Where should I submit a short story if I actually want to see it published?

Submit it anywhere you’d like to see it published. The New Yorker, the Atlantic, the Paris Review, wherever.

I’d check out literary magazines—both online and offline. To maximize your chances, look for litmags that allow simultaneous submission; given the high rate of rejection, you want to be able to submit a story to 5 or so places at once, instead of having to wait for each one to reject you (3 months or so) before trying to submit to another place.

Read the published works for outfits you are considering submitting to. Your work may be a good fit for some places but not others.

Check out Poets & Writers, which has a wealth of information, and litmags also put out little notices via PW when they’re open for submissions. NewPages has a list of litmags you can look over.

May I assume this is an adult? Because for teen writers I have a small list of litmags that specifically solicit teen writing and are very supportive of such budding writers.

Also, publications that don’t pay their authors are more liable to publish submissions without comment.

Submit it to publications that carry similar pieces or identify gaps in publications that you like, and approach them with your article by telling them it fills a need or a gap…

Contact other writers who you feel have a similar style to you or the career that you want and ask them how they got published.

And send it out a million times if you have to! Don’t take rejection personally!

And be aware that you can submit dozens and dozens of well-written, interesting stories that people tell you are great, to top magazines, bottom magazines, commercial publications, literary journals, and free nonpaying online e-magazines, wait five months for a response, and still not see your work published.

Editors repeatedly say that the worst mistake beginners make is to send their work to the wrong type of publication. They consistently urge writers to study their markets and choose an outlet that publishes work similar to what they are writing. But even then you are up against pretty long odds.

Don’t let that discourage you from trying, but do be aware that there is no such thing as simply getting your story published unless you send it to a club newsletter or school paper that is always starved for copy.

And that might be where you’d find your most admiring audience anyway. Don’t sniff at the little local papers. People read them.

Good question but I am not sure. Sorry

I’ve been submitting work more seriously this year, and if you want to get something published, I recommend submitting it to multiple magazines—say, ten at the same time. For a first publication, you’re probably more likely to get published in a literary journal than in the New Yorker. If that’s OK with you (or your friend), then send the story to nine literary journals and The Sun.

It’s helpful to find a mix of places that are exclusive and less-exclusive. It’s also helpful if you’ve read stories in the journals you’re submitting to—that way you can find a place that publishes stuff similar to what you’re writing.

A good, simple cover letter (I can send you mine as an example) will help you get past the slush pile. Keep it short, mention that this is a “simultaneous submission,” and you’re set.