Hello Michael!

Here’s what I always do before submitting my work to a publication:

First, I read through a few articles, published by this publication. This gives me an idea of the type of stories they prefer. After that, I read their submission guidelines, to make sure that my article follows their rules.

If you are required to submit before or after you’ve published your article, depends on the publication. However, most of the time, they prefer unpublished drafts, which means you’re sending them a draft link of your article, and they’ll decide if they want to publish it.

This process can also vary from one publication to another. For some, you just have to fill out a form with your draft link (‘The Startup’ for example), whereas for others, you have to be accepted as a writer before you can submit your draft (‘The Writing Cooperative’).

I can’t explain all this in detail, so I would recommend finding a publication with any topic you like to write about, and searching for their submission guidelines. They will explain everything you need to know about submitting. You can find the guidelines on their main page (search for a tab called something like “write for us” or “submit to our publication”).

Keep in mind that about 90% of the articles I submit to major publications are getting rejected. It’s definitely not easy, but if it works, it pays off big time, so don’t get discouraged and be persistent!

By the way, if you’re searching for a beginner-friendly publication, that assists new writers on their journey, feel free to check out our publication, called The Sixth Sense. You can find our submission guidelines here.

I’ve read your article “No Views, But I Won’t Give Up” and it’s better than 90% of the submission we get. Of course, there are still many things to learn, but we love to work with motivated and talented writers like you!

Keep up the great work!