AstroBoy Online Forums

Who on here has been published? And by that I mean any piece of writing/poetry/art/article/column/etc. that had to go through editors or some sort of process (not necessarily for pay either), not posting a blog, fanfiction, or even original fiction on a forum or website, (no offense intended).

The reason I'm asking is I am trying to publish a short story and a (long) narrative poem. I've tried Strange Horizons & Clarkes World and have been rejected, though I'm not giving up. I'm waiting to hear back from Analog & have today submitted the poem to Heroic Fantasy Quarterly. I'd like to hear some personal advice from people who've gone through it, and I believe I remember reading posts about a few users mentioning having written or writing a book or some such.

Thanks in advance!

I was published back in highschool. I wrote a simple 1000 word story that was to fit with a certain theme which I picked from a list. The theme I chose was 'life', and I wrote about a raging fire that seemingly destroyed an entire forest, but then made the clear point that the trees in the forest needed the heat from the fire in order to reproduce (the pines in my region DO need forest fires in order to release their seeds) and that life continues even after tragedy, and unluckiness just may be luck in disguise. That was the only time I have been published, and I am not a very good writer.

What I have been hearing though from others is to do just what you are doing; do not give up, start small and send to many different publishers. To take another step forward you might also want to submit smaller pieces to local literary magazines or newspapers, maybe even a college publication. Your local library might be able to help or even bookstores (my bookstore has literary meet-ups once a month and they usually have a speaker from the literary world such as an author or even a representative of a publishing company).

I once heard a saying about being an author; you only get to be an author when you are able to plaster an entire wall with rejection letters.

I hope this helps.

Thanks, that does help. And I especially like that saying.

Literally hundreds - if not thousands of things. But then, I've been in Marketing/Advertsing over 30 years

So, yeah, I know all about working with editors, word count, writing commercials and articles and have even done radio and tv stuff. It is fun (for me, at least).

I would be going out of my mind with blogs, etc., but I'm very active doing gobs of volunteer work, so maybe someday, if I ever retire, I'll write/paint more. In the meantime, it is blast to help non-profits get good exposure for their efforts, and I sincerely recommend to anyone looking for experience - offer your skills as a volunteer (you get real-world experience that will build your resume, plus you get to make a positive difference )

You might want to offer your stories to a local newspaper, or see if a local library might want to post local young authors on their website. Just ask - and then you're work get seen and you will likely have more success with your efforts to be published

^Thanks for the advice! I'll have to look into that.