An excellent way for writers to build or augment a portfolio is to be published in literary journals. This post provides a few tips for improving the acceptance odds.

Before proceeding to the rest of the post, note that your submission must be exceptional — you’ll be competing with many talented writers. However, when the person with the power to approve or reject compares your piece with another that is similar, your careful planning might move yours to the front of the queue.

Read the Journal

Many journals offer an online copy. Others sell digital versions via online sellers that allow a preview of the first 10 to 20 percent. If you like what you see, consider supporting the journal by buying a copy.

Make Sure Your Piece Fits the Genre

• If you plan to submit to a sci-fi market, don’t create a whodunit with an alien who could just as easily be human.
• Horror should frighten A creepy story that turns out to be funny might be better classified as humor.
• Sometimes genre lines blur. A passionate relationship that develops in deep space 300 years from now could be classified as either romance or science fiction. Does the relationship rely on or react to events that could only occur in the future, or could it just as easily happen today? The first story would be science fiction, and the second would be romance.
• A piece overflowing with cursing and erotic content would be unsuitable for a teen audience.
• If a story contains fairies, it might be fantasy — or it could be horror. If fairies turn out to be alien beings, it might be better categorized as science fiction.

Create an Indelible First Impression With a Catchy Title

If you’re entering a contest themed Last Days of Summer, don’t use Last Days of Summer in the title.

Let’s brainstorm. Words and phrases that come to mind:

Gods, Goddesses, and Divinities of Summer
Aestas, Aine, Alectrona, Damoa, Electryo, Electryone, Horae, Odur

More Words
age, blistering, burning, crops, disappear, discontent, end, final gasp, glean, gloom, harvest, humid, leaves, month, phase, reaping, sadness, season, sweltering

Title Suggestions
Final Gasp of Aestas
Sweltering Season of Gloom
After the Leaves Dropped Forever

If you were a judge, a slush reader, or an editor, would any of the preceding titles pique your curiosity?

Create Memorable Characters

Do you intend to write about an author or a poet? Surely you can do better than that. Here are several idea starters.

• accountant who can’t add two-plus-two
• alien who can grow or shrink at will
• arsonist candlemaker
• astronomer who discovers __________
• auto mechanic who can’t read or write
• ballet dancer with six toes on one foot
• beachcomber who finds [a drug stash, an illegal weapon, a severed foot, a message in a bottle — but the message is dated 300 years in the future]
• biker who refuses to wear a helmet
• chef who has no sense of smell or taste
• coalminer with pneumoconiosis
• coroner studying to be a doctor
• deaf guitar player
• dog groomer who hates dogs
• drug smuggler who runs an anti-addiction group
• dyslexic [bus driver, computer programmer, doctor, teacher]
• farmer coping with foreclosure of property after prices fall on __________
• fashion designer who insists on all-natural materials
• film director who chews on garlic during shoots
• florist with severe environmental allergies
• hairdresser who aspires to be [an actor, an astronaut, a social media influencer]
• immigrant polygamist farm worker with three families overseas
• interior decorator who [buries bodies in clients’ backyards, robs homes]
• jeweler who can’t tell a diamond from a white sapphire
• opera singer with [hives, laryngitis, temporary loss of hearing]
• optometrist with [conjunctivitis, an overly large nose, the sneezes]
• orphan [in a relationship with someone who is also an orphan, who adopts several orphans]
• pearl diver who discovers __________
• physician with narcolepsy
• pilot of [an experimental aircraft, a spaceship, a time travel vehicle]
• politician too honest to __________
• psychiatrist with [agoraphobia, arachnophobia, __________]
• scientist who develops a cure for __________
• serial killer masquerading as a cop
• submarine captain with claustrophobia
• tattoo artist who can’t draw a straight line
• toymaker who hates children
• undertaker with necrophobia (extreme fear of death or corpses)

Tell a Complete Story

Every story should have a beginning, obstacle(s) to overcome, and an ending.

Your words will be limited, so choose strong verbs, nouns, and adjectives.

Compare these examples. Which do you prefer: the sentence in Roman font or the italicized sentence that follows? In both examples, the italicized version contains far fewer words.

• The little old lady with grey hair used a cane to clear people out of the way as she walked down the street. The grey-haired dowager caned her way through pedestrians on the street.
• In spite of the fact that Tom didn’t really like the flavor of coffee very much, he always got the strongest coffee on the menu at Starbucks every morning before going to work. Although Tom disliked coffee, every morning before work he ordered Starbucks’ strongest brew.

Finish Strong

Surprise endings function well in flash fiction, but you must drop clues for readers. There’s a difference between a surprise and an impossibility.

Before a shot is fired, you must introduce a weapon or a hint that it exists.

If a snowstorm traps people in a cave, there should be a prior snowfall warning or plummeting temperatures.

If a character proposes marriage to someone, you must provide clues showing the character’s interest in that person.

Check and Edit

• Proofread your poem or story.
• Read it out loud.
• Print it out, take it to another room, and read it again.
• Get your computer to read it to you.
• If you have enough time before the deadline, put it away for a few days or weeks.
• Proofread again.

If two pieces are being considered for publication, which do you think will be chosen: the one riddled with typos and grammatical mistakes, or the error-free one?

Read the Rules

• If the journal wants a story between 500 and 1500 words, don’t send them a piece of 499 or 1501 words.
• If they ask for double-spaced text in Times New Roman, give it to them.
• If they request that you remove all identifying information from your submission, remove it (including info in headers and footers).
• If they ask for submission via an online form, don’t email it to their webmaster.
• Try to submit well before the deadline. This helps compensate for spotty internet problems, site downtime, etc.

Likewise respect all other guidelines.

Address Your Cover Letter to the Editor, Assistant Editor, or Judge by Name

Dear Editor isn’t good enough.

Sometimes you have to search for a name.

• First place to look: the submission guidelines.
• Nothing there? Try the journal’s About, Our Team, Contact, or similarly labeled page.

If you can’t find a name, consider this: Do you want to send your writing to an unknown individual?

Write a Cover Letter

• Include only necessary details. Editors have busy lives and don’t want to pore through feeble attempts at humor or self-promotion.
• Don’t retell the story. Your cover letter isn’t a book blurb.
• Don’t ask for a critique unless the journal offers one as part of its submission process.
• Provide a short Many publications have strict word-count guidelines.

Some journals provide a spot for a cover letter on their submission form. Some ask you to send it via email. Others don’t provide the opportunity for a cover letter and/or bio until your piece has survived the slush-pile round.

Sample Cover Letter

Dear [__________],

Thanks for taking some of your valuable time to read my [_____]-word [story, poem] “[__________]” ([genre]). This is an exclusive [or previously published] submission for possible inclusion in [name of journal].

Some of the journals that have published my work include:

[Supply itemized list of three to six journals. If you don’t have any publication credits, skip this part.]

Best wishes,

[your name]

Short bio: [biography]

Website: [Provide website URL. Skip if you don’t have one.]

Social Media: [itemized list]

Amazon Author Page: [URL]

Goodreads: [URL]

Email: [email address]

Address: [complete address, including country]

Phone: [complete phone number, including country code]

Double-Check Your Contact Information

Writers have been known to misspell their own names.

In my defense, my name isn’t exactly easy to spell.

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.