If you’re reading this blog post, there’s a good chance you’re a writer. And if you’re a writer, then there’s a really good chance that you want to be published one day.
Unless you plan on self-publishing, getting published means that you have to submit your writing to someone, somewhere.
I know. Scary, right?
For a lot of us, the idea of someone actually reading our work is a terrifying thought. We wonder things like: What if people laugh at my writing? What if they think it’s terrible? What if they tell me I’m no good?
Getting over the initial fear of someone reading our work is a requirement for getting published. Starting small and submitting to literary magazines and journals can help you work through that fear and become an even better writer.
- You gain practice writing an entire, finished piece. I am the queen of starting one story, getting stuck, and then moving on to another work until I get stuck again. A lot of writers make this a habit, with the cycle continuing so that we never finish anything. Submitting even one completed writing piece, no matter how short, is like taking a breath of fresh air. You finished something! You’re done!
- You grow a thick(er) skin. Take it from the lady with major (diagnosed) anxiety. I still remember typos I’ve made in Tweets, e-mails, and blog posts that happened YEARS ago. When you commit to just keeping the writing flowing as you submit pieces regularly, you learn to survive typos that seemingly appear out of thin air. You brush rejections off in the same nonchalant manner you brush those Flaming Hot Cheetos crumbs off your t-shirt on a quiet Friday night in front of the TV.
- You might get paid. Getting paid for your first piece of writing is a magical feeling. My first piece earned me a grand total of $40, but you can bet that small amount of money held more value than any 40-hour paycheck I’d ever earned. While in a poetic sense “money shouldn’t matter” since writing is your creative passion, let’s be real. Getting paid for writing is amazing, and it’s a symbol of the investment someone’s willing to make in your craft.
- A submission deadline can move your writing forward. A deadline can help give you the push you need to finish your piece. Knowing you have to finish by midnight on a certain day can motivate you to wrap up the last few pages of that short story, or dust off an old draft you’ve been avoiding since 2012.
To motivate myself and hopefully some of you lovely readers, I’ve compiled a list of publications accepting submissions this February. These deadlines all fall at the end of a different week in February, so you can use them to pace yourself to submit once a week if you like.
All of these publications require writing to be submitted via Submittable. I previously wrote a post about what to expect with using this writing submission platform a while back, in case that’s helpful.
As always, when submitting your work, be sure to familiarize yourself with the publication’s existing content to make sure your piece would be a good fit for their overall style. Doing this will help save you (and editors) time. Also check for specific formatting requirements to know what font, spacing, and page numbering system the publication requires, if any.
Fatal Flaw Magazine
Deadline: February 5, 2021
Genres: Fiction & Nonfiction
Word Count: 1,000 – 7,000 words
Theme: (Un)Confined
Fee: $3.00 (USD)
Submission Link: https://www.fatalflawlit.com/submissions
Notes: On their website, Fatal Flaw states that their selection committee is partial to “absurdism, surrealism, satire, and experimental writing.” So have fun, and get creative!
Multiplicity Literary Magazine
Deadline: February 12, 2021
Genre: Nonfiction
Word Count: 500 – 5,000 words
Theme: Starting Over
Fee: $3.00 (USD)
Submission Link: https://multiplicitymagazine.com/submit-2/
Santa Clara Review
Deadline: February 20, 2021
Genres: Fiction & Nonfiction
Word Count: up to 5,000 they prefer 2,000 – 4,000
Theme: N/A
Fee: None (hooray!)
Submission Link: https://santaclarareview.com/submit
After Happy Hour: A Journal of Literature and Art
Deadline: February 28, 2021
Genres: Fiction & Nonfiction
Word Count:
- Fiction: Up to 5,000 words
- Nonfiction: Up to 6,000 words
Theme: None
Fee: None (woohoo!)
Submission Link: https://afterhappyhourreview.com/submit/
Do you plan on submitting your writing anywhere next month? Do you have more suggestions for great venues? Leave a comment, and share the word!
Great information – thanks for sharing!
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Thanks, Kathleen! I figured it can be so time-consuming trying to navigate all of the publications out there. I’m debating whether to make this a recurring monthly post for future months.
Also, I took a look at your site. Your debut book’s premise sounds intriguing!
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Thank you for checking it out! I’m pretty excited to get it out there. Working on #2 of the series, plus I have a CNF story in the works, and today I had an idea come to me for a psychological thriller that I can’t stop writing the outline for. It’s turning into being more of the start of the story than an outline. I’m really excited about it! So many projects on the go… such is a writer’s life!
As for making your list a recurring thing, I think that is a great idea! There are so many out there, but you’re right – it’s time consuming to go hunting for them and some will inevitably be missed. To have a monthly list as a go-to for publications that writers can submit to would be a fantastic thing to do. I’ll be looking forward to future posts!
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Ooh, congratulations! I’m happy to hear you are full of ideas and inspiration. What a great way to start off the year. And thank you! I think keeping up with the submission deadlines will keep me on my toes, too.
Thanks for reading! Hope you have a fun rest of your day writing! 😀
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