Happy Sunday, writers! For the next two weeks, I thought it would be a good idea to reshare a couple of our foundational posts, especially for newer subscribers. First up: Why Submit?
For people who may not know me through Writing Workshops LA, I regularly led submission support groups and taught a seminar called Improve Your Submission Game. The seminar covered how, what, where, and why to submit; submitting to literary journals and magazines, newspapers, and general interest magazines; querying agents and small/academic presses; how to write effective cover and/or query letters; how to pitch articles; how to write a book proposal; how to apply for residencies; and many, many other considerations.
On this Submission Sunday, I thought I’d start with the first basic question: Why prioritize submitting when you’ve got all this writing to do?
Bragging rights.
If you’ve ever published something before, you know how good it feels. From the buzz of that acceptance in your inbox to the anticipation of publication day to finally seeing your work in print or pixels, it feels great. A little anxiety-producing maybe, but great! And then you get to share that good feeling with your friends and colleagues and Twitter followers. A print publication usually carries some prestige (more on that in a future post), which is fun to brag about, and an online publication lets you send your people straight to the story, poem, or essay to read it for themselves. And none of this possible if you don’t first submit.
Exposure.
Exposure gets a bad rap because it’s usually offered instead of pay. Fair enough. But exposure in general—or better yet in addition to pay—is a lovely by-product of being published (which, again, can’t happen unless you first submit). The exposure can be as simple as someone who hasn’t read your writing before discovering you have talent or as fabulous as your essay going viral and Nicole Kidman buying the rights to make it a tv series. The fun part is you never know! But if you don’t submit, none of this is possible.
Pump up your bio.
I’m sure I’ll repeat this in the future, but it’s ok to have never published before when you submit. Some literary venues are specifically looking for emerging writers and would love the chance to claim your first publication once you’re fully emerged. Editors have said that when you include a short bio in your cover letter, it’s perfectly ok to say, "If accepted, this story would be my first publication.” However, it’s also great to be able to show the other fine literary establishments who have chosen to publish your work. It grants you credibility and shows you’re already on your way. Give those establishments the chance by submitting.
Get to know other writers.
On one hand, the literary world is wide and far-reaching with almost limitless opportunities. On the other hand, the literary world can also be a tight network of friends helping friends. Submitting your work and having it accepted gives you the chance to make professional connections with the editors. Here’s an example: Two years ago, I participated in the March Xness tournament run by Megan Campbell and Ander Monson (very fun, by the way) for the first time. That year’s theme, March Faxness, was cover songs. While I was in the process of writing my cover song essay, Ander Monson’s publication Essay Daily decided to publish some “cover essays,” essays that cover another essay, so he reached out to March Faxness competitors to submit pitches. In this way, I was able to finally pretend I was Sei Shōnagon and create my own list of “Hateful Things.” I’ve also had publications lead to public readings at events thrown by the editors, where you get to meet and mingle with your fellow contributors. Submission and publication are excellent ways to expand your literary circle.
Rejection spawns improvement.
In his article “22 Things I Learned from Submitting Writing,” Blake Butler writes:
My major practice was once I felt a piece was done I’d send it to like 10 places. After I got over sending out just anything, I would write a piece and revise it over and over from beginning to end until I could get through without wanting to change anything. Then I’d send a block of them out. When I got one back, even if it was just a form rejection, I would then reread the piece to see “what was wrong with it.” Often this resulted in finding more I wanted to change, on my own terms, partly from getting older, partly from new doubt maybe. Then I’d send some more out, refilling the gap. In this way, by the time a piece would get taken (if it did), the new version would be imminently better than it had ever been. Thus rejection spawned improvement.
Until the piece is published, it’s still yours to change (or not change!) as you’d like. I’m not 100% endorsing Butler’s method, but it’s true that keeping that story in a drawer doesn’t give you the chance to find out whether it might need improvement before being published. When you’ve received a decent amount of rejections on a submitted piece, maybe reconsider the title at least.
Submitting your work is less scary and less painful the more you do it.
To me, this reason is the one I turn to again and again. If you’ve never submitted anything before (or if you haven’t submitted anything for a long time), it can be scary! What if it’s rejected and that rejection hurts? There’s a good chance it probably will. But I can tell you that the more often you send your work out into the world, the more often you’ll get rejected and each rejection will get easier. Then one day, your submission will be accepted! Yay! A common suggestion from submitters who have conquered the fear of rejection is to aim for 100 rejections a year. When you’re more focused on your quota than fearing rejection, it’s a win-win.
Eye on the prize.
Let’s face it. If you really want to be a Writer—the kind of writer that other people know as a writer because you write, submit, and publish work—you have to keep your eye on the prize. Do you want it? Go get it.
Loss is a given.
I recently bought four novels at Skylight Books and I had a consumption crisis when I got home. How do you prioritize what books to read, tv/films to watch, podcasts to listen to? The days are so numbered! My earthly soul was panicked. Fortunately, I remembered I had the audiobook for Oliver Burkeman’s Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals in my queue. I couldn’t help but hear this passage as a reflection on submission and rejection:
Once again, the seemingly dispiriting message here is actually a liberating one: Since every real world choice about how to live entails the loss of countless alternative ways of living, there’s no reason to procrastinate or to resist making commitments in the anxious hope that you might somehow be able to avoid those losses. Loss is a given. That ship has sailed. What a relief. —Oliver Burkeman, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
There’s no reason to hold on to your work because it’s not perfect enough. There’s no reason to worry whether every submission you make is the perfect home for your piece. There’s no reason to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. There’s every reason to start collecting those rejections so you can get closer to acceptance. Loss is a given. That ship has sailed. What a relief.
Just sent in my first poem the other day thanks to you!! Now I’m excited for my first rejection 😹😹
Thanks, Chris! I sent out my 76th query for my manuscript yesterday. Your post gives me a lift.