Improving Your Chances of Getting a Literary Magazine to Publish a Short Story

Joe Bunting reports (bolded text is original):

"[S]how your short story to a group of trusted readers. If your trusted reading group likes it, send it. If they mostly like it but have a few issues (especially if the issue is with the ending), consider tweaking it...[E]ditors say they read hundreds of interesting, well-written stories which they reject because it wasn’t the right fit for their magazine. If you want to avoid rejection, do your research. Read two editions of twenty literary magazines and take notes...Literary magazine [editors] work long hours and are severely underpaid. Standard formatting makes their life easier by ensuring that everything at least looks the same...Rejection will not change your identity. It doesn’t make you a bad writer. It doesn’t mean you won’t be published someday. But it might mean you have to work harder."