Other Publishing Forms

Self-publishing is a great way to explore your style and discover an audience; however, in order to expand your networks, publishing through a range of platforms becomes incredibly important.

The world of publishing is continuously growing and expanding, with artistic networks, social media sites and a variety of independent publications and websites available to the aspiring writer.

If you are confident in the quality of your work, you only need persistence and an open mind to get published. Some publishers may not offer any remuneration initially, but once you’ve built a strong portfolio and reputation through these different networks you will be better placed to receive monetary benefits.

Here are some of the common ways you can get published:

Blogs and Websites

Many websites and bloggers will already have a well-defined audience that you may be able to tap into, either by making a submission to the site or blog, or even by linking your own blog to theirs and making contact with the blogger.

Always look at the type of content that is published on a website before you submit your work. If the work is of a similar genre or style it will give you a better chance of getting accepted than if your work is incongruous with the existing content.

Hard Copy Publications

There are a range of magazines and newspapers that are always searching for new content, whether it is written material, photographs or illustrations.

Student magazines such as Grok (Curtin University), The Pelican (University of WA) GSM (Edith Cowan University) or Metior (Murdoch University) are always on the hunt for contributors.

Send in your work to independent magazines and newspapers such as dotdotdash, Colosoul, Unlimited Magazine or Stray Magazine. They may not choose to publish your submission, but it’s a fantastic opportunity to gain feedback on your work.

Submitting opinion pieces about local issues or writing your own articles is another option for writers – remember papers are generally desperate for content and short on funds.

Internships, Volunteering and Employment

The final way to consider getting published is to find a way to contribute to a magazine, newspaper, website or blog on a regular basis, through employment or as a volunteer.

Although you may be published under the business’ name, you will still have your written work published. Not only is this great experience, it will also add weight to your portfolio.

If you are searching for volunteer work or an internship, choose an organisation you admire and ask if they take volunteers or interns; explain your background, interest in their work and why you would like to be a part of it.

Volunteering or interning is a great opportunity to get advice from others in the industry, develop collaborative projects and even gain a mentor. You might find that at the end of a work placement, if you work hard and build great networks you will be recommended for a permanent position.

Whenever you submit work, or request employment it’s important to make yourself known – never just send an email through, follow it up with a phone call and introduce yourself, or if you’re in the area drop by the office with a hard and digital copy of your folio. It’s easy to overlook or forget to reply to an email, so a lack of response is not always a ‘no’.

When you are searching for a potential volunteering position or work placement, always make sure you do your research and be polite, but persistent.