Okay, gather round friends.

We are specifically a speculative venue. We love reading literary fiction, poetry, & essays. But we can't run them. & we are always sorry to have to say no.

How to avoid that? Let's talk venue consideration & research! :D

Do you love a venue? Want to work with them? Fantastic!

From there your first step is always to read the mag's guidelines. Odds are you're reading mags publishing the kind of things you love to create. But sometimes there are restrictions on eligiblity or content. Double check.

If everything lines up - you're eligible to sub, your content matches the mag's, sub windows (if any) are open - then write a cover letter in the style the mag prefers, & send that sub out! :D

Cover letter requirements vary by mag. Some want more, some less, some none. But:

If a mag wants a cover letter, look for samples. If not? Basic form is:

"Dear X,
I am submitting X, which is approximately X words long. Please consider it for publication in [mag].
I've been published in X, Y, Z mags.
Thank you for your consideration,
[Your name]"

If a mag wants biographical info in a cover letter, then you add that in the same section as your publication history (if any). & if you don't have publications? Don't sweat it. No mag is going to hold that against you. & if they do, you don't want to publish with them anyway. :)

Keep an eye out for how mags want to see your subs. Some want your work attached in specific formats (.docx, .rtf, .pdf, etc.). Others will ask to have things sent in in the body of the email. Formatting on that last one can be a mess, so check it over before you hit send.

Some mags will send auto-responders out to let you know they've recevied your emails. Others don't. But generally a mag's guidelines will tell you an expected reply time. (Not always, but usually.) If you haven't heard back by that time? Query on the status of your work.

There's never a reason not to query if you're still waiting on a mag response. Editors' personal lives intrude, issues don't come together as you'd expect, sometimes things get eaten by email servers in transit, pandemics happen... So it's *always* worth checking in.

If a mag allows simultaneous submissions? Great. Send your work to them & other mags as well. (But only to mags who *all* accept simultaneous subs.)

If they don't? Then send it only to them for now.

Your story was rejected? Move on to the next venue. It's almost never personal. (Unless you're an asshole, racist, bigoted ... because *every* mag has stories of nightmare submissions. :/ )

But generally? If a mag says "Not for us," that's exactly what it means. :)

Okay, but what if your story *doesn't* match the venue you want to send to? Well then, friends, you need to do some research. Right now, one of the best resources for that is the Submission Grinder: https://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/ 

Why? Because it's free & well run.

Duotrope is also there, but hasn't been free for a long time, & that paywall isn't user friendly. Good listings though if you're already using it.

Message boards for writers are also an option, & if you have one you like absolutely make use of it.

A number of writers, editors, & readers also maintain blogs with listings of submission windows, or venues they want to highlight.

Those can be a mixed bag, but by & large people mean well & you'll find venues you didn't expect. So when you find those blogs, give them a follow.

The one thing to keep a eye out for is when a listing just gives you a submission form link, or a submissions email. At that point, you absolutely need to go research the mag to make sure it's going to publish what you want to send them.

We get a lot of subs from people who have clearly just found our submissions email somewhere & never bothered to read our full guidelines.

It's ... especially obvious when we get multisubs. (Or more than our allowable multisub number for poetry.)

Again: always check carefully.

Lastly, have a story that fits a lot of venues, so you're not sure where to sub first? Start with dream mags. Whether that's a mag you desperately want to work with because of mandate (hi), or just whoever's highest paying. Your work is *absolutely* worth aiming for the top with.