5 Best Publishing Platforms for Writers

1. Your own website/blog

Consider starting a website or blog to post your personal essays, flash fiction, literary journals, creative nonfiction, and other works once you’ve written more and had more of your writing published. Your blog is a representation of your writing voice, subject matter, and personality as a whole. Your website and blog, in addition to your work published on other platforms, are excellent places to develop your brand identification, engage with fans, and share updates and news about potentially upcoming works.

WordPress, Wix, Webflow, and Squarespace are just a few of the platforms from which you may create websites and blogs. Depending on your specific demands, you can use either the free or premium versions of these platforms.

2. Community-based websites

Community-based websites are another excellent choice for writers of short tales and fiction who want to submit their work and obtain comments from other community members or just get more followers, especially with the advent of new platforms every month attempting to encourage writers to post their work. Here are some examples of websites where you can post your story:

• Medium.com: On Medium.com, authors can share their writing on any subject. Because the Medium community is high-quality and tiny, readers and commenters are eager to devote time to reading and providing thoughtful criticism. The subjects covered span from programming, science, psychology, and technology to arts & entertainment, culture, equality, health, industry, personal growth, and politics. Additionally, Medium offers you Following Insights, which contain data that can be used to grow your audience or create content that would interest them.
• Tumblr: Tumblr is where literature will flourish and spread like wildfire on the Internet. People view Tumblr as a cultural hotspot or a hidden gem. You can use this platform to share anything that will go viral if you have any fiction, such as fan fiction. So that visitors may learn more about you, don’t forget to provide a link to your own website!
• WritersCafe: WritersCafe is an online writing community where authors may upload their work, receive feedback, network with other authors, and participate in writing contests. Since WritersCafe has been around longer than other sites, it could seem dated to younger writers.
• Young Writers Society: The Young Writers Society publishes poems, short tales, and novels for young authors ages 13 and up. You won’t notice a lot of comments on your post because the community is only somewhat active.

3. Newspapers / Magazines

A newspaper or magazine is a great place for you to submit your writing if you’re interested in distributing your work to a more diverse range of audiences and want to increase exposure to your work.

• The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times. You are welcome to submit your article as an opinion editorial to any major news organization in America. An opinion editorial, or op-ed, is authored by a staff columnist or a guest author. It differs from short tales, fiction, and nonfiction since it expresses a viewpoint while attempting to inform readers on recent occurrences. Each source has an email for writers to submit story ideas if you’re interested in sharing your thoughts for a chance to be included in a digital or physical newspaper or news magazine.
• Examples of magazines that publish op-eds include New York Magazine, POLITICO, and WIRED. Various restrictions apply depending on the channel where you submit your writing. Consequently, keep in mind to examine each website’s submission guidelines.

4. Magazine with novel/story submissions

Some publications offer options for more submissions that are novel-related. Examples comprise:

• The New Yorker: Journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry can all be found in The New Yorker. The magazine receives a lot of submissions, and editors must review anywhere between 2,000 and 4,000 brand-new stories each month. According to author David B. Comfort, the odds of an outsider getting into America’s last premier short fiction venue are .0000416%. There are only two possible outcomes, so it’s worthwhile to try. Either you get published or you don’t. Please visit the New Yorker’s contact page to learn more about story submission.
• The Antioch Review: One of the first literary publications in the world to still be published regularly is The Antioch Review. Reviews, fiction, poetry, and nonfiction pieces are all accepted for publication in the magazine. Since it’s far less competitive than The New Yorkers, young writers may have a chance to be published.
• Boulevard Magazine: Based in St. Louis, Boulevard Magazine is a biannual literary journal. Boulevard works hard to only publish the best works of nonfiction, poetry, and fiction. Although the magazine often published authors with prior credits, it is also particularly interested in less-experienced or unpublished authors who have outstanding potential.

The publications listed above are a few places where you can submit your writing. You may be able to locate additional neighborhood or regional newspapers in your area that welcome story submission. 

5. Competitions

High school kids can also enter their writing in many regional and national contests to have it read and published. You can pick from more than 27 competitions that occur annually. You can gain access to publications, receive awards and grants for your college application, and much more by taking part in these competitions. The John Locke Writing Contest, the Scholastic Arts & Writing Awards, and other contests are highlighted