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Published Bluelighters?

T

TheDeceased

Ex-Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 21, 2000
Messages
1,720
Location
Beyond the Grave
I've recently enrolled in a writing course and one of my lecturers is encouraging me to try and get published, which is great for my ego. But I wouldn't know where to start. It's a scary thing to put yourself out there.

Are there any bluelighters here who've been published or who have tried to get published recently?

I don't mean novels, necessarily. Anything. Magazines, journals. You don't have to say what it was, obviously as this is a fairly anonymous forum.

But, did you find it difficult? Stressful?

Share your experiences.
 
there is one book you need.

http://www.awmonline.com.au/Home.aspx
the australian writer's marketplace.

you don't need to pay full price from the publisher, you can find them discounted. it has EVERYTHING one would need to get started. seriously. you don't even need the latest edition. the info only has minor updates.

i finished a writers course last year which ended in honing one of my stories to the point of it being ready for submitting, but then house hunting and then university study has subsequently completely distracted me. maybe i just need to grow a pair.

good luck, mate.

the only stuff i've had published was very short video game reviews, but that was years ago and only in drum media. so short i could write one up in next to no time.
 
Start small and put as much time into your query letter as you do your actual work. The query letter is what anyone is going to first read, so that is where you need to sell them. Not sure what it is you are trying to get published, but with prose your best first bet is a University publisher, and if it is poetry, you have to start with magazines etc as poetry books are rare nowadays.

But start small and work your way up like anything else in life. Just like at an entry level job you would work your way up, do the same in the publishing game. You won't reach a Tom Clancy level right away, no matter the quality of your work. You must get published through a magazine or university press, and then highlight that past performance in your next query letters as you get bigger and bigger.
 
the most stressful part is actually just making sure your work is adequately copyrighted while you're shopping it around to publishers. as for it actually getting published, well, it depends on how you intend to have it set in print. newspapers are a good start; eg. opinion pieces. magazines are generally tougher to break into because they've already got a rolodex full of skilled article wizards and the field is competitive. obviously, grassroots magazine publications are an exception to that rule but you're also a lot less likely to reach a significant portion of your target audience in such a mag. when it comes to the big publishing houses, all it takes is patience and perseverance... and an armload of immaculately polished writing with true potential.

oy. i'll get back to this when im not hammered
 
btw: for those who don't know, the book i recommended has nothing to do with actually writing. well it has tips and suggestive articles, but the main content is contact details for practically all publishers, editors, magazines, etc off all kinds in australia. It includes how often they publish, what format/s they accept, what they pay, their readership demographics, size limits, whether they keep an exclusive right to your content or not, etc etc etc. bloody invaluable info.
 
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