Creating a Literary Community for Yourself

Part of the process of getting published is finding literary magazines you love!— and want to read whether or not they have accepted your work recently. I like to call this a literary magazine community—a community that showcases the type of writing you love, and the kind of writer you want to be.

But how to begin?

Get obsessive! Read up on editors, and the authors they’ve published. Have a heart-to-heart about the magazine’s mission. Don’t be daunted by the various demands for submitting work (no simsub is always a tough one). Really decide if this literary magazine is right for you and your work… and most importantly, walk away if it isn’t.

The truth is, your work is publishable—in the right place and at the right time. It may seem time consuming “getting to know” some of the hundreds of literary magazines out there—but it is worth it. Perhaps you can send out a fifty simultaneous submissions to a fifty different magazines—but if you are writing in Terza Rima and 49 of the magazines do not publish work written in form, then you are already wasting your time (and the editors, too!).
No one likes receiving a rejection letter, and though it is inevitable, it also doesn’t have to be excruciating.

Become aligned with the views and ideals of the magazines you’re submitting to, and you’ll become aligned with the greater community of writers. We all want to be published…all of the time. But in lieu of that, isn’t it better to support the cause of literature, and the literature you like best?

I love being a part of 5x5 because I believe in the short form. I like efficient, powerful imagery. I like it when a writer says just enough. I also like writing centered around women’s issues and am a huge fan of Earth’s Daughters. Even if I am not published in every and/or any of their issues, I want to see this kind of writing in the world.

So what do you want? How do you describe your work? Be honest…most of us don’t write in a style that is going to appeal to every person out there. What writers inspire you? What literary magazines have published them? Build a community a literary magazines that reflect your truth and talents as a writer.