And of course, the initial reaction to a título like this one is, "Well, why don't you make me care about what you're saying, first?"

So I'll cut straight to the chase: When submitting a short story, o even a poem for publication in a literary magazine, keep in mind that the editors receive hundreds of submissions a day, which means that they don't have time to read every last one of them. This is why it is incredibly important to hook them in your first few sentences, other than start slow and verbosely build up to why they should care. Therefore, this will be a succinct explanation of why and how tu should get other people interested in what tu have to say.

Lesson One: Everyone Judges libros por Their Covers

When you're looking to purchase a book in a store, there are several things that a publisher does in order to get tu to buy their book over everyone else's. The most important of these is the cover. It's unfair, and completely against that popular proverb, but a cover is the first thing that a person sees when examining a book. Indeed, a cover can even convince tu to pull the book off the shelf for further examination. That's hook one-- you've caught they're interest, and now tu have to keep them on the line.

But how do tu initially hook a reader when you're just turning in a manuscript? tu don't have a fancy cover to catch their eye, and it's unwise to tweak the font and draw pretty flores in the margins in order to make your work stand out more. What will catch the eye of your publisher is your title. If it's one they haven't heard before, and it's clever, it will convince them to read the first few sentences. So the first most important thing tu can do to get your publisher's attention is inventing a catchy title. If your título is dull and does not invoke anything in your reader, than that's it, you're done. Your manuscript, however awesome it may be, will not get read. So great titles are paramount.

Lesson Two: Summarizing Genius

The segundo thing a potential book-buyer looks at when browsing for a book is the summary on the back of it. If the summarized plot sounds intriguing, odds are the book shopper will begin to seriously consider purchasing the book. I'm sure that you've bought libros before, so tu know how important a good summary can be.

When submitting a manuscript for publication, tu don't have the luxury of providing a professionally crafted summary for them to read first. Sometimes tu might get lucky and be asked to provide an "abstract" for the piece, but not always. So what's the important thing about a manuscript? The first paragraph. The first paragraph, normally exposition (though not always), is the first thing that tells your reader what your story is all about. tu don't have to sacrifice exposition, though, in order to make it action-packed. If the escritura is clever, tu can make the most boring of exposition interesting and mysterious. It's always good to pose a pregunta to the reader in the first paragraph that's answered later in the piece, because the reader will actively buscar for that answer. Mystery is a great hook, so don't give everything away in your exposition.

Consider this famous beginning: "Marley was dead: to begin with."

In that single sentence we know that: A) someone has died and B) that fact might change in the future. This raises several preguntas like "How did he die?" "Who's Marley?" and "To begin with?" tu see how one sentence can easily begin to create the world your reader will eventually be sucked into?

Lesson Three: Buzz

Authors, be they well-established o not, often have other writers and journalists write blurbs for their books. This is the third thing a reader looks at just before she decides which one of the three libros she's picked out based on cover and summary she wants to buy. A blurb written por an established author, o a respected periodical could be the final point that seals the deal. If the reader doesn't trust those words, she always has the sage consejos of her friends to depend on.

Unfortunately, it's the publisher who contacts the other literati in order to obtain blurbs for your story. That means then that tu have to convince the publisher that your story is worthy of superfluous praise. So how do tu do that? tu have a catchy title, a great beginning... How do tu sello the deal?

It's simple: If the publisher has read the complete first page of your story, it is far más likely that he will read until the end of it. That means that in order to sello the deal, tu have to have-- tu guessed it-- an incredible story! Or, at least, a marketable story (there is a difference between quality and marketability, but that's another article). This means that tu have to have rising conflict, a climax, and a clever conclusion. Or, if you're an avant-guarde writer, at least something startlingly unique, even if it doesn't follow the usual format of a successful story.

The Point

I know what you're thinking. Basically, I've told tu that in order to get people to care about what tu have to say, tu have to say something worthwhile, and tu know what, that is exactly what I'm saying. I'm going to be honest with tu guys-- When I see artículos uploaded to this spot o the Creative Outlet spot, if the título doesn't interest me, I don't even look at it. If I do look at it, the first line/paragraph has to keep my interest. por that point, it's far más likely I'll read to the end, because I've already invested a good amount of time into the story.

Generic escritura and poesía about love, hate, angst, death, beauty and destruction are a dime a dozen. That doesn't mean tu can't write about these things, just do so creatively. Use your poetic talents to transform the mundane into a singularity. Work on editing and revising your poesía and short stories to make them más effective. Think of the point you're trying to get across and reread your work a few weeks later to see if it had the effect tu were going for. If not, it needs to be revised. Take constructive criticism to heart. If someone takes the time to critique, they aren't doing it to be mean, they're trying to help you. No one gets it perfect in the first draft, not even the late great Charles Dickens. And everyone needs some tips on how to improve their work.

So keep these three things in mind: Good title, effective beginning, and unique story. If tu remember these, getting published will be significantly less difficult. Good luck on your future submissions, and I hope this was helpful.