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A little over a year ago, I launched my online course Submission Savvy. I designed the course to help bloggers who were new to having their writing published online better understand the benefits, pitfalls, and best practices of digital publication and ultimately start getting published.

Over the course of the year I re-launched the course several times with updates and new bonuses, and had fun checking in with course registrants to address questions and follow progress. I recently reached out to course participants to see how they were doing with their publication goals and get feedback on the course. Here is how 4 different participants used the course and found success.

Terri Jackson of At the Back of the North Wind

Terri published a piece called In Camelot! on Life in 10 Minutes, a site publishing stories that have been written in just ten minutes. Terri’s story reflects on the death of family members and weaves in relevant excerpts from the movie Camelot in a literary morsel just under 500 words. Terri will also have a story included in their upcoming anthology “9 Lives: A Life in 10 Minutes Anthology” published by Chop Suey Book Books in Richmond, VA.

Terri’s favorite tips from Submission Savvy:

Be brave, submit work.
Make use of the Submission Tracker! Worth its weight in gold to keep everything straight.
Don’t change your voice to fit the publication, research to find the publication for your voice.
Be kind. Every editor that sent me a rejection letter got a letter back from me thanking them for the gift of their time and consideration. I heard back from every single one inviting me to submit again.
I realized my writing goal was to educate and advocate, not necessarily about how many times I get published.
Stop chasing publications that you don’t read. Even if they are popular. Write where you resonate.
It’s okay to take time to reflect, take some writing classes, growth takes quiet time.
I don’t fear rejection anymore, its not personal – my words just were not a fit for them. I still get disappointed, but sometimes I am grateful when a piece/chapbook gets rejected. My chapbook submission got rejected, so I am taking a class on how to write a book proposal. I am going to use the momentum from the shape that the chapbook took to flesh out my book. Rejection can be a good thing because it re-directs your energy and focus.
I realized my writing goal was about educating & advocating, not # of publications
Read more:150+ Funny steam names

Kaye Curren of Write That Thang!

Kaye’s personal challenge was finding the courage to submit her work and overcoming her fear of rejection. One day she worked up the courage and thought “I’ve been disliked before. I have been rejected before. Just SEND IT!” Within 24 hours she had an acceptance! Since starting the Submission Savvy course, Kaye has had quite a few things published, including a story on Erma Bombeck’s Writer’s Workshop blog that got a great response from readers. The humor post was called Not my privates you don’t, about a shirt that was not airport security-friendly and the hilarious chaos that ensued. Kaye also had a piece published on DivorcedMoms.com called 5 Valuable Lessons I Learned After My Husband Left Me offering tips for those who find themselves in an unwanted divorce. Writers at DivorcedMoms earn stars based on views and comments that allow you to work your way to higher authorship titles and writer benefits. Kaye has already earned a purple star for 500 article views with her first piece.

Kaye’s feedback on Submission Savvy:

“Submission Savvy has allowed me to organize my thoughts on publishing blog posts like no other article or class. For one thing, I can see that Susan has been there, done that, and is graciously sharing her ups and down – saving me HOURS of work. I had recently made a digital file of sites I would like to investigate. They numbered about fifty. Then I tried to researching each. Feeling overwhelmed and confused, I found myself avoiding the work – putting it on the shelf. I was weeks into that avoidance when Susan came along with her Submission Savvy course brands. In addition, walking systematically through the course has made me more confident and less afraid to move forward. I feel like I have a friend.”