Unblocking the Dam

On Submitting to Literary Magazines

A few weeks back, I had a big realisation about my writing. I realised that I was holding it all so very tightly. I seemed to have a belief that my work was finite, that I only had a certain number of stories and that I needed to hold them all closely, guide them, like an overly protective shepherd, to homes out in the world.

Photo by Andre Morales Kalamar on Unsplash

The realisation was big, I could feel that it was like a physical holding in my body, a tightness. In thinking I was taking my work seriously, I was blocking the dam, the writing wasn’t getting out in the world.

So, I decided two things.

1)    To allocate half a day (or a whole day if I can) each week to writing new stories. (I am editing my novel which takes up most of my time when I’m not working with clients but having a space to create new pieces feels so good).

2)    To make one day a month submitting day.

Let me tell you about number two.

Last month, I spent an entire day from 9am to 9pm submitting my stories to literary magazines. Submitting takes time and takes a totally different part of your brain than writing, so making a day of it really worked for me. It was like I could just get into a groove.

I put on nice music, piled up some yummy snacks, got myself comfortable and went through lists from Sub Club and the Her Stry Newsletter as well as lists I’d made of dream publications. I submitted and I submitted. It was raining outside, and I had to wait in for a delivery which helped, but honestly, I really enjoyed the day, knowing that this was my focus and knowing that I was backing myself and my writing. It allowed me time to get excited about different literary magazines, to read the work they publish, to delve in. Getting to know literary magazines also makes your life easier as you go on.

Photo by Rita Morais on Unsplash

I remember as a journalist that knowing who published what made pitching so much easier. An idea for a story would come to me and I would know immediately one or two publications that might want it. Not knowing where to publish was one of the biggest issues for new journalists but doing the research is all part of the work of backing ourselves as writers.

Knowing also that I would be writing more stories made it easier for me to be freer with sending each story out. It felt like, oh there is plenty more where these come from so let’s get these into the world.

I think I sent about 20 submissions that day. It may not seem like a lot but I guess that’s about 2ish an hour. They take time.

And about ten days later…I received two rejections one morning and then…an acceptance! Honestly, the joy of an acceptance is worth all of the ‘thank you for sending your work. Unfortunately…’ emails.

So, if any of this resonates, here is your sign to start unblocking the dam and get your stories out into the world. Rejections are part of it unfortunately but they also show you that you are actually putting yourself in the mix.

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A Little Support for Submitting

If you want help submitting your work to Lit Mags or want to get news of Indie Presses or agents looking for manuscripts, I highly recommend Chill Sub’s Sub Club. They send out weekly newsletters on who’s open for submissions/who’s closing soon and all sorts of other great info. And you get downloadable spreadsheets too. It all makes my submitting life so much easier!

The lovely team there are offering 10% off their yearly subscriptions to Write As You Are readers.

Full disclosure: for each of you that signs up, they will also drop me a few dollars, so it is a way of supporting me too (thank you 💜). I genuinely think they are great and use them myself hence wanting to share this offer.

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Recommendations

A few things you might enjoy…

Demystifying Submissions: This upcoming free event held online by UWE Bristol looks really interesting. If your new to submitting to literary magazines or if you want to hear more from behind the scenes, register here.

Duets: I am very excited to read these collaborative short stories, published by Scratch Books. Each story is written by two writers. “Woven back and forth between two writers, the stories in Duets are lyrical, exhilarating and beautifully written, their drama made greater by the harmonies and tensions in their writing.” I just love this idea and am talking with a writer friend about writing a short story together.

Short story: I just read this short story, Hitting Trees with Sticks by Jane Rogers, after it was recommended in a workshop about revealing and concealing in story telling. What a stunning example of the power of this craft!

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Mentoring

Would you like to be supported and witnessed on your writing journey, guided back to your goals and dreams, reminded of the wonderful writer that lives within you on the days it feels tough? Would you like tips and tricks to get you back to the page, to help you develop as the writer that you are?

If so, I’d love to hear from you. Please feel free to book in for a discovery call to see if I might be the right mentor for you.

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Writing this newsletter is an act of love and joy. I am committed to delving into the beautiful, the messy and the sublime that is this act of creating through words. Ultimately, my goal is to remind you that you are Write As You Are.

If you found this newsletter helpful or heartwarming, you can support me by:

• Sharing it with someone else who might enjoy it

• Liking and commenting (I really love hearing from you!)

• Buying Me a Virtual Cuppa ☕

• Checking out my mentoring offerings 💜 I’d love to work with you.