#PublishPath – Step Eight: Actually send it OUT. Maybe.
So I wrote a cover letter.
I wrote a cover letter for my first choice publication.
Then I copied that draft into an email, put the publisher's email address in the 'to' box, and attached a copy of my story to it.
I was ready to intentionally, and with malice aforethought, actually hit send.
When I was a young kid, I got to go on a class trip to Europe. We ended up in some medieval town, and we climbed to the top of a historic tower and when I tried to climb down I almost fell off. To this day, it is the closest I've ever come to a near-death experience.
This was scarier.
This has been one of my main failings as a writer. I'm all gung-ho about the whole messy business of writing. Then I get to this part of the process. The part where I finally have to hit the 'send' button.
And that's usually where I chicken out.
But I didn't. Because I promised you guys - and myself - that I'd actually send this out.
I thought everything was fine as I went over my cover letter one last time - ready to submit my short story to my number one pick.
Then I hit a wall.
The thing about www.raglitmag.com is that it is filled with brilliant, delightfully subversive fiction. And little else.
There's no Submittable link, no submission information, not even a link to an active social media account.
And what little information the website gave, seemed to completely contradict what was in Writer's Guide 2020.
Plus, it looked like they needed a reader's fee before they even considered a piece - which, if there's no Submittable link or any other payment options on the website - isn't exactly easy to do.
Since I already had an email ready to go, I thought, 'Why not just ask them how they want this bad boy submitted?'
So I did.
It was only after I hit send that my mind started to seriously kick into gear.
Because something else had to be happening here.
I'm assuming that if a publisher has enough clout to get into Writer's Market 2020 that they're going to have more than one point of contact.
A half-updated WordPress page can't be the only method to reach them, right?
Google had only turned up a handful of links during my preliminary searches, but I decided to try again with expanded search terms.
First, I found their Submittable page:
Then finally, FINALLY I found a link to their Twitter page. And my greatest disappointment.
So, yeah. I can officially cross The Rag off my list.
Blast it.
Next week I'm submitting to the Saranac Review.
I'll tell you guys how that went in next week's installment.