We get quite a lot of e-mail from writers asking how to get published. The Porcupine's Quill, like a lot of other small presses, can only publish a few works per year, and these are generally selected months in advance of their actual publication. All of our authors have published before, although they may not have had their work appear in book form. You have to go to readings, read everything in sight, acquaint yourself with what types of things magazines and publishers publish, and edit your work til your fingers bleed. If you don't know what magazines publish what kinds of work, find out .
Many writers find university writing clubs and author's associations to be helpful.
Even if you prefer to toil alone, make sure you do your homework. Remember it is not an editor's job to teach you how to write, or how to prepare work for publication. There are a lot of writers' resources on the Internet, which is a good place to start learning about the process. There are MANY such resources around. Take some time to search for writers' resources using your favourite search engine.