Selling essays

gettingby

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Has anyone here had luck selling essays to literary journals or other places? I have had one essay published by an overseas publication. I also came close at a few other places so I think this is something I can do if I work a little harder at it. Any tips on how to sell essays? How do you get your work from an almost to a yes? Thanks.
 

gettingby

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I hate it when I post something and get no responses. It makes me feel like I asked a stupid question.
 

Ruth2

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:) I hear you. I wish I could help but, alas, I've not tried selling essays --or anything else -- to a literary journal. Well, except for some egregious poetry I tried to foist on The New Yorker back when I was eleven...

Maybe either the Freelance forum or the Mainstream/Contemporary/Literary Forum might be helpful?
 

ShannonR.

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I haven't sold an essay for pay, but I did get one published on ReligiousTolerance.org (*cough, shameless plug, cough*). I have several articles on other sites, but they no longer have my name on them.

The advice I was given was to continue publishing 'pro-bono' essays in the same basic style you're looking to do so you can build up a 'resume' or 'references' to give next time you *did* answer an ad or apply to another publication. If this makes sense.

Sorry if this isn't what you were looking for!