There’s nothing like the rush of getting stories published. I have lots of magazine publications and now several educational publications. Every time I hear that a magazine or publisher wants to use my writing, I celebrate.
Making it Happen
I was able to share that feeling with the kids in Ross Writing Club. We just finished the first ever Ross Writing Club at our elementary school. We met after school on Mondays for an hour for six weeks. Kids wrote all kinds of stories. We talked about plot, character, endings and word choice. They revised their own stories. They critiqued each other’s writing.
Then we published a collection of their stories. We had 31 writers and this book is 64 pages long!
We had a book launch to celebrate their hard work and creativity. At the book launch, some of the writers sat at a table and were interviewed about their work. It was so memorable and fulfilling for me. I truly hope the kids felt the same. I’m especially proud of these two writers.
The book is also available in the local authors section of our library! I know the kids were especially excited about that. I knew just how they felt.
Finding the Right Place
Writers of any age love getting stories published. But it’s never easy.
In addition to writing club, I’m also a writing coach for a young man. His goal is to be a horror writer. That’s not easy for a young person. One of his first obstacles, like a writer of any age, was finishing his stories. He worked on that. Now he has several completed stories. The next step is getting published stories. He wants to submit them to magazines or journals. But it’s tough finding the right fit for your work.
One of his first choices is closed right now. His second choice doesn’t accept work that includes cannibals. Since his story includes cannibalism, we crossed that off his list.
I finally found a publisher for a story I wrote back in 2013. It only took six years. I’m persistent.
It’s not easy finding a place to publish your work. What are your strategies for finding the right publication?