Why People Don’t Submit to Literary Magazines

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By Mona Mehas

Excuses people use for not submitting:

1. I don’t know where to submit.

2. I’m not good enough.

3. I don’t have the money.

4. I don’t have anything.

5. I don’t want to be rejected.

Let’s knock those excuses out, one by one.

The first one is where to submit.

www.chillsubs.com is a great website to search for places to submit. You can set up a free account, search for journals, narrow your search to free, pays, poetry, etc. Always go to the journal’s website to make sure the information is up to date.

www.authorspublish.com is a free service that emails places to submit. Sometimes they fit what I write, sometimes they don’t but it’s convenient to have these in my inbox at least monthly.

Any search engine. Just use terms such as poetry journals 2024 or a question such as what magazines are accepting ghost stories 2024?

The next one is I’m not good enough.

OK, I’m not a psychologist. I’m not a therapist. I can give you the benefit of my experience. The comparison game is a killer. What you are saying is “I’m not as good as _____________.”

I’m different from every other writer I have ever met. My poems are different. My favorite writers are not your favorite writers. Someone will look at your story or poem and say “I’m not as good as (your name here.)” That is the nature of the beast.

In journals the submission page often says, “read what we’ve published to get an idea of what we like.” Right after that they say, “surprise us.” That means to send them something different. The first statement is a sales ploy to get you to read or buy the journal. The second statement is what they want to read.

I’ve gotten around all that simply by avoiding the first and jumping to the second. I rarely read what they’ve already published unless it’s something I’m truly interested in. The comparison game is a killer.

The next excuse is about money.

Search for journals that don’t charge a fee to submit. Simple as that.

The fourth excuse – I don’t have anything.

My best advice here is to write something, anything. Listen to writers read, find a journal with a theme you like, write to a prompt, write about your cat, anything. I use tarot and oracle cards to inspire poetry. But start writing more so you will have more work to send.

The last excuse is common. No one likes rejection.

If a writer said they loved it every time they got a rejection, I’d write about the writer who lied. There’s a prompt!

If you are in this to write and get anything published, you will experience rejection. I developed a tough skin by physically using my hand to brush my shoulder. As if I were brushing off whoever rejected my work. NOT ME. My work. That’s important to remember. I brushed my left shoulder with my right hand. That editor was gone. After doing this a few times, I could do it in my head.

Now it’s automatic. Rejections OF MY WORK roll off my shoulder. I hope this little mini rant helped someone. Now go forth and write and submit.