"a familiar face" (from rodin sculpture garden, CA) by devi laskar

Since I have had some success getting novel chapters published as short stories and have won a prize or two along the way, Elizabeth asked me to write something about my process for the Book Writing World.

My most important tool in this process is Poets and Writers magazine, to which I subscribe. P&W has a listing of current short story contests (and other calls for submission) in the back of each issue and this information is much more timely than anything you can find in book form. Even if you are not ready to submit work, I would recommend subscribing: 1) to acquaint yourself with the contest world and the types of stories/subjects magazines are seeking, and 2) to support this most worthy writers’ magazine.

The P & W entries give you important information about each contest and literary magazine such as length of story, restrictions on who can enter (only writers living in Michigan, for instance), deadlines, if novel excerpts are accepted, and website links.

My process:

1)    Fine tune a story until I think it’s worthy.

2)    Make a list of possible contests or magazines seeking submissions, making sure my story fits the submission guidelines for length and subject, and how much the contest costs to enter.

3)    Check the website for each potential entry for specific guidelines and to see whether submissions are snail mail or online. These days more and more literary magazines are encouraging online submissions, which takes away the opportunity to physically bless my ms. as it goes into the mailbox, but makes it much easier on me and saves trees.

4)    Submit to as many magazines/contests as possible, or to as many as I can afford, in a timely fashion, keeping track of my entries on a spreadsheet or in a folder.

5)    If a magazine gives me the option of enclosing a self-addressed stamped envelope for contest results that’s a good idea. If I don’t win at least I’ll be notified and don’t have to remember to check the magazine’s website four months after my submission.

6)    Generally, contest results are announced on the website or in the mail as much as six months after the submissions deadline. Usually it’s sooner.

Some caveats: This can get expensive. Submitting to ten contests at an average of $15 per contest, let’s say, and I have spent $150. There is no way around this, really, since the contest charging this entry fee raises prize money, and the money also keeps all these great literary magazines in business. Some contests are real long shots, like submitting my first short story to the New Yorker (which doesn’t accept un-agented fiction, I think) but might be worth it just for the thrill of dreaming of winning. A good example of this is Narrative magazine, which has a winter short story contest with a hefty prize of $4,000. A friend of mine is a reader for the Narrative story contest and he casually mentioned to me that they receive 15,000 entries each year. Fifteen thousand. And this year I entered it anyway, just because…

The benefits:

1)    If you do win, or are published it adds to your writer’s resume and makes it more likely that your novel ms. will be given a second look by agents.

2)    Literary agents read the literary magazines and the contest winners, looking for new talent. Someone could read your story and sign you without you ever having to do a query letter! Imagine that!

3)    You begin thinking of yourself as a publishable author, which is a nice thing psychologically.

4)    Especially when you are working on a long work, like a novel, submitting chapters/stories or novel excerpts may get you professional feedback much sooner than you otherwise would.

Leslie Rodd is a member of the Book Writing World and earned an M.A. in creative writing from San Francisco State University. Her short story Fiery Night was a finalist for the Bosque Fiction Prize and published in Bosque (the magazine) by the Albuquerque Writers Coop in 2011.