How can I get published quickly?

Self publish with lulu.com?

Just a thought.

Trade journal in your field?

I’d think it unlikely. Any traditional publication is going to have a fairly long lead time, anywhere from a couple of months to a year, assuming that the piece is even accepted. Traditional publishing requires an editor’s acceptance and it not typically subject to contributors’ demands.

Before you go too far, I’d suggest that you get a very clear ruling from the competition organizers as to their definition of “published.” Start there. No point in going to all the trouble of rehearsing and performing if your entry is going to be disqualified because it doesn’t meet their criteria for being published. Traditional publication includes distribution as part of the idea of releasing to an audience.

I’d also try the creative commons. Does publishing it in a blog count? Or online somewhere?

@Jeruba, yeah, but that lead time is for print, not acceptance, which is probably all that is needed here. Assuming the journal is not peer reviewed, you just need some editor in need of material who will say “okay.” That could take less than a week if you’re lucky.In some fields there are online journals that will accept anything of decent quality.

You’re right. A definition of “published” is needed.

@jazzticity, are you speaking from experience? I have seen journals take five or six months just to send a rejection. Tiny newsletters that pay nothing and take nearly two months from deadline to issue release.

I doubt that anything very easily got around is what the organizers have in mind when they say “from a published source.” Chances are they intend for someone other than the author to have vetted it.

@Jeruba, yes I am. I’ve had articles and even book proposals accepted in a matter of days. I’ve also experienced what you refer to. (I once called a publisher who had been holding a book proposal of mine for nearly a year. He said “if you need to know now, the answer’s no.” The answer was no anyway.)

The only thing to do here is to find out what they mean by “published.”

Barnes & Noble has PubIt, which is a way of self-publishing. You can then sell it on their site.

You probably need to find out if self-publication is acceptable, though.

I’m guessing that “self-publishing” doesn’t count.

If you’re entering a dramatic competition, they probably want things published in play catalogs. And to get published in the legitimate ones, you need to get it produced first.

I’m sure they want things from published sources specifically to prevent people doing what you want to do. I can see how you might feel your work is good enough, but they’ve already said no.

Thank you so much – every one! This is helpful…I will look into their definition of “publication”.