In a previous essay, I wrote that you do not need to know what kind of a writer you are or want to be, and that it’s okay if your goals change. In retrospect, I realised that in an attempt to accommodate all kinds of writers and goals, I did not directly speak to the writers--like my own 16-year-old self--who did know what they wanted from their writing: I wanted to write a book of sad short stories once I graduated college with a degree in Creative Writing, but before that, I wanted to be published by (lots and lots of) literary magazines.

Just like I do even know, I looked up what other authors had done. I'd read somewhere that the short story writer O. Henry had written 600 stories, so I calculated how many I could write if I wrote one per week until I was 80, as suggested by Ray Bradbury:

The best hygiene for beginning writers or intermediate writers is to write a hell of a lot of short stories. If you can write one short story a week—it doesn’t matter what the quality is to start, but at least you’re practicing, and at the end of the year you have 52 short stories, and I defy you to write 52 bad ones. Can’t be done. At the end of 30 weeks or 40 weeks or at the end of the year, all of a sudden a story will come that’s just wonderful.

“Telling the Truth,” The Sixth Annual Writer’s Symposium by the Sea, 2001

I was pleased to see that the resulting number was much higher than 600. I started looking forward to beating O. Henry, and becoming a prolific author. Now I just had to write all those stories and edit and submit them and keep submitting until I my work was accepted.

But that's a simplification of how the process works. There are thousands of literary magazines out there. They each have different tastes, based on where they're located, what their aims are, which languages and genres and forms they publish, and who their editors are.

So if I had to lay out a systemic map for my younger self to help her focus her efforts, I would suggest to her the following. Do note that to date, I've published only two flash fiction stories and I dislike both of them. All my other publications have been blog posts, articles, and essays. I'm therefore not an expert on writing fiction for magazines, but this is how I have received the acceptances I did, so hopefully there will be some lessons here for you too.

Where do you begin with literary magazines?

The first thing is to understand what literary magazines are and what they publish. This article on BuzzFeed covers pretty much everything; if you read just that piece and ignore this one, you'd be good to go. I’m writing this essay because there’s stuff in here that isn’t in that article, stuff that I learned works best for me.

The article is also very long and aimed at people with very specific writing goals. Here's my paltry, shorter attempt at explaining literary magazines. If you're new to reading them and new to writing, you don't need to focus too much on the details of the process. Right now, the priority is to read and write as much as possible. Once you have that basic foundation, you can refine your tastes and your words as your skills develop.

So here goes: Literary magazines publish fiction, non-fiction, poetry, art, and increasingly, hybrid forms, which are a mix between various genres and are very experimental.

Some magazines publish only fiction, others only poetry. Some are only published in print, some are only online, some publish in both mediums. Some are devoted solely to writing by LGBTQIA+ writers, others to writing by Black or women or indigenous writers. Some publish writing about the environment, others only want science fiction and fantasy.

So where do you start when there's such variety available? Figuring out your goals might help. There are hundreds of databases that provide details about literary magazines. I'd suggest the magazines and journals curated by Authors Publish magazine because they recommend places that do not ask for submission fees.

You can’t read all the magazines out there to figure out what you like; filtering the list will help you out here. Here's some criteria I set when looking for magazines:

1. Can I read the magazine online?

The first step to submitting to a magazine is always reading it. This gives you an idea of what they publish and whether your writing matches their tastes. For example, it would be futile to submit your fiction with a heartbreaking theme when a magazine publishes hopeful stories where all ends well. And you will only come to understand that when you read them.

Since I couldn't afford to subscribe to magazines, I started by looking for the ones that could be read online. If I couldn't read them, I wouldn't submit to them because that would mean completely disregarding the efforts other writers as well as the people behind the magazine are putting into running it.

2. Do they ask for submission fees?

Running a magazine involves several costs--the costs of hosting a website on the internet, the cost of using tools like Submittable, Moksha, or Duotrope, which make the submission process easier for everyone involved, the cost of promotion and ads when possible, the costs of paying writers, and if possible, the costs of paying something to the editors and volunteers, who read and select the submissions received by the magazines.

To cover these expenses, many magazines ask writers to pay a small submission fee. Sometimes, these fees are used to pay the writers who do get selected and the people behind the scenes keep nothing. At other times, these fees cover the minimum costs required to run a magazine--many journals often take a hiatus when they run out of funds. Sometimes, magazines take a fee and offer feedback if the story gets rejected.

Many journals, however, ask for submission fees but do not pay their writers. There are lot of perspectives on whether they should be doing this (example). For me, however, the decision was a practical, not a moral one: I simply couldn't afford to pay for a piece of writing, let alone one that I didn't even have the guarantee of being accepted.

3. Do they pay?

My third criteria was again practical: would I get something, even a small honorarium, for my writing? I was 16 back then and although I had no responsibilities¹, I knew very well the financial circumstances that our family was facing, so I focused on magazines that paid so that I could contribute something to the family, even if it wasn't much.

Many writers submit to magazines so that they can improve their chances of getting an agent who will help them publish their books, and therefore don't mind paying submission fees or not getting paid for their work. For more on this, you can read this article by Michael J. Moore about why you should submit your work to magazines that don't pay.

4. Do I like what they publish?

After filtering the list of magazines based on the above criteria, I start reading. In the beginning, I wanted to publish fiction, so I read all of their fiction. A couple of years ago, I really wanted to write and publish fantasy short stories, so I read those. Nowadays, I can't stop thinking about and writing and reading essays, so that's what I focus on.

Whatever the form or genre, start reading with the most recent issues--they reflect most accurately the tastes of the magazine at present. Some magazines go back decades, others switch editors for each issue, so reading something that was published 5 years ago, when a different editor headed the magazine, won't be as helpful as reading the latest issue.

Depending on how frequently the magazine publishes (annually, quarterly, monthly, weekly), I aim to read at least 5 pieces before deciding whether or not my tastes match with the magazine’s. If I'm not certain, I'll read a few more.

But if I've read 10 stories or essays and I don't like what I’m reading, then the magazine isn't for me. That's good--I can now focus on magazines that I do enjoy reading. And that’s important---why would I submit to a magazine I’m not interested in? Writing isn't just about our own selves, it's also about reading other writers and enjoying their work. We're a community, not each other's competition.

Once I find a magazine I like reading, I read more of their stuff. I bookmark my favourites, and later on, reread them, this time as a writer. More on this in the next essay.

1. Teens do not work here in India because breadwinning is the parents' responsibility, while students are supposed to do nothing but study--even extracurricular activities are discouraged, and in many cases, replaced with coaching classes for entrance exams to medical and engineering colleges.↩