I was wondering if any of you have some experience submitting to themed issues for magazines and literary journals. I don't know if it's any easier to break into a publication when it's for a themed issue, but this is something I'm looking into and trying out. I imagine there are less submissions for themed issues and therefore less competition. When there is a call for submissions for a theme issue, do you usually write a new story or look at what you already have to see if anything might work? How do you make sure your story is going to stand out when it's up against a bunch of other stories all with the same theme? I'm sure originality goes a long way. Also, I'm wondering if submissions for themed issues get read sooner than the general submissions. I know you guys know a lot when it comes to short stories. I would love to hear what some of you think or your experience with this. Thanks.
themed magazine issues
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I am not super experienced in terms of having stories published. In fact, you can say I am highly unexperienced. But I can tell you this: I tend to write original stuff for themed issues, and recycle the rejected stories for the future. I am waiting on a lot of stories that are out right now, so I will tell you how successful that whole plan is for me.
I've had two stories published in Sanitarium, a horror magazine.
Submitting was easy, go to the site and they'll tell you what and how to submit.
They don't pay much, so doing it for money is iffy.
Generally the publishing web blogs say, if it's not a well known publication, it won't help you get a novel published. But they also say being an unpublished writer is not necessarily a turnoff for publishers.
For me, don't care, it's an ego boost to be able to say you are a published author. And I think the stories that were published are as good or better than a lot of other published short stories I've read. And it was good practice.
Submitting was easy, go to the site and they'll tell you what and how to submit.
They don't pay much, so doing it for money is iffy.
Generally the publishing web blogs say, if it's not a well known publication, it won't help you get a novel published. But they also say being an unpublished writer is not necessarily a turnoff for publishers.
For me, don't care, it's an ego boost to be able to say you are a published author. And I think the stories that were published are as good or better than a lot of other published short stories I've read. And it was good practice.
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