I wanted to try my hand at submitting short stories to lit journals, but am feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of possible places to send my work. Does anyone subscribe to or have experience submitting work to any notable journals that accepts unsolicited work? Or does anyone know any good ones off the top of their head that publishes consistent, quality fiction that would be good just for reading? I only know of a few (Paris Review, Tin House, Georgia Review)... Thanks in advance!
No, Short Story (and the rest of the Review Room) is ONLY for work to be dissected to get suggestions for improvement. This is the correct forum for questions about publishers.
Submissions for journals often depend on what genre you're writing in. Many don't take genre fiction such as science fiction, fantasy, mystery or romance (which has been a great deal of trouble for me) but your best investment if you are really serious about submitting some work to literary journals would be to buy the 2008 Novel & Short Story Writer's Market, which has a fairly complete list of literary journals along with current contact information, editorial needs, schedules and guidelines. If you just want to read them, you can just search yahoo and/or google for "literary journals", which will give you some websites that have long lists of literary journal websites. It is essential to read their submission guidelines and at least read excerpts from their journal to see if your work will match. A lot of the time, they reject manuscripts because writers haven't read the magazine and their writing isn't what their magazine publishes. I hope this helps. PM me if you need anything else. ~Natalie
natalie's comments and advice is right on the money... www.duotrope.com is your best bet for finding the venues your work best fits...
Don't feel overwhelmed by the number, send your manuscript to as many publications as possible. Publishing is a numbers game. The more work in circulation, the better your odds. First off, as suggested above, get yourself a copy of Writer's Digest and check Duotrope. Research the market you are submitting to and read their guidelines. It's important to know the market you are sending your work to so you can determine if your work is right for their publication. Good luck.
