Readers of this magazine often write in saying, "I have written this story/ book. Can you please tell me who to send it to?" One of the first things they need to know is that they should be1 their markets and finding out about publishers as well as practicing their writing skills. Turning2 into something saleable takes a good deal of knowledge about the "writing game".
Whatever kind of 3 you do, you need to develop a knowledge of the markets you are aiming at. There are several ways of doing this, but the best one is simply by reading everything relevant you can lay your hands on. Use your local4 and go round the local bookshops and newsagents. Reading widely will always give you the best guide to what kinds of writing publishers are actually5 at any given time.
To begin with you may be looking around, not quite6 what you want to write. Let us say you feel that you might like to write short love stories. The very first thing you must do is find out which magazines use love stories and get hold of as many recent7 as you can. Then familiarize yourself with the kind of stories they are buying, taking special note of who the readers are. These readers will expect different things from their magazine, and the editor is only interested in meeting their needs.
The problem is that most 8 writers are too eager to send their work out, usually long before they are ready to enter the market. If you have only written one story or one article, it is not at all likely to be 9 . That almost never happens. When you read about so-called"10 ", you usually find that the person has been in the publishing trade or journalism for some years before their current success.
When you do finally send off some of your work for the first time, immediately get on with more work while you11 a reply; write ten more stories, twenty even. Each one will be better than the last and you will begin to think of yourself as a writer, and both your fluency and your confidence will grow. Don't tear any of them up--improve them instead. Also I would advise not showing your work to anyone else, 12 in the early-stages.
Don't forget that every successful writer will have had many13 before succeeding. Do everything you can to 14 your career as a writer. See whether there's a creative writing course near you. If not, try joining a local writers' group which will help you to gain ideas and confidence from 15 with other inspiring writers. Think of yourself as a writer and get that writing practice in—every day if possible.
