by editor-in-chief Madison Foster

Our submission window closed last week, which means our team has begun pouring over your creative work! Review typically spans over the course of about two weeks, as both our section editors and our editor-in-chief (yours truly) carefully review each piece and narrow down which are the best fit to be published in our arts magazine.

​

If you're interested in getting published, with CM or any other lit mag, we're here to spill the tea on how to get there🍵 Here are a few things you can do to increase your chances of getting published in a literary arts magazine:

​

one. Read the magazines you're planning on submitting to.

Reading a few issues of a magazine gives you an idea of the publication's style and what type of creative work they've published in the past. Ensure your style aligns with theirs, and submit content that you feel could be a seamless fit into their next issue. Note any theme requirements if applicable.

two. Follow the magazine's submission guidelines.

This makes it easier for the publication's team to review (and upon acceptance, complete revisions on) your creative work. Some magazines will not consider your work if it is not submitted following their guidelines.

three. Do a quality-check before submitting.

Ensure your visual content is high-quality (especially art, dance, and music video submissions), and check your written work for spelling & grammar. This is, of course, up to your own creative discretion—you've got to know the rules to break them! We understand that some grammatical choices are rhetorical devices in your work, and our team always works closely with creators on revisions to ensure any grammatical "errors" are purposeful.

four. Create from your soul!

CM (and most other arts publications) are looking for work that is authentic and unique to your experiences & emotions. We love seeing vulnerability in creative work—and we recognize the strength it takes to share something so personal with the world. Remember that our goal with publishing your work is for our readers to feel something, to feel less alone in their human experience or to open their world to new perspectives. 

five. Don't get too discouraged from rejection.

ALL creatives, even your favorite artists, dancers, and writers, face rejection, so you aren't alone in this feeling. Often, amazing pieces are rejected because other pieces have similar themes or the style doesn't fit the vibe of the magazine, so rejections aren't always indicative of the quality of a piece. Another magazine just might make a better home for it! Also, it never hurts to submit again after fine-tuning your work (with the above tips in mind). Some publications will even give you direct feedback if you ask for it.

Find an arts publication to submit your creative work to to on the Chill Subs or Duotrope databases! 

Any other tips you would add? Reply to this email or DM us on Instagram to let us know, and we'll credit you in our upcoming post on the topic!