Getting your work published can be a daunting task. Whether it's a poem, article, or a book, developing a thick skin is important if you're going to achieve your goal: a published work. Rejection is part of the process. When you submit your work to a publisher, you're putting yourself out there and on a very shaky limb. If your work isn't what the publisher wants or needs, a rejection is immanent.
However, if you're work meets the publisher's criteria and a bit of 'luck' is mixed in, you'll eventually reach your goal: a published work.
Your work sells itself, but you must sell yourself, too. How? Display a professional attitude and a willingness to be critiqued, edited, etc. In other words, your ego must be left at the door if you want to break into the published market.
One of the best resources for writers is a book called Writer's Market. It comes out every year and is loaded with nothing but publishers and their contact information. You'll know about a publisher's pay rates, royalties and advances, along with specific needs and submission guidelines. Writer's Market tells you if a publisher takes online submissions, unagented work and more.
Speaking of literary agents, in the world of books, having an agent, (especially with the larger publishing houses), is nearly always a must if you want a chance at having your work read. Publishing houses willing to take unagented submissions exist, so don't fret if you're swimming in the unagented sea with many writers.
The greeting card market is a great place to start if you've got a way with words. Always read what a greeting card company's needs are. They may be looking for Christmas poetry, rhyming or unrhyming, with a March deadline. Get a sense of what they publish by reading their published works. This is the best way to target your writing. By knowing what they publish, you won't be setting yourself up for a probable rejection.
The largest factor in getting your work published is, (drum roll please), don't give up! Again, if you take rejection personally and give up as a result, you'll never know if you stood a chance. Your dreams of being published won't be reached the moment you stop submitting work.
Keep submitting. Don't give up. Read publisher's guidelines. Do this and you'll stand a pretty good chance of reaching your goal. If you give up and stop submitting your work, you won't ever be published. Worse, you'll never know if you would have been.
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Contributor's Note
Ellen DuBois is the author of I Never Held You, a book about miscarriage, healing and recovery, A-Z Affirmations-Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life, and Jackie's Heart. She has two greeting cards published by SPS Studios and a poem in one of their gift books, and is a contributing author in five books.
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