I chose Natural Awakenings because I am consistently impressed with the content and style of that magazine. Writing the article took a lot more time than I had anticipated. I spent quite some time trying to narrow down what I would write about. The article was easier to write after I decided to choose something that I am passionate about right now, which for me is finding ways that can ease labor (since I'm expecting my first baby in early May 2013). I have done a lot of reading about pregnancy and birth, and had come across information about red raspberry leaf tea and dates as being particularly helpful in strengthening and toning the uterus and resulting in more efficient labor, so I wrote a short article summarizing my findings.

I was nervous to submit my article for review. It may be because I have worked with the publisher before as a graphic designer submitting monthly advertisements for my mother's holistic health center. I made sure to mention in my submission email that I was a student at SWIHA and I was submitting an article as part of my Writing for Publication class, because I didn't want him to feel somehow obligated to publish my work based on my mother's connection with the magazine. I'm not expecting to get published anyway, because it does state on the website that they welcome work from published authors. :-)

I think I will submit work for publication again, but in the future, after I've established myself in a business. I think that would carry more weight than being a student trying to submit for publication. I did learn a lot from the process, so if I decide to submit in the future, at least I will know how.

-Lucy

Reflect on your process of choosing a publication outlet, writing an article, and submitting that article for review.How did you feel going into that process? How do you feel having done it? Will you do it again?