One of my unpublished, unspoken resolutions for April has been happening and I’m pretty excited about it. Last month, I finished my first semester in the Spalding University brief-residency MFA in writing program. With this in mind, I was hoping to take some time off from writing and actually start submitting my work with some degree of planning and regularity. Well, the planning has fallen to hell with spring break and now my realization that I have to write an essay on two Fellini films in two weeks, read two books and submit 20 pages of writing by May 5 or 7 (I forget), but somehow, when I’m procrastinating on laundry or cleaning the fridge, I’ve managed to research and submit three essays, one a day, this week alone! Four in the past month. So I’m putting myself out there and it’s both exhilarating and terrifying.
Wish I could say I’ve done more on the spiritual search, but I did have a great conversation with an old friend and mother role-model the other night that gave me momentum. More to come.
12resolutions 
Amy, you have accomplished much! I am so proud of you and your determination. Can you write something about submitting your essays. I have a “block” about how to go about this and which magazines, e.g., to approach and how to do so. It would greatly help a fellow writer. Always, enjoy your writings!
Niki
Thanks, Niki. It’s baby step progress, but I keep getting inspired and have a “what the heck” attitude about it, which is a huge improvement over my past “I’ll never get published” gloom.
As for your block, I can only share my own experience, so take it with a grain of salt. Some of this is advice from Roy:
I do a few things. When I find a writer whose work I admire or is in any way similar to my own, I look at the publications where he/she has been published and research their submission policies. I also asked Roy (for non-Spalding folk, Roy Hoffman was Niki and my mentor last semester) for recommendations and looked up the journals and websites he suggested. Sometimes I just do a keyword Google for a genre (like “humor” “essays” and “creative nonfiction”) and see what pops up. I also subscribe to a few literary newsletters. Yesterday I received my email copy of the latest Poets and Writers newsletter and in it I found a listing for “Small Presses Looking for Your Work.” The presses they listed were new listings in P&W (not necessarily new pubs) and I found several really quirky, fun websites. Another tip that most journals/websites can’t stress enough is to read through their publications. This will give you a feel for whether your work is a good match. When I found Defunct Magazine yesterday, I read through 3 or 4 of the essays and declared my love for it. I had to submit because one of my essays actual fit the mission of the online journal.
Do you ever look up “Calls for Submissions” at P&W or Creative Nonfiction or even Writer’s Digest? Those are good starting places. They also list contests (often with themes). Narrative is another good source. Of course, all of this is immensely time-consuming and frustrating, so lately I have just been biting off small goals at a time. For instance, I remembered a Jewish women’s journal I used to read and looked it up to make sure it’s still around. It is. They take unsolicited submissions and have a free online submission process. I read over a few of their articles and pressed submit for one of my pieces.
I wish that Spalding would offer more direction in this area, a panel discussion or a workshop each semester. Maybe we should recommend it. So often I feel like I’m floundering.
Lastly, Niki, I started an Excel spreadsheet for all of my submissions so I can keep track and just in case on the odd chance that I simultaneously submit and have to let some poor journal down because another journal is going to pay me thousands of dollars for the same essay, I can write to their editor and let them know. It also keeps me motivated to see how much I’ve submitted (I list the dates when I send them, the name of the piece, the publication, maybe a link to their website, whether it was accepted or not and any comments from the editor). I’m happy to show it to you this summer.
I hope this helped and didn’t just tell you what you already know or do. Published author friends, feel free to pipe up!!!
Way to go, Amy!!!!
Good for you!! I keep thinking back to a panel of women editors at the AWP conference in February … one of them said women hesitate too much to submit their work and even discredit their own success when it happens. “Drop the BS and get out there!” she said. Good for you for getting out there!
I have an Excel spreadsheet too and I’m breaking submissions into bite-size chunks. Pick one piece you feel good about, identify some possible outlets through all the things you said above, and hit send. A lot. Then pick another.
It’s really, really hard to find and read and get to know all these literary mags, so just start where you can and don’t get discouraged about it (talk to me in a year or five, ha, we’ll see if I’m so optimistic!). One thing to try: join this yahoogroup … they list lots of upcoming prizes and contests and submission windows: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CRWROPPS-B/
It’s free to join – one of the women from that AWP panel runs it.
Good luck to both of you! I think you are both amazing writers and will find good outlets for your work. :o)
Thanks for the Yahoo! group suggestion, Christi. I never would have thought of that.
That was supposed to be a smiley! Why does it do that??