A question that is becoming increasingly more moot is whether to submit to print magazines or e-zines. You could just submit to both, but then my little teaser blurb wouldn't be very much fun now, would it? Then again, that would be what I'd recommend. Curses! I foiled my own punchline. *hangs head in shame* Umm, read past the break anyway? Please?

I like the concept of submitting to the more print magazines. Yes, there are fewer and fewer of them now, and they're getting harder to find now that Borders and Waldenbooks stores are vanishing one by one. The independent book stores tend to have just the books, due to space constraints. And unless you live in a well-populated city/town/village, chances are there won't be an actual magazine store around. That leaves Barnes & Nobles, or the occasional general store like Walgreens/CVS/etc. and presumably places like Wal-Mart (I haven't been in one of those for over four years, so I can't rightly say what they have.).

If you focus more on e-zine submissions, your options are a bit more diverse. There's as many e-zines out there as there are grains of sand in my shoes after a stroll along the beach. But not all e-zines are created equal. Some are more professional than others. Some have larger reader bases. Some are just better known than others. Depending on what sort of writing you're submitting, it's best to do some research and see just what's out there. What's the best fit for your piece?

It doesn't necessarily have to be the largest named magazine out there. It could be one of the lesser known ones that happen to accept more first time submissions and lesser known authors. If you don't do your due diligence in researching viable submission locations, you might end up disappointed if your piece gets in a magazine, but the circulation is small. Or they might not accept your piece because it's not in the style of what they publish.

Having a copy of the Writer's Market (there are sections specifically for magazine publishers) can help you find the right places to submit to. They also help summarize just what you'll need and what to expect. That information can cut down on a lot of debating about whether a place may be an appropriate fit for your writing or not.

If you're just starting out, sometimes writing a guest post on a blog is a good way to get your name out there and to start building some connections with other writers and interested publishers.

*insert shameless promotion here* Full Coverage Writers is interested in guest posts if you have a literary topic or book review you'd like to have published outside of your own blog. Queries can be emailed to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Publication is subject to approval by the great committee of literary weasels that review all writing on our site. Upon approval, guest blogs will be proofread, queued up, and published for all the web to see, whether they're ready for it or not. Mwuahahaha.