Listen:
Submitting your work doesn’t have to feel like a mystery. In this episode, I’m joined by fellow New World Library author, Dennis James Sweeney, author of How to Submit: Getting Your Writing Published with Literary Magazines and Small Presses (New World Library). I loved our conversation about all the vagaries of submitting your work, owning your desire for validation, dealing with rejection, and more.
Whether you’re a seasoned writer or just starting out, this conversation offers a grounded and empowering look at how to navigate the literary submission process.
In This Episode
-
How to find the right literary magazines and small presses for your work [5:56]
-
How platforms like Substack are changing the publishing landscape [7:21]
-
The differences between consumer/mainstream and literary publishing [11:15]
-
The role of vulnerability, validation, and a curated community [16:16]
-
Why positive rejections are invitations, not failures [25:38]
-
How to build a submission strategy that makes sense [27:40]
-
What makes a cover letter stand out (without overthinking it) [28:22]
-
The importance of aligning submissions with the write intention [30:06]
-
Creating a joyful writing space [32:55]
Watch on YouTube
About Dennis James Sweeney
Dennis James Sweeney is the author of How to Submit: Getting Your Writing Published with Literary Magazines and Small Presses, a guide for writers. His first book, In the Antarctic Circle, won the Autumn House Rising Writer Prize and was a Debut Poetry Book of 2021 in Poets & Writers. You’re the Woods Too, his second book, was a Small Press Distribution bestseller and a finalist for the Deborah Tall Lyric Essay Prize. Most recently, The Rolodex Happenings won the Stillhouse Press Novella Prize. Sweeney’s fiction, nonfiction, and poetry have appeared in Ecotone, Ninth Letter, The New York Times, The Southern Review, and Witness, among others.
He has an MFA from Oregon State University and a PhD from the University of Denver. Originally from Cincinnati, he lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, where he teaches at Amherst College.
Connect with Dennis
Order How to Submit on Estelle’s Bookshop
Podcast Episodes Mentioned with Dennis
Casey Mulligan Walsh, Episode #137 , Writing Through Rupture
Rachel Kramer Bussel, Episode #128, Open Secrets and Crafting Cathartic Personal Essays
Connect with Estelle
TEDx Talk: I share a deeply personal story—and the actionable lessons I teach at NYU and in Writing That Gets Noticed—in my TEDx Talk: How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond Please watch to the end (that’s what counts!), and if it resonates, I’d be so grateful for a comment on YouTube and a share with someone who could use a boost of clarity or courage.
