Additional Publisher Submission Opportunities

Not too long ago I talked about submitting work straight to editors at publishing houses and where to find their submission guidelines. Although many publishers are closed to submissions you can find special opportunities to connect with editors from time to time:

• Go to a conference. There are many societies for writers and illustrators and it isn’t too terribly hard to find conferences when you start looking. Editors often take part in conferences and sometimes they give submission passes to those in attendance. Be sure to follow the submission guidelines given at the conference when submitting, of course.
• Take a course. From time to time you can find courses given by editors either in person or online. Sometimes these can come with an opportunity to submit your work. (It can be tempting to send your work in right away but take the time to make sure your work is submission ready before sending.)
• Keep up on blogs and twitter feeds in your genre. Every so often an editor at a closed house will open up to submissions for a period of time and announce it online (not necessarily on the company website). These can be hard to catch but word does spread through genre networks so it can pay to be on social media.
• Contests. Sometimes editors participate in contests and pitch parties. I round them up here at Sub It Club once a month.

Of course, some of these opportunities cost money but going to a good conference or taking a class can be well worth the price of admission.

Do you know of any additional ways to find submission opportunities to publishing houses closed to submissions? Please share them in the comments!