Oi vey, getting published.  That’s the elephant in the room here in my graduate writing program.  We’re all working on becoming better writers, critiquing one another, reading a ton — it’s incredibly valuable time spent on self-improvement.  But let’s be honest, to what end?  Why are we all doing this?  Because we want to be published.  We want the validation that our work is worth something.  We want to be able to add some italicized names of magazines to our biographies.  We want to write…drum roll please…a book.

Whether or not connections are actually necessary to get published is a separate question.  But if you want to do something other than self-publish, you might have a tough time if you assume that the all-knowing, all-powerful internet can help you find a publisher.

Victoria Strauss over at Writer Beware Blogs! says that googling for “publishers” is likely to get us some unhelpful results:

Of the eleven listings, ten are for fee-based publishers (though you may not realize that right away, since some are less than candid about the fact that you have to pay) or self-publishing services. The eleventh is for a “publisher search” website that includes no real publishers, only vanity publishers and self-publishing companies.

Instead she suggests getting a book about the publishing industry, a more reliable source than the internet and its mountains of unverified information.  Other sources I’ve consulted suggest looking at the type of books you like that are similiar to what you are writing.  Who is publishing those works?  Get in touch with those people.

I know, the thought that the internet isn’t the ultimate solution to all questions under the sun is still a scary idea. But perhaps it’s worth some further examination, more than just the usual google perusal, if you’re going to try to get your writing picked up and published.