work without talking to her about them first.
Step5
Give the writer a contract. This is your agreement with the writer and lists your responsibilities as editor and publisher and his responsibilities as the author of the work you’re publishing. For a sample contract, see Resources below.
Step6
Send the writer an edited proof or galley of the story/poem/nonfiction piece before it’s published. This allows for two things: 1) the writer can give her approval to final changes and 2) the writer can see if there are any other changes to be made.
Enthusiast 
