We’re officially halfway through summer! Have you been staying on track for your writing goals? If not, then maybe it’s time to set up some goals for yourself. Personally, I’m often too busy during the year to focus on getting published, but there are plenty of things you can do to prepare for the publishing trail over the summer. While many literary magazines don’t accept submissions in the summer, you can get ready for the fall rush in several different ways.

1. Revision

During the year, I rarely have time to look back on my stories and edit them. I have so many new pieces due each semester that I’m kept on the run, looking constantly forward for new ideas. That’s why I reserve the summer for reflection and revision. It’s a good idea to start getting your stories in shape over the summer, because it’s a step that is so often neglected, but one that all the editors agree is essential to making a publishable piece. This summer, go back through your folder and look at pieces you’d like to get published. Start beating them into shape! Rewrite, revise, and do it again. Work your stories like Rocky until they’re in fighting trim.

2. Update your cover letter

It’s time to attend to the details of your publishing campaign. When was the last time you looked at that cover letter you send out? Does it still say you’re a high school student? Does the date in the corner say 1996? Take a look at your cover letter and make sure it puts your best foot forward for you. Update your list of publications, the tone of your pitch, and anything else that will make a more polished, professional, and intriguing entry point to your story.

3. Research

Literary magazines always encourage you to read their magazine before submitting, but who has time to read all of them? Now that it’s the summer, you can catch up on your literary reading and really figure out which magazine is the best fit for your work. Take a bunch out of the library, go through them, and make notes about which magazines favor your kind of writing. It’s fun and useful: you’ll be enjoying the fiction and poetry of writers like you, as well as learning about what each magazine really wants as opposed to taking stabs in the dark.

4. Find your good rejections

I’ve written before about how valuable a good rejection is. One reason they’re important is that they’re the beginning of a way in to a publication. If you got a rejection with a personal note, it often means they would read more work from you with greater interest and attention, and that you’re close to getting accepted. Save all of your good rejections, and use the summer to make a list of these magazines and new stories that you could send to them. Think of this method as a more targeted attack on getting published.

Do these four things, readers, and come fall you’ll be ready to launch yourself upon the literary world!