I am very, very not good at submitting my work to contests, magazines, and other publications. Originally, this came from a fear of rejection. I don't think this is the case at the moment. I've had a few rejections, and frankly, they're not so bad! Always pretty polite, when it comes right down to it.
No, my problems stem from a certain writerly antsiness that makes it difficult for me to focus on the part that comes after the writing. If I were to list out my Writer Stats like a role playing game character, they'd probably look like:
Ability to Think Up Cool Ideas: 10 (maxed the fucked out)
Ability to Make Pretty Sentences: 8 (my sentences can be pretty excellent, let's be honest)
Ability to Finish Whole Goddamn Stories: 5 (needs improvement)
Ability to Come Back to Finished Stories and Actually Edit Them: 3 (I'm hoping to pick up an enchanted amulet or something to help cover this)
Ability to Take Finished, Polished Stories and Match Them With Applicable Publications, then Actually Send Them to Those Publications: 1 (may need to add an agent or a bard with a marketing degree to my party soon to handle this one)
Anyway, long story short, I'm in the latest edition of Pilcrow & Dagger, which is a little literary magazine. Not a paying gig, but I'm still at the stage where seeing my name printed somewhere (anywhere) is payment enough (this is pretty much the only reason why I have a website - my name is everywhere!).
Pilcrow & Dagger is available digitally and in print. I have no idea how much it costs. I'd guess more than a banana, but less than a banana farm. The August/September issue (the one I'm in, to be clear) will be available on August 31, 2017. Pick up a copy here: PilcrowDagger.com/subscriptions.