Update, Take 2

Greetings from the Void!

It has been…probably four months (five?) since my last post here and it feels…well, like a blast from the past. I haven’t been in this Vocalite mindset for quite a long time.

So why did you randomly get a notification of a story by yours truly?

I am returning to Vocal temporarily (and not because this is going to make my life any easier) but because of the very scintillating summer challenge series that Vocal is putting on. For the first time in a while, I admit to feeling excited by the offerings and the possibility of winning.

To clarify, yes, I am returning out of self-interest. Thank you for your judgement, lol.

In the spirit of truth telling, I also want to also offer an update to my “An Update and Pivot” piece from almost a year ago. In it, I mentioned that Vocal is a dead-end if I want to become a published poetry and fiction author. I also said it was an echo chamber and that I needed more iron to improve my skills. Well, these are still true for the most part. I think the latter may have proven to be a moot point, since the competition isn't visible out there. That's true of submissions at large, though. Obviously there is competition, but you don’t get to read what you’re up against before you submit (only past winners or submissions to different categories), unlike on Vocal.

So why am I coming back to V+ and a frequent post schedule?

The challenge opportunities. Seriously, these prompts are much more literary-based than a lot of what has come before. I am feeling inspired again, and willing to brave the black hole which is this site. 😅 Will my life become busier? Yes. Will I be tempted to do the equivalent of doom scrolling on this lying-about-its-social-media-designation social media site? Without question. Hell, I may even forego a $15,000 poetry contest because of a low-chance $200 win. So I’m not doing this without any awareness of the costs! 🤣

Ultimately, though, I feel it is worth the time and the $30 to participate for three months. I think I can juggle it. *Fingers crossed*

Progress on my Goals

I also mentioned in my last update that I wanted to get published in a literary magazine and possibly win a contest. Well, I have good news on both! Last summer, I submitted to a free poetry contest hosted by Prime Number Magazine. It’s an annual contest where four winners get published and sent a free book. (In fact, their 2025 contest is still live until the last day of July. Here’s the information.) I was one of those four for 2024. And here’s that link if you want to read my piece and the other three that won. Press 53 also hosts other contests on their site, so it’s worth checking them out. A few of them have quite incredible prizes. Beyond cash, you can get a chapbook or short story collection published and sold on their site.

And check out Rattle too. Their $15,000 poetry contest ends on July 15th but they also have a chapbook contest due at the end of the month, and an ekphrastic poetry challenge every month. I won't link those because wow, that's too many links for a single article, but if you're interested, you'll peruse on your own, right? 😝

Of course, my win was just one acceptance in a couple dozen submissions. Not the best track record, but it’s better than it could be. It’s still encouraging, believe it or not, and honestly, this is just how the game works. LOTS of rejection. Your writer ego needs to be small if you go down this route, rather than sticking with a blog-type publishing style.

Do you know how many literary magazines there are? It’s ridiculous. You could submit for a year and still find new ones. So the odds of you securing every single submission attempt is extremely low, and even the best writers you know had to deal with oodles of rejection—and definitely still do. It’s worth it, though, because it gets you confident in your work, develops your discernment in multiple areas, and forces you to improve, even against your desire. 😅

How to Find Places to Submit to

*Disclaimer: I have no idea how many people will read this. Bit of a gamble to post all this info in this piece, but I do hope that at least one person finds it useful advice. If anyone wants me to, I can do a dedicated article for submissions. May not be that much different, but at least the title would be more telling.*

There are two resources I use for finding magazines, contests, and other publishing opportunities. The first is Authors Publish Magazine, which is actually more newsletter than website. I get several emails per week listing new literary magazines or publishers that meet a certain criteria. Sometimes it’s publishers who don’t require agents to submit to them. Sometimes it’s magazines that specialize in young, unpublished writers. Sometimes it’s introducing a brand new magazine that only takes experimental fiction. You get the idea. Here’s their website. You can sign up for the newsletter from there, if you want.

The second source is a personal blog by Erica Verrillo called Published to Death. This site was shared with me by a friend. (If that person wants to be revealed, they might do so in the comments. I don’t want to presume and do it here, lol.) But THANK YOU to that person. You’ve saved me so much effort and time by giving me Erica’s blog. And I would never have found Press 53 without it.

Published to Death is all about CURRENT publishing opportunities, both for book publishing and the world of literary magazines and contests. It’s a monster of a site (in the best way) and completely worth pinning to your Favorites tabs, as I have done.

In the past year, I’ve spent more time on Erica’s blog than using Authors Publish. However, I have so many bookmarks from my early days using just AP that it’s hard to compare which one has been of more value. I recommend both, honestly. Erica’s is great because she updates it monthly. AP is more likely to fall out of date if you don’t jump on the opportunities quickly, but it gives you an easy method for creating a list of magazines you want to try, and the beauty is that you’ll always be getting those emails if some happen to shut down.

It's almost like choosing a taxi versus a train. Do you want the opportunities to come to you or do you want to go to the station and find the right platform? Ehhh...You need both. Different head spaces demand different vehicles.

Here's the system I use: Find a handful of magazines that you personally love. It’s hard to be unmoored in this world simply because there are too many magazines to keep straight in your brain. So, do your reading first, both of their submission rules and their content (equally important). Find the magazines you like and that fit your style. Don’t just submit to everything you see. I would say I have four magazines that I’ve repeatedly submitted to, and I’m always curating my shortlist while also trying out new ones. Smaller scope = less stress.

Anyway, happy submitting! And if you have any suggestions for other resources, please share in the comments. 🤗

Final Thoughts

It’s good to be back talking to you all again! The muscle was definitely atrophying the past few months, so this was good to write and feel the flow come back. (Took a couple days to finally hit publish on this one!)

You’ll be seeing me post once per challenge in the coming weeks, fiction and poetry, as they demand. I’ll be pretty quiet otherwise, as I have a couple chapbooks in the works, as well as other submissions through the beginning of next year that I need to work on. But I’ll see you around ;D.

Cheers, all!