A good first step on the road to publication is by sending your work to short story and poetry magazines. It’s a chance to see your work in print, and a useful thing to have on your CV as a writer. Most magazines don’t pay anything for your work, but a few will, and these magazines often have a surprisingly wide readership, so it’s an opportunity to have your work read by lots of people.

Have a look a big newsagent or in your local library for examples of these magazines. The Writer’s Handbook also has a chapter on poetry magazines (including some that accept short stories too), with brief descriptions of what they look for.