Ask AI where your writing might get published, then check each outlet
Jules Older, a clinical psychologist, children's author, and longtime writing teacher in his 80s, pasted the opening of a humorous personal essay into ChatGPT and asked where he should submit it. In Vermont Business Magazine, he wrote that the advice was better than he expected from a free chatbot.
What they did
He gave ChatGPT about 50 words: his title, the first lines of the essay, and the question "Where should I submit an article that begins…" When ChatGPT read the piece a little differently than he meant, he explained what it really was. When he found that one suggested outlet no longer took pitches, he told ChatGPT and asked again.
How it went
ChatGPT named outlets he hadn't thought of, reworked its list after each correction, suggested moving his main idea into the opening lines, and asked how long the piece was and whether he cared most about pay, readers, or prestige. Older, who has taught writing for years, said he had "rarely given such good advice." One of its top picks, Next Avenue, turned out not to be accepting writer pitches, and when the column ran he hadn't yet placed the essay.
Worth knowing
AI's lists of magazines and their submission rules can be out of date, as Older found. Before you send anything, read each outlet's current submission guidelines on its own website. A title and an opening paragraph are enough for this; you don't need to paste the whole unpublished piece.
Try it yourself
Copy this into ChatGPT (or any AI assistant). Replace the parts in [brackets] with your own details.
Here's the title and first paragraph of a [essay / story / poem] I wrote: [paste]. It's about [one-line description], it's about [number] words long, and my main goal is [getting paid / reaching the most readers / a respected publication]. Suggest [8] places I could submit it and say why each one fits. Mark any outlet you're not sure is still accepting submissions, and tell me what to look for on its guidelines page. Then suggest one change to my opening that would make an editor keep reading.
Source: Jules Older, Vermont Business Magazine, Aug 8, 2026. Read the original →
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