Submission Tips
You'Ve got your piece, now what?
Half the battle of submitting your work is the actual creation of your work. Now, you just need a little coaching on what comes next.
We at Wayward Literature know that it’s scary to send your work out into the world. It’s like letting go of a child’s hand and watching them take those steps into adulthood. Don’t worry, we’ve compiled a page of submission tips to make that eventually send off a little bit easier. Check them out below.
If you have anything you’d like to add, reach out to us via our email or @ us on twitter.
1
Make sure your piece is ready
This sounds like a no brainer, right? Well, you’d be surprised. Sometimes, people don’t send out their best work. It’s full of grammar mistakes and simple spelling errors.
When you submit your work to us, or to any literary journal or magazine, you want to make sure you’re putting your best foot forward.
Write your piece, let it sit for a day or two and then re-read it. Fix up anything you see that needs fixing and then ask a few trusted friends and family members to read it. Get feedback, edited it, and let it sit once more before giving it a last look and hitting that “Submit” button.
2
Make Sure the place you're submitting aligns with your work
You don’t want to submit to just any place. Your best shot of being selected for publication is if the work you submit aligns with what that journal or magazine is currently publishing.
Maybe there’s a theme for the next issue. Does your poem or short story fit into the theme? If not, submit to a different place or go to another publication that does align with your work and style.
3
Don't put all your eggs in one basket
What we mean by this is, don’t submit to every magazine or literary journal you see with the same submission. Do a few at a time and, if you want to keep submitting, go with another piece until you hear from the first few you’ve submitted to.
The reason this is advised is that you don’t want to submit the same piece to a plethora of other places and then hear that you’ve been accepted by five or six. Congratulations, but now you’ll have to choose which publication you’d like to be in. More often than not, you won’t be able to have the same piece published in multiple locations.
If you want to have your piece in two different publications, make sure you ask. Magazines and journals usually enjoy having first publication rights. A piece in two different locations could upset the editors of those publications and lose you credibility points.
4
Always, always, always read the submission guidelines before submitting your work.
You’d be surprised by how many times people don’t do this and then submissions, unfortunately, cannot be accepted. This is either because of too long a word count, the work doesn’t fit the theme, or some other reason that’s clearly stated in the guidelines.
Read your guidelines and all shall be good.
Interested in submitting to Wayward Literature? Read our submission guidelines.
(See what we did there?)
5
Keep track of your submissions
Now, while we might advise not to submit the same piece to too many journals or magazines, that doesn’t mean you should stop submitting after sending off one piece.
You should definitely submit different works to different publications. A rule of thumb, though, make sure you keep track of who you submit to, what you submit, and when you’ve submitted. This may get complicated after the tenth submission. Think about creating a spreadsheet for organization; this way, you can reach out if it’s been a while after submissions close for a publication.
Of course, have patience before reaching out. Give it a few weeks and, if you haven’t heard anything, check your nifty little spreadsheet.
6
Keep on submitting
Even if you get a rejection for your work, it’s not the end of the world. The Earth keeps spinning, the clock keeps ticking, and your pen will keep on writing. Rejection comes with the process. It doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you or your writing, it just means it wasn’t a good fit for that (or those) particular publications. Submit it to the next one . The point is, keep submitting.
If you submit to Wayward Literature and your work isn’t accepted for an upcoming issue, odds are we’ll be reaching out about featuring it on our future blog.
For more information on the future blog, be sure to join our monthly newsletter!
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Submission Guidelines
Interested in submitting to Wayward Literature? Not sure where to start or what we’re accepting?
Check out our submission guidelines! They’ll be a vital guide in your submission journey. (Please do not submit without looking these over at least once).
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About us
We came to be in July 2022. Our goal is to bring together writers, artists, photographers, and the creative community as a whole. No matter the genre or style, we want to hear your voice and see your work.
Learn more about us below.