Way back in July, I started my first Submission Bonanza! This was an attempt to rack up rejections and embrace an aspect of writing that is difficult for me: putting myself out there. My first Submission Bonanza was so successful and I learned so much from it that I resolved to keep it on the docket as something I did regularly. I did another one in September and am starting to rack up more than just rejections from that one as well (news to follow!).
One of the habits that I resolved to develop in 2014 was to spend an hour a day on submitting my work to contests, literary magazines, etc. I am hoping this means that I will be submitting something everyday, but there is a lot of work to do around submitting, so I’m not holding myself too hard to the number, more to the time I invest. This, for me, is a year of forming habits over having goals.
In an effort to keep myself honest and also to share some great literary journals and contests, I’ll be posting a list here of where I submit to as I go. Keep an eye on this spot for new magazines and competitions. I’ll be updating it regularly.
- Classical Poets Contest
- California Genealogy Contest
- Glimmer Train
- The Paris Review
- Harper’s Magazine
- New England Review
- The Antioch Review
- The Southern Review
- EPOCH magazine
- The Gettysburg Review
- Yale Review
- Alaska Quarterly Magazine
Your line “This, for me, is a year of forming habits over having goals” really resonates. Thanks for the perfect phrase.
Agreed!
You never get anywhere until you try…
*sigh* I really do need someone to do stuff like this FOR me!
You aren’t a bit crazy. You are couragious and motivated. Thanks for the inspiration. There is so much “stuff” we have to do that isn’t even writing and it is tough to maneuver the whole path, but blogs posts like this are so very uplifting and encouraging. For me, it is upping the novel query work–and it takes a lot of time to sort through the info on the web sites and Internet.
I wish you so much luck. Success will come in some form from such effort.
Excellent! Can’t wait to see where you submit (and also to shamelessly steal suggestions for publications to look into–thanks in advance!)
I’m a member of a writer’s guild and each year we have an award for the most rejection letters. 🙂
Thanks for visiting my blog earlier this week. Good luck with the submissions.
I am inspired by this. A good way to start the year – bravely! Good luck.
A good resolution. When I read a writing magazine, such as Mslexia, I decide to enter the competitions and then (mostly) never quite get round to it. I will try to be more disciplined too. I do have a healthy sheaf of rejections from last year and there should be more in about 6 weeks time. Though some never reply, which is mean.
Look at you all organized! The Paris Review is on my submissions list (set my sights high & l like the writing). Actually, they had me at the word “Paris.” Glimmer Train is on my list, too. I enjoy your writing because I was excited to learn where that truly delightful imagination would fly off to and then land! You have a humorous and wildly creative style. I’m glad you enjoyed my post (last month).
[…] You Must Be Crazy!: A Year-long Submission Bonanza! […]