Have you ever been published? Thoughts?

Question

What advice would you give to someone looking to get their work out there?

I write only short stories (horror,action,fantasy). Some of the pieces I've written are a little unorthodox in term of writing style I guess.

But what's the best way for someone who has nothing. No form of connections or knows how to get a connection, to get their work out there? I am the definition of armature! I still need to have my stuff edited properly!

I've search for magazines, but can never one that looks legit or find the one for me.

For anyone who's been published what have you done? What advice?

Answer 1

Short stories go to magazine editors.  The editors decide whether to buy them.  If you go to the library, and look under 802-808, and 070, you'll find many books that tell you how to send in manuscripts, and have lists of magazines.  When you find a magazine, be sure to look it up on the web and see if there's more recent info.

If you can find a writers' group, you can get really useful critiques.

Actually, I have some tips:

http://bkedits.com/homophones.html

http://bkedits.com/dialogue.html

Answer 2

Search for an Agent first and foremost, they'll lighten the load for you.

If you Google properly, there are publishers which allow you to just send in the work for them to read. It's rather simple, it's the rejection that's hard and having to keep doing it until finally someone responds. Even the greatest authors were rejected at first.