Natalie Frank has a Ph.D. in Clinical psychology. She specializes in Pediatric Psychology and Behavioral Medicine.

Get some advice on improving your chances of getting published by employing interpersonal techniques. Canva

How I Started Submitting Stories for Publication

When I first started submitting stories for publication, I figured I wouldn’t be considered for any of the more popular and competitive magazines. I set out to find possibilities that I thought I might actually have a chance at being accepted at.

First, I read a ton of stories in journals, on websites, and many that were self published. I decided on an extremely rough estimate of where I fell in terms of the strength of my stories. I figured it wasn’t entirely impossible that I was at the midpoint with about half of the stories submitted to journals that considered submissions from new writers better than what I wrote and 50 percent weaker than my stories.

I then looked at acceptance stats to find journals that accepted 50 percent of the stories submitted. I thought that a 50 percent rejection rate was pretty high and I’d have a decent shot at acceptance at all those journals. Looking back at how naive I was makes me laugh.

The Acceptance Stats Were More Formidable Than I Expected

The stats were clearly much more formidable than I anticipated. Not unusual, I found numbers such as the number of submissions per year being 3000 with acceptance rates at .01 percent. In other words, out of 3000 submissions a year, a whopping 30 were accepted? I soon found that submissions for journals that were considered good choices for unpublished and emerging writers to submit to had anywhere from a 5 percent to 10 percent acceptance rate with one actually accepting 25 percent of the submissions they received a year. My heart sunk.

I wasn’t going to give up my dream of becoming a writer, though, and so I became determined to figure out another way of determining journals where I could submit my work and actually be considered and even have a chance of acceptance. Thinking that brand new publications might have lower numbers of submissions since perhaps many writers hadn’t heard of them yet, I looked for journals that were publishing their first issue. I still think this was a good idea, and ultimately it did lead to not just my first publication, but my first paid publication. But it meant taking a bit of a different tack.

Getting published is not an easy endeavor.

Don’t Discount the Personal When Trying to Get Published

I came across a journal called Weirdbook Magazine. The call said the magazine was returning after a 17 year hiatus and it would be the first issue since 1997. I figured that there was a good chance that not that many writers would come across the announcement and so I’d have a better than average chance of getting in. As I’d just finished a class in writing weird fiction I was in a mindset to write in that genre and created a short story I liked quite a bit in the next week. I sent it off and as I was impressed with the history of the magazine tried to think how I could improve my chances of being accepted.

The editor was extremely approachable and was frequently updating information and the status of the edition on Facebook and the magazine blog. I decided that if I could become more than just a byline on one of the stories submitted, maybe it could help. At least it couldn’t hurt.

I Kept in Touch

I helped with publicity, found ways to aid in online marketing and simply kept in touch, responding positively to news about the edition and magazine. When he updated the blog to inform readers that by the time submissions closed he had over 500 stories, I figured my initial impression that because it was a magazine that hadn’t been published in 17 year there would be fewer submissions was way off and I didn’t have a shot at acceptance. I continued to do what I could to help out anyway and kept in touch.

When the response came on my story, the editor said that while it wasn’t being accepted for the first new edition, it had come close and had been shortlisted. He then asked if I would allow him to hold it as if the edition did well enough to afford another edition he’d like it to be considered for that one. Of course I said yes, despite it meaning waiting several more months to learn whether the edition was a go or not and if so, whether my story would make it into that one. This also gave me more time to interact with the editor.

Patience Paid Off

As it turned out, the magazine went on to another edition (and has continued to published in the years since then). Despite just as many submissions for that one, I learned my story was being accepted and I had my first paid publication. I can’t say for certain whether, or how much my interaction and willingness to help the magazine get its first new edition off the ground influenced the decision to accept my story. However, I can’t believe making myself more than just a name on paper had absolutely no effect given the number of stories submitted and ultimately selected.

There are many ways you can make yourself useful when trying to break into writing.

Be Friendly and Make Yourself Useful

When trying to break into writing and getting your work published, the bottom line is there are many factors other than just sheer talent that influence whether your story is accepted. If you come upon a new magazine or one that hasn’t published for a while but is making a comeback, contact the editor. Tell them that you are impressed with the journal and that you submitted a story but whether or not it’s accepted that you’d like to get involved with the publication.

Offer to Help

Be sure to have some familiarity with the journal if it has been published before or if not be aware of what the editor intends for the new publication. Ask if there’s anything you might be able to help out with. Often the editor will come back and say they can’t think of anything specific but then ask if you have any ideas. Find something to offer if possible:

Can you publicize it in some way?

Do they need reviews and if so do you know anyone that would have name recognition that you can ask?

If they are crowd funding the venture, can you publicize that in a way that gets even one or two supporters?

Again, Keep in Touch

Even if your story isn’t accepted that time around, keep in touch with the editor and continue to ask about ways to make yourself useful to them. This will make it more likely that your story will receive more attention and a better review (all things being equal) the next time around.

Acceptance of a Story Isn't Entirely Objective

As an editor, I can tell you that often there are far more good stories that are submitted than we can possibly accept. Factors such as the degree to which the story matches the theme of the call and whether there have been too many stories on a particular aspect of the theme influence which are accepted. But even so, there are still always far more great stories than can be accepted and many often end up with the same ranking.

When it comes down to it, what influences which of these stories is accepted, is not always something entirely objective. Whether we’ve heard of the author, whether and where they’ve been published and yes, even the degree to which the author has weighed in on our Facebook page or been in contact with one of the editors can provide just enough goodwill to tip a story slightly over the finish line.

This article is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge. Content is for informational or entertainment purposes only and does not substitute for personal counsel or professional advice in business, financial, legal, or technical matters.

© 2017 Natalie Frank

Natalie Frank (author) from Chicago, IL on January 19, 2018:

Hi Sue - Thanks for the comment. I'm glad you found the article useful and my experiences interesting. I appreciate your comment about my writing - when we put work into something we enjoy it when others believe it to be well done. Are there any other topics along these lines or other writing related ideas you might like to read about that I could develop an article on? Thanks for your help and for stopping by.

sue pratt on January 18, 2018:

I enjoyed reading about your experience and found some useful ideas in your article. Plus, it's beautifully written. Reading it was time well spent.

Marsei

Natalie Frank (author) from Chicago, IL on January 07, 2018:

Yes - there are certainly a large number of writers out there and much competition. Making yourself standout somehow or become more familiar to those who publish is one of the ways to improve your odds. Thanks for the comment, Heidi.

Heidi Thorne from Chicago Area on January 06, 2018:

Just like any other form of business, networking online or off is the way to stand out and get paid! What writers forget is that there are a LOT of good writers in the world. And, as you pointed out, the pile of submissions that publishers receive is formidable. So anything you can do to make yourself visible in the pile is worth doing. Great reminders!

Venkatachari M from Hyderabad, India on November 16, 2017:

Very useful advice about getting published. You shared some wise experiences on how to keep positive and determined in spite of rejections and drawbacks. Thanks for it.

Linda Crampton from British Columbia, Canada on November 15, 2017:

Thanks for sharing your experience and tips, Natalie. This is an interesting article.

Kari Poulsen from Ohio on November 15, 2017:

Thanks so much, Natalie, for the description of your experience and the good advice. I enjoyed reading this!

Bill Holland from Olympia, WA on November 14, 2017:

I've done much better getting published in magazines than I have getting a novel published. There might be a lesson there for me to learn, but I just keep on writing novels and hoping. :) Great tips there.

Liztalton from Washington on November 13, 2017:

There are so many good writers and stories that get rejected. It's just the nature of writing. But look at Gone With The Wind... rejected 38 times before it was published.