Like a flea on a chihuahua.

So, right now, I’m feeling like a little dog (think miniature Chihuahua, if there is such a thing, or maybe even a flea on said Chihuahua) trying to keep up with the Great Danes of the world. (Great Danes are even taller than bullmastiffs.)

All the big publishing houses (the big dogs) want you to have an agent; most agents want you to have publishing credits. It’s a way to help them determine, out of the enormous amount of submissions they receive, who to read and who not to read (or, as us would-be authors feel about it – who to ignore.)

One solution that has been postulated is to work on small publishing credits in your local newspaper or in magazines. In old terminology, these are called “clips.” I would think these clips would have to somehow relate to what you are trying to publish currently. The fact that I had a guest column published in The Virginian Pilot (http://www.thevirginianpilot.com) and a poem published in Old Dominion University’s (http://www.odu.edu) literary magazine 44th Street don’t seem to be helping me to publish my young adult novel now.

So, I guess this little flea needs to find a bigger dog – er, bigger clips, maybe a fancy barrette with big flowers on it. Oh, wait, I think I am mixing metaphors here.

So, I guess it’s time to check out the young adult magazines that publish fiction.

Oh, wait. I have had a short story published. But it’s on an online magazine? What’s the difference, one would think. Published is published right?

Hmmm. Back to the chihuahua… and the magazines...