Image of a woman sitting at a table. She is writing in a notebook, looking deep in thought. There is an open laptop, a cup of coffee, and several stacks of books on the table as well.
Photo by George Milton

For my inquiry project this term, I’ll be exploring the process of getting short creative works published (online or through the mail). I have a BFA in Creative Writing from UBC; while I graduated from this program with a healthy stack of written pieces, none of this work has ever seen the light of day.

There is a busy semester ahead of us, and I am admittedly nervous about adding on the extra work of revising old stories and writing query letters on top of all the rest. I’m also nervous about putting my work out there ⁠—some of these pieces are 6+ years old and have only been read since by my closest friends and family. That all said, submitting my work for publication has been a long-term goal of mine, and what could be better than weekly school-imposed deadlines as a way to stay accountable?

While I’d like to leave myself some flexibility with this inquiry process, my tentative plan of attack will be to:

  • Revisit my old work
    • What is it like returning to years-old drafts? What pieces do I still see promise in? How much revision will each piece need?
  • Researching online journals and newspapers that are accepting submissions
    • What sort of work are these journals looking for? When are they accepting submissions? Are they paid or unpaid? How does each publication treat publication rights?
  • Creating organization tools to keep track of the process
    • Which journals accept simultaneous submissions? Which stories are submitted to which publications, and when? When did you head back? What was the answer? Sent in work digitally or via snail mail?
  • Application process
    • What is it like? How long do you have to wait to hear back? What is getting that first response back (acceptance or rejection) like?

An image of a blank piece of paper being placed in a brown paper.. There is a desk in the background with writing utensils in the background.
Photo by Angela Roma

I’m expecting that I’ll be able to dig into anywhere from 1-3 posts per subject above. As this course does end in April, there is a good chance that I might not hear back from any journals or newspapers until after this course ends. I intend to write a post when I receive my first letter back, regardless of when that is. 

Looking forward to investigating this process further and updating you all next week!

Heather