September is here, folks and that means it’s time to celebrate Labor Day by expending a bit of my labor on my writing career. All this month, I will be working on my second Submission Bonanza!
In my first Submission Bonanza! I racked up a few rejections, got some things published (more info to come on some of those things as the publications come out!), and learned a whole lot. It was incredibly successful in more than just my initial idea that I would start racking up the rejections to get my work out there. I am reading more critically and closely. I found lots of new magazines. I feel part of a larger literary conversation. I am inspired to write more. Also, I am inspired to keep up with submitting and submit more.
Like last time, I will be working on submitting to 30 magazines in a month. I have my pieces picked out and edited. I have a list of magazines that I want to submit to. And I have a cover letter and bio template ready to go.
Feel free to join me in this journey. I loved doing this in July and I am excited about all the magazines opening their doors to submissions this month. I would highly recommend that anyone who is wanting to grow and develop as a writer think about doing this in some form. Maybe you don’t want to do one magazine every day. Maybe you want to do one every other day, one a week, or even just one. Maybe you want to do three a week or three a day. Whatever the case may be, set a reasonable goal or yourself and get going. Your work isn’t going to read itself. If you do decide to join, please let me know. I would love to be able to support and encourage each other as the months go on. Good luck!
Good Luck I will be cheering you on and as it is my birthday at the end of this month I will add you into my acceptance wishes when I blow out the candles
Well done. You are right. Today I will take time to review my goals!
Good luck! Go hard 🙂
Nice!
Hi-
Wow again. You are a machine. All I’ve done is THINK about submissions. Wait. I lied. I sent in tow on August 13. No word.
Are your articles written before you query? An instructor and Writer’s Digest each said not to waste time writing something that hasn’t been accepted.
What about the magazines? Do you read on-line copies?
Do you work full time? Trying to get a daily post in my blog can be challenging. I work and try to get to the gym most mornings ( at 5:15–) or afternoons after the office. Balancing is not my strong suit.
I’m at work now, but when I get home I will read the rest of your post.
I send many accolades to you!!
Dennie
Hi Dennie,
Thanks for your encouraging words.
I answer a lot of these questions in my posts about how I accomplished this. I am not submitting articles. I am submitting poetry and fiction, which means most places do not accept queries. Almost all of the litmags that I looked at had full issues or at least samples online, so I could get a good feel for what they were looking for without buying every magazine. And yeah, time management can be difficult. Once I had my pieces polished, picked the magazines I wanted to submit to, and wrote my cover letter and bio, it took me about an hour to submit to each one. It definitely wasn’t easy to find the time. Sometimes I had to play catch up on the weekends. But it was definitely worth it. Even if you just do one a week, it’s a worthwhile endeavor, in my opinion.
Good luck!
Thanks for the feedback and inspiration….
embarrassed by my “tow” typo….Found it today….
Good luck to you , also!
[…] It turns out, I learned more than I could have ever expected. It was such a powerful learning experience that I am doing it again this month. […]
Your 30 day submission challenge is inspiring me to do the same.
Keep up the great work and congrats on getting one of your pieces accepted!
MJ 🙂
[…] Way back in July, I set myself a challenge to do a Submission Bonanza! It was incredible and successful. I learned so much, and I’ve been published in three magazines so far (more on that to come later!). It was so successful that I resolved to do it again in September. […]
[…] something to kick you into overdrive. I love a challenge (see my posts on writing challenges and submission bonanzas) and I think of NaNoWriMo as a dare. Who said I couldn’t finish a novel in a month? I’ll show […]
[…] Way back in July, I set myself a challenge to do a Submission Bonanza! It was incredible and successful. I learned so much, and I’ve been published in three magazines so far (more on that to come later!). It was so successful that I resolved to do it again in September. […]
[…] It turns out, I learned more than I could have ever expected. It was such a powerful learning experience that I am doing it again this month. […]