Now that you’ve written a short story or poem, where are you going to publish it?

Congratulations! You’ve written a short story, poem, or essay! You’ve labored through the editing process and now you have a polished piece ready for the world to see. So, where are you going to publish it?

When it comes to finding a market for your fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction, there’s no shortage of literary journals, websites, magazines, and zines looking for authors. The catch is that they’re all seeking different things, in different formats, for different audiences—and the competition is fierce. For your work to stand a chance at being chosen, you need to do your research so you can find the one market that’s the perfect fit for your tone, style, and content.

I’ve been publishing short stories for over a decade. Here’s my advice for how to get your story published:

Start a List of Publications

Before you start submitting wildly to every publication you can find, you need to do some reading. Read widely and deeply, exploring lit journals and websites that publish the genre, style, or themes you cover in your fiction, poetry, or nonfiction. Read the journals that publish your favorite authors. See what other kinds of stories they select and read their submission guidelines to understand what they’re on the lookout for—and what they absolutely don’t want to see.

Once you have some favorites, it’s time to start a list. I like to keep a running spreadsheet with potential markets, their submission guidelines, pay rates (if applicable), and deadlines to help me find a match once I’ve finished a short story.

Over time, you can build a personal database of places that might be right for your writing.

Use Tools to Expand Your Search

Once you have a good list started and you’re honing in on the kinds of publications you like, it’s time to supercharge your search. When I started publishing my stories, the authoritative resource was the Writer’s Market, a massive, 800-page book that functioned like a phone book. These days, we have online tools that are significantly more powerful and don’t weigh a metric ton.

One place to start is with an a database like Duotrope or The Submission Grinder, which allow you search by genre, word count, and pay rate and allow you to track your submissions.

Those sites are great, but I’ve recently been relying on a newer site called Chill Subs. Chill Subs does everything the other sites do but adds advanced filtering options for themed submission calls, contests, the vibe (because there’s a big difference between the kind of story you would send to The Paris Review and one that you’d submit to Taco Bell Quarterly), and more.

Even better, Chill Subs runs a fantastic newsletter called Sub Club. Twice a week, Sub Club sends me expertly curated lists of open submissions, interviews with editors about their selection process, and advice to get my writing out of the slush pile. Best of all, it’s helped me discover markets I never knew existed and target my submissions to the places most likely to publish my writing.

If you’re serious about publishing your short fiction or poetry, I highly recommend signing up for Sub Club. The editors of Sub Club are offering a 10% discount exclusively for readers of my blog. It’s good for an annual subscription and never expires. Check out this link to subscribe:

Disclaimer: I may receive a small commission from subscriptions made using this link, but I wouldn’t share it with you if I didn’t think it was a valuable resource. I hope you’ll find it as useful as I do.

A Note About Submission Guidelines

Before you hit submit, make sure you carefully read the submission guidelines. Submission guidelines are there to help you understand what a publication wants and how their process works, so you know exactly what to expect. Editors expect you to read this and will reject your work if you don’t follow the rules.

Not all submission guidelines will have all of this information, but most will tell you:

• Open submission windows
• Genre
• Word count
• A list of what kinds of stories the editors want to see (and what they don’t want)
• Manuscript format (file type, preferred font, text size, etc.)
• Cover letter requirements (most will want a third-person bio included in your cover letter)
• Demographics (for instance, a journal that only publishes BIPOC writers or writers under the age of 21)
• Policy on AI submissions (personally, I steer clear of any site that allows AI-generated work)
• How to submit (Submittable, Google Form, email, snail mail, etc.)
• When to expect a response (and when to follow up if you haven’t heard back)
• Publication rights (how long they get to keep and display your work before you can publish elsewhere)

Once you’ve made sure your work adheres to the submission guidelines, you’re ready to send it off into the world. Publishing short stories, poems, or essays is competitive and you’re likely going to receive many rejections before you find the perfect home for your work, but keep at it. Keep reading, keep writing, and keep submitting. Best of luck!

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Jonny Eberle is a writer, podcaster, and storyteller. He lives in Tacoma, WA with his family, a dog, and three adorable typewriters. His writing has been published in Creative Colloquy, Grit City Magazine, and All Worlds Wayfarer. You can listen to his audio drama, The Adventures of Captain Radio, and his writing podcast, Dispatches with Jonny Eberle, wherever you enjoy podcasts.

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