The how and why of publishing in top-tier lit mags

In at least some high-level litmags ir really does help if you're associated with a prestigious MFA program in some way. I know this is true of Glitter Train because they include little bios (autobios, I suspect) of the author of every piece they publish, and many many many of those boast MFA connections.

Now, that alone won't turn the trick, obviously. You do have to present a piece that fits the publication's preferences, and is of a quality that impresses the editor. But beyond that, little things like previous credits, etc., do carry some weight.

caw

from previous articles/discussions with other writers the "how," is: write a perfect story. "Top-tier" literary publications select about .5% of all submissions. It's not luck, and previous publishing experience is largely inconsequential. Your work simply needs to be spotless, and germane to the style/general artistic interests of the publication.

As for why? Publication in a "top-tier" literary publication may provide a huge amount of artistic validation, a larger audience, and may prove to an agent/publishing house that your are legit.

-or it may not.

just my $.02

I am of the mindset that if the top places don't want my stuff, it is probably not stuff I want published. It does seem impossible to publish with bigger name publications at times, but they do take stories from first timers or lesser known writer. You just have to be good, really good. For me, I want to be published when I'm good.

As someone who reads slush for a lit mag, I will say that a bunch of credits no one has heard of are not going to help you. The idea of working your way up could just mean you were published before you were ready. Anyway, those kind of credits don't help in the slightest.

Credits or no credits, it comes down to the story. Editors want to publish the best stories they can get their hands on. If you can write one of those stories, things will work out for you.

Read the journals you want to publish in, and then read the contributors bios. This will give you an idea of the stories and withers they publish.

I didn't start with pure lit mags, but with national glossies, both genre and mainstream. I had no problem at all selling to these right from the start. I sold my first four stories to national mags without receiving a single rejection.

But whethe rthey buy or reject your stories, it's still best to start at the top for several reasons. The top two reasons are: 1. If you start at the top and work your way down, the best magazine that wants your story will get it. If you start at the bottom, the worst magazine that wants your story will get it. 2. If you can write at all well, anywhere approaching professional quality, show even a smidge of talent, editors will remember you. They'll look forward to seeing your stories, and even if they don't buy them, they will start commenting, they will urge you on. This is important.

I believe we make our own luck. When you start trying to sell short stories, you're in direct competition with the best short story writers in the world. Luck isn't going to get you anywhere. Good writing, good storytelling, good characters, good dialogue, and every bit as important, learning how to give editors stories no one else alive can give them, is how you beat these top writers.

Far too many writers read a magazine, and then give the editor a story just like all the others the editor has published. This rarely, if ever, works for new writers.

OttieKat said:

Thanks to everyone for your replies.

gettingby - I slush read for a lit mag, too! And I agree, as a slusher I read blind and do not see cover letters. But not every lit mag is like that. I know for a fact that the tippy-top-tier mags like The New Yorker and Ploughshares read those bios to scoop up known names (when they're not soliciting, of course). I also agree with blacbird that an MFA helps with making connections and networking.

Jamesaritchie - Thanks for sharing your experience. I read a great article (I think it was about poetry) that talked about how flooded the market is these days compared to 30 years ago, and it's only getting wetter. That's really pushed the competition to a new level. There's only so much room for the "good stuff," perhaps to the detriment of other good stuff written by writers who don't have the MFA's and prestigious publishing histories.

I've published a lot of places, too, but they are to smaller literary magazines. Right now I am trying to make my dent in the universe by getting my name circulating while continuing to improve my skills. And you bring up a great point about persistence---even if you don't get accepted the first or third or tenth time, your name becomes familiar (hopefully in a good way, if you write well and follow guidelines) and make connections that way.

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Sorry if I wasn't clear, but I do read cover letters. Where someone has published can make readers and editor take a closer look. What doesn't help is a bunch of credits that editors have never heard of.

I've only sold my stories to 'top tier' magazines, and I don't think I was lucky. I just wrote what they wanted to buy and what their readers wanted to read.

The advice to read the magazines/anthologies, etc., that you want to sell to, is excellent. I read one magazine of short mystery stories, said to myself 'I can do that,' and then I did. But I have always, always been a reader, and of just about every topic and genre. I used to read my father's gardening magazines and this weird subscription he had to a landscaping journal. (I mean no insult to those who love these subjects.) I read my grandfather's business mags, my sister's romance novels, my mother's historical novels, and my grandmother once said I'd read toilet paper if there was anything written on it.

Now I write short mysteries, though I also had one story published which was considered fantasy.

Start at the top.

The first short story subs I sent out were to the New Yorker and Glimmertrain. Aim high, right? (Form R's, if you wondered.)

However. I think it's important to aim high. If you aim at the top mags, paying mags, etc. then you'll hold yourself to that higher standard. There are magazines I submit to because I absolutely love the stories they select; as I write more, and improve, one day (hopefully) I'll be one of those stories and inspire other folks.

OttieKat said:

Thanks to everyone for your replies.



Jamesaritchie - Thanks for sharing your experience. I read a great article (I think it was about poetry) that talked about how flooded the market is these days compared to 30 years ago, and it's only getting wetter. That's really pushed the competition to a new level. There's only so much room for the "good stuff," perhaps to the detriment of other good stuff written by writers who don't have the MFA's and prestigious publishing histories.

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Slush piles are certainly a lot bigger than they were thirty days ago, but I read a lot of slush, and while they may be bigger, they are no better. In fact, they're infinitely worse on averge than they were back then.

It takes a good deal more time to weed through the slush now, but I don't think the competition is any keener at all.

Which is meaningless because the competition was always extremely keen. You're in direct competition with the best writers in the world, not really with other unpublished writers. Trust me, if you can write a story that's better than what any of the famous writers submit during a given period, you will sell that story, regardless of how big or wet the slush pile is. If you can't do this, you won't sell the story.

The size of the slush pile really isn't important. Being able to write a story that's better in some way than what the big name writers submit has always been what a writer had to do, and it still is.

As for reading blind, I never have understood why any one would do this. It is not a good way for a magazine to make money, or to imply gain readers. Editors and readers do love finding a great new writer, but it's famous names on the cover that make readers pick up the magazine in the first place.

Most slush piles I've been around don't have famous writers in them, however, because someone weeds them out and sends them to the editor before first readers do their thing. This is how I always work. If I'm the editor, I don't want a famous writer rejected by a first reader. I reject a number of them because of room, but I certainly don't want first readers to say no to such a writer.

I'd think the big change would be fewer markets rather than more writers. Books and magazines don't just compete with other books and magazines but also with TV, on demand movies, games, and the internet. The amount of entertainment choices available at the push of a button now is unreal compared to thirty years ago. For example, thirty years ago I read a couple of novels a week but now I usually goof off online or pick one of the eighty zillion things available to watch on TV anytime I want. Thirty years ago those options weren't around.

Fruitbat said:

I'd think the big change would be fewer markets rather than more writers. Books and magazines don't just compete with other books and magazines but also with TV, on demand movies, games, and the internet. The amount of entertainment choices available at the push of a button now is unreal compared to thirty years ago. For example, thirty years ago I read a couple of novels a week but now I usually goof off online or pick one of the eighty zillion things available to watch on TV anytime I want. Thirty years ago those options weren't around.

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The golden age of reading is a complete myth. There was never a time in history when hundreds of things weren't competing with books and magazines, and never a time when everyone read. Throughout most of history, very few people could read, and very few of those who could had the money to buy books and magazines.

No, these two or three things weren't around, but hundreds of other things were. And thirty years ago I had far more things to do than I have to do now. Far more.

More people read today than at any point in history. Far more. And just like every other point in history, darned few want to do so.

I thoroughly enjoy being accepted and published inl ow tier literary magazines. Thus far the high tiers have eluded me, though I do have a few out right now.

gettingby said:

I am of the mindset that if the top places don't want my stuff, it is probably not stuff I want published.
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Have you ever read the magazine list that various prizes and "best of" select their stories from? A surprising number of stories come from second or third tier magazines.


There's certainly a lower level of magazine that can harm a writer, but it isn't only top teir mags that publish great, and even prize-winning, stories.

Henri Bauholz said:

I thoroughly enjoy being accepted and published inl ow tier literary magazines. Thus far the high tiers have eluded me, though I do have a few out right now.

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It depends how low. Second tier can be good, and so can some third tier. But there is a level of magazine where being published too often can kill you career. Even all second tier pubs can make it far more difficult to ever be published in top tier. Some lower level publication is fine, and even desirable, but too many, too low, and you're probably in trouble.

Even if they aren't buying, you have to submit your stories to top tier magazines first, or all you'll ever get is enjoyment. This is fine, if it's all you really want, but not fine if you're after more. You need to get your stories, and your name, in front of top tier editors on a regular basis, if you want them to believe you're really, truly, deadly serious about selling to them.

I've even known editors who didn't even read stories from a writer until after he saw the writer's name in the slush at least five times. This is extreme, but editors do pay attention. They want to see your name over and over. Otherwise, you're just a fly by night either isn't putting in enough effort, or who isn't trying to sell to the big time markets.

Jamesaritchie said:

... I've even known editors who didn't even read stories from a writer until after he saw the writer's name in the slush at least five times ...

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How would an editor know what names are in the slush? Isn't that an underling's domain?

How does one go about offering/volunteering/interning to be a first reader for a locally based mag? Just shoot a note to the editor? You get recruited for this thing? Be on the look out for postings?

Also, how are you guys defining tiers?

In my mind, tier 1 is The New Yorker, Atlantic, Ploughshares, Granta, Tin House, etc.

Tier 2 is a literary journal associated with an MFA, Prairie Schooner, etc.

Tier 3 is all the rest?

Tier 4 is an e-edition only?

Both bottom tiers are harmful to the writing CV?