In recent months, a number of Stevenson University students have had the opportunity to get their creative writing published in multiple literary publications. The following is an interview with one of these students.
What is being published and where is it being published?
M.S: My poem called “A Sad Truth” is being published in Maryland’s Best Emerging Poets. This book is put together by Z Publishing House and is currently available for preorder.
What does the process entail?
M.S: Earlier last year, around the end of September, I got an email from a woman named Lynne who works on behalf of Z Publishing House. She said that she read one of my poems published on the Greenspring Review and asked if I’d be interested in submitting some of my unpublished poems to be considered for their upcoming book of “the best independent poetry throughout the state of Maryland.” Lynne made sure to emphasize that the poems must be unpublished in case of any copyright issues down the road. Of course I jumped on the opportunity to submit some of my poems. I was able to submit up to five of my poems. I uploaded the word document consisting of all five poems onto their submission page and began to wait for their answer.
By the time I submitted my poems, it was mid-October. Initially I was supposed to hear back about their decision within three or four weeks after submitting. I didn’t hear back at all, so I assumed that they chose to use other people’s poems; however, on January 4, 2018, I got an email from Zach, the managing editor at Z Publishing house. Zach told me that my poem “A Sad Truth” was picked for the book.
At this point, we had to jump right into the editing phase. This part was faster paced than the others because we were trying to meet deadlines. Ultimately, they didn’t make any edits to my poem, so it was easy for me to “approve” them. I also had to create an author biography to accompany my poem. Once I approved everything, my duties were finished. Now, we are just waiting for the book to be published.
A lot of people have been asking me whether I get paid for being published. The answer is no. With that being said, Z Publishing House has set up a commission program. Essentially, for every person who I get to buy the book within 30 days of my referral link being activated, I get 26% of the sale. This ends up to be about 4 dollars per referral. Additionally, each person who is published gets a free online version of the book. Also, just getting my name out there is enough of a payment for me, and I’m sure other writers would agree.
Overall, this has been a pleasant experience. I definitely encourage everyone to submit their work to the Greenspring Review. You never know who will see it. In my case, I would’ve never been discovered if it hadn’t been for the literary magazine.