How do you go about publishing a short story or selection of poems if you're a new writer?

I've written a lot of poems and short stories over the years (a few of which I'm rather proud of) and I was wondering how I could go about trying to get some of my works published. I will be including the illustrations as well. I live in Northern California, but am I restricted to publishers based in California only? I'm not looking to spend any money doing this, it's just something that I would do if it didn't cost me anything.





Also, any suggestions on how to introduce yourself to a publisher and how to convince them that what I have is worth binding and selling to the book stores willing to buy?





Thank you!
How do you go about publishing a short story or selection of poems if you're a new writer?
Well, try letting people comment on some of your works first. First get a couple of short stories and poems (knowing that you made alot) and publish it on Fan Fiction.net (for free after getting an account there). And let people comment, and share their suggestions.





After knowing their views, you can improve your work more and, when you feel you got what it takes. Go to your local newspaper office and submit your article (via e-mail or personally). Remember to start small, get feedback, earn big.
How do you go about publishing a short story or selection of poems if you're a new writer?
You're more or less bust on the poetry front. But the process will be similar to what I describe for short stories.





Here's the scoop, from the mouth of Lawrence Block, myself, and countless others who've figured out how to break into lit mags (We're mostly going to go with Mr. Block, because most people don't even know the mags I've been in exist!)





The process of getting published in a lit mag will almost certainly start with a rejection or two. And though most people consider this negative, I don't, I think every rejection you get puts you one step closer to an acceptance.





(Please note that I'm not going to cover the steps of writing that you should have already done if you are considering publishing, such as identifying what type of story you can write, etc.)





Once you've identified some mags that publish your genre, and their are mags for every genre, and you've attempted a submission, and been rejected (If you weren't rejected than you're published, and we're done!), the next step is to get your hands on every copy of that mag that you can. Then you need to read them front to back. Every issue you can.





Doing this is getting you familiar with the structure, style, and theme of the magazine you've chosen to make you debut in. There will come a point after doing this 'market study' that you'll say, "Ah Ha! I can write that!"





Then you write, and you keep writing trying to match the needs of that mag, while simultaneously quenching your thirst for being creative. You are basically writing for assignment in most mags, yet you'll never succeed unless you are writing for yourself. (It's a paradox I know, and I won't apologize for it. Understanding these paradoxes is part of knowing that you are advancing as a writer.) And it's important to remember that most editors and readers of genres are looking for something that's "the same but different." (Block)





I'm not trying to encourage 'hack' writing, or stifle creativity, and neither was Block, this is just the reality of getting your first few credits. You have to write something salable, after all, even if it's a novel it must at somepoint during the editing/rewriting process consider what the market demands and provide it.





So, I hope that helps, and I'm sorry to say, again, that you probably won't get any worth while poetry credits. It's possible, but unlikely.





(And I hope you understand the advice I gave, I know it seems blatantly contradictory at points, but I know of no other way to say it without making it a 10,000 word essay.)