What are the themes of the journal? Average length? Writing style? Buzz words?

Pick the whole thing apart, and see if your "presentation" can meet the particular conventions of this particular context. It's like dressing in a way to attract a date. I know it's shallow, but do you want the date, or not?

Who wants to co-author with you? Maybe another graduate student? Maybe a professor that has contacts? Or simply talk about your idea with an authority.

Call or e-mail the editor and tell them what you have in mind. Would the selected journal be interested in your publication? Are you in the ballpark? If not, how might the article conform to their needs?

I've never failed to publish something in a regional journal using this technique.

Or create a research chart like the one in Sagor. 

Follow through. 

Here's the title of a piece I sent out a year ago to a fine journal called Research in the Teaching of English 
 
 

Here's the cover page.
 
 

Here's the cover abstract page

In a landmark study of teachers' writing response, Richard Straub employed close analysis of teachers' written comments on student essays to link the "the varieties of directive and facilitative response" to different teaching approaches. In contrast to Straub's approach, our study focused on how teacher interns organized and interpreted their writing response and maintained professional identities as writing teachers. Participants included six teacher interns enrolled in an English education methods course. Additionally, we compared interns' responding practices to their teaching ideology. To fulfill this goal, the interns developed an essay prompt, administered the assignment in nearby high school English classrooms, created evaluation rubrics, and then responded to the students' essays. Returning to the university classroom, the interns ranked the student papers as "high," "medium," or "low," and then compared and contrasted these groups. After the participants interpreted and discussed their response heuristics, we applied Irving Goffman's performance theory and pragmatic analysis to the interpretation of the interns' responses. Two responders-one authoritarian, the other facilitative-are highlighted. Findings do not support the prevailing opinion that facilitative responses are less controlling than authoritarian comments. We conclude that teacher preparation programs that advocate the facilitative stance ask interns to make changes without fully addressing the institutional constraints and tensions that the writing teacher must accommodate. 
 
 

Here's the query letter I sent with 6 copies of the article for external reviewers. 

Dear Dr. Smagorinsky, 

I am submitting to Research in the Teaching of English my piece, The Facilitative Myth: Masking Authoritative Writing Response. I share co-authorship with Dr. Terese Thonus, a linguist at California State University-Fresno. 

Thank you for your attention and thoughtful review of this manuscript. The article has not been submitted to any other journals."

Yours,

Todd Finley

Sylvia Plath always kept 30 poems out in the field (but then, look what happened to her). I try to keep three out at any one time. I categorize them as possible grounders or home runs. It's good to keep a number of grounders in process so that you get those acceptance notices making you want to answer the mail. Here's an e-mail I got recently. It concerns a potential grounder lead I'm going follow up on. I can probably kick out a teaching tip in less than a couple of hours... with really good odds of getting it accepted. You could too!

August 31, 2001 

Dear Professor Finley, 

I teach nonfiction, fiction, and poetry at the University of Colorado at Denver. I am currently seeking 50-100 -word writing tips for inclusion in a reference book. I hope you will consider joining the hundreds of other professionals who are a part of this project. A representative sampling of professors, authors, and editors whose tips have been accepted include: - T. Davis Bunn - best-selling author of 14 novels - Vicki Crumpton - senior acquisitions editor for Baker Book House. - Beverly Lewis - best-selling fiction author of 70 books for children, youth, and adults - Claudia Mills - professor at the University of Colorado and author of over 30 books for children; honored by the Library of Congress, New York Public Library, Bank Street College of Education, National Council for Social Studies, International Reading Association, and Junior Library Guild, among others. - Catherine Palmer - romance writer of over ten books and five novellas. - Marion Stroud - author of 19 books and past Chairman of the British Association of Christian Writers. What kind of writing tips am I looking for? I am interested in tips that relate directly to the writing process and are from the writer's personal experience. These tips should be specific, hands-on, and practical, but can be on any aspect of the writing process from any genre perspective (playwriting, fiction, poetry, journalism, screenwriting, etc.). If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at seifert@rmi.net. I hope you will consider writing at least one 50-100 -word tip for this project. I accept up to five writing tips from any one professor, editor, and/or author. Payment for the tip consists of one copy of the final book on publication. The tip submission deadline is October 1, 2001. Below are two sample tips that will be included in this reference book One example under the category of "Writing Fiction / Characterization": "In one of my first books, the editor told me that certain secondary characters needed more depth. I went through the manuscript with colored highlighter pens, using a different color for each problematic character. When finished, the green-highlighted lines contained all the information I had given the reader about my protagonist's mother. It wasn't a lot. To add depth to her as a character, I had to make each line as revelatory as possible. Every time the mother spoke and every gesture she made was my chance to show the reader what she was like. Depth lay in the details." Claudia Mills One example under the category of "Writing Nonfiction / Audience": "Growing up, I went from being an only child to having two brothers who were adopted from Vietnam. When my mother's parents also joined our household, we were forced to learn how to deal with our differences in age, culture, sex, and beliefs. I often draw on that experience when writing for a specific publication. I try to remember that people are different and what may be funny to one could be hurtful to another. I have found that only when a publication's audience is stereotyped does an article become generic and ineffective." Dani Murphrey To submit your tip(s), e-mail it (them) to seifert@rmi.net, or mail to S. Seifert, 3315 S. Kittredge St., Aurora, CO 80013. Please submit your tip in the following manner: 1) In the subject line of your e-mail or letter, type the name of your university or college. 2) Submit up to five original (50-100 -word) tips, each one written on a different aspect of the writing process. 3) Include a brief bio (up to 50 words). 4) Send your mailing address so that a contract for your tip(s) can be mailed to you. I look forward to hearing from you soon! 

Cordially yours, 

Sheila Seifert CU-Denver Instructor 

If you don't hear back from a journal, e-mail the editor and keep e-mailing. This can get your piece noticed with all the others that they call "slush."

Judging by the caliber of your writing, I think all of you could write an article this weekend, submit it to a regional journal, and have your name in print before you know it. 

If you never have submitted before, you'll never feel ready. You have to submit, even when your instincts tells you not to risk.