Eventually the editing has to stop, right? All the hours to days to months to years of editing that one certain story cannot keep going on. It’s difficult to stop.
It’s more difficult to get your stories out there and known however. Many literary agents love to accept writers that already have a name for themselves like if the writer has published before or has an online audience. This is helpful for the agent because they know published authors have more of a chance to do well than authors who haven’t published yet. This factor is intimidating to say the least.
However, there are a few ways to publish before getting an agent to publish your book.
Writing contests
One of the hardest but more rewarding way to publish is writing contests. A writer can win prizes from these contests including hundreds or thousands of dollars and/or a publishing contract. However, most writing contests have a reading fee. This reading fee can be as small as a few dollars to at least forty dollars or more. Also, since many writers submit to these, it is difficult to get picked. However, if you find the right writing contest for you, it’s a great experience.
Online and print magazines/journals
Some magazines and journals will publish short stories from unknown writers. These are hard to find sometimes, but they are great to get your name out there. Most of them—for what I’ve seen—do not require a reading fee.
Robin LeeAnn 