Blaze/VOX; “Belle Epoque” (after Pissarro), “The Sorrows of Young Werther” (after Caravaggio), and “He’s Not Coming Back” (after ter Borch), for May publication. These poems were submitted to three other journals. This was my first time submitting to this particular lit mag.
The journal accepted five more ekphrastic poems for its fall issue: “The Apology of Socrates” (after David), “Bring Back the Liberal Arts” (after Tiepolo), “The Invitation to Ruins,” (after Friedrich), “A Nocturne,” (after Millet), and “Three Generations” (after Velásquez). Two of these poems were not submitted elsewhere. The remaining three were submitted to two or three journals and withdrawn.
All eight poems are from a new chapbook ms.
Does It Have Pockets: “I Am the Grout of Tesserae Memory” (after Joan Miro’s The Farm) and “A Poem about the Assassination of John F. Kennedy,” scheduled for August 2025 publication. “I am the Grout” was sent to thirteen lit mags since October 2024. Six rejected. “A Poem” was also sent to thirteen lit mags since January 2023 and rejected by five. This lit mag had rejected two other previous submissions of a poetry package and an essay.
The Ekphrastic Review Writing Challenge: “Arcology,” flash fiction.
The Jewish Writing Project: “Each Morning,” ekphrastic poem written in response to The Composition by Lee Krasner. Scheduled for January 2026 publication. Sent to three lit mags since November 2024; two rejections.
The Journal of Expressive Writing: “Blowfish.” Don’t know the pub date. First and only submission of this prose poem and first time submitting to this lit mag.
Making Waves: A West Michigan Review: “A Hole in One,” for the Homer-themed issue. Rejected by six other lit mags over the past year before this acceptance.
I've been housebound since September because of a rare, incurable autoimmune disease. At first, I went through a crazy, hyper-creativity period. But then I went through a rough period from December to mid-February and couldn't write a thing. I wrote a lot. A lot a lot. And I'm still writing a lot a lot as I continue to recover.
I am an emerging writer with not much knowledge of the inner workings of the lit mag world (hence a subscriber here). I didn’t know to research anything or write a compelling cover letter etc. but I did like what I had read on the Chicago Story Press website so I submitted this essay in February and received the green light within two weeks. The editor suggested some minor changes for clarity but other than that it was just such a smooth experience that I am chuffed to write more and send more essays out to lit mags.
I've been married for almost 40 years and you touched on some very important ingredients for long-term relationships. So your heartfelt piece got and kept my attention.
What a courageous essay, filled with truth, vulnerability, declarations of lust, love and everything in between all tied up with a bow of poignancy and heartache and a certain kind of loneliness one has to experience to truly understand. But then also so much togetherness. Thank you for sharing this masterful piece of prose with me, Nancy.
Fabula Argentia published the flash piece, ‘Now You See Me, Now You Don't’, one of my personal favourites, but one that suffered many rejections. When publishing, F.A. added, "We loved author Michael Smith’s very different take on how to commit a bank robbery, and we were pleasantly surprised by the inventive outcome."
A couple of days later, Uppagus published ‘New Legislation’, a wry look at a potential way to save us all a great deal of time and money. uppagus.com/flash-fiction/smith-legislation/
And just this weekend, a small, independent bi-lingual bookshop in the town where I live has agreed to sell a couple of my books, the short story collection 'Fonts’ and my first novel 'Gruseltal’. It'll be good to see real paper copies, on real bookshelves, next to other real books. https://theartofbooks.de/about-ueber/
They were lovely to work with, and also do a cool feature where they have writers they publish write a recommendation of someone else’s work. I picked Leila Chatti’s debut poetry collection, Deluge, which I read recently and loved.
Hmmm, not sure of what's going on, but the same thing happened to me. If you send me your email I'll send you a copy of the poem. My addy is gdgrossman at gmail dot com
A poem, "Everything is Prep Work," published in SRPR--it won the Editor's Prize! (https://srpr.org/currentIssue.php) I just got back from doing a reading (my first) there--with Victoria Chang! (gulp). Lovely, lovely editor Steve Halle and supporting staff.
2) A fictional romp. The prompt was "write a frame essay." I wrote about a town gone wild for framing. https://brightflash1000.com/2025/04/03/framed/ This got picked up in my first round of submissions.
3) Reflections on abandoned places where I live in Western Massachusetts. "6 Degrees of Abandonment." Link to the PDF as it was published in a print journal, The Gilded Weathervane: https://yudkin.com/Gilded.pdf It had racked up 15 rejections.
My poem "Portrait" was accepted this month by Sugar House Review (it will be published in the fall, in their 16th anniversary issue). It had been rejected 26 times, though I'd gotten some nice comments on it. I forget how I found Sugar House Review, but I really liked their vibe so I thought I'd submit. I was asked to cut a couple of words from the poem, and I happily did that (the editor was right). It's nice because I haven't finished anything in a year due to a serious family emergency, so the acceptance was really encouraging. Also, most of my publications lately have been creative nonfiction, so it was cool to have a poem accepted again.
And then, and then... Got a Book published - Considering the idea started as a collaboration on a short story ... and the plot got bigger and bigger ... "Bop City Swing" came out (from Cowboy Jamboree Press), it's a 1950 San Francisco retro-noir, tons of fun to write: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DPJBGPT8 - https://www.amazon.com/Bop-City-Swing-Proctor-Thayer/dp/B0F4DSSQ9V/ .... I wish I could post the cover, it's amazing!
Proud to be accepted by New World Writing. The piece "It's Not About Lions" is an excerpt from a novella I just submitted to a couple of indie presses.
Such a great experience with the McNeese Review, who published my essay "Ground Up Glass." They did small edits and then asked me to write a process essay on how I wrote the piece. This piece was rejected about 20 times before editor Michael Robins reached out and asked if it was still available for publication. Here's the link: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/954010
That piece was submitted just to them and accepted only four days later. I have creative non-fiction forthcoming in wildscape literature journal and Jelly Squid, both of which I discovered through Lit Mag. Just got two more accepted yesterday but I’ll save those for next time when I can share links. Great work everyone!
I love this end-of-the-month bragging space that Becky provides. Congratulations to everyone! Getting short stories published is not easy. I have not written any short stories recently or submitted any essays because I have been working on a novel, which has taken up all my time. And, my brag is that I finished the "final" draft. My novel is set in 865, in Svealand, ie. in Viking times. Now, to get it published!
Emerge Literary Journal published my long-titled story "That Time I Was Almost Hypnotized by the School of Bait Fish Under the Dock as I Told You About the Abortion I Got When I was Forty-Nine."
I'm not as good as manifesting as you are, Becky, so while I got two acceptances for stories this month, I'd been "manifesting" that result for seven years in one case, and five in the other. The good thing about a long manifestation result is how excited I get when it finally occurs!
What an evocative scene. I can relate to sharing secrets with a daughter, the revelation and intimacy, the trust and vulnerability. You capture the tender moment beautifully.
It's been a good month!
Accepted: 13 poems, one flash fiction
Blaze/VOX; “Belle Epoque” (after Pissarro), “The Sorrows of Young Werther” (after Caravaggio), and “He’s Not Coming Back” (after ter Borch), for May publication. These poems were submitted to three other journals. This was my first time submitting to this particular lit mag.
The journal accepted five more ekphrastic poems for its fall issue: “The Apology of Socrates” (after David), “Bring Back the Liberal Arts” (after Tiepolo), “The Invitation to Ruins,” (after Friedrich), “A Nocturne,” (after Millet), and “Three Generations” (after Velásquez). Two of these poems were not submitted elsewhere. The remaining three were submitted to two or three journals and withdrawn.
All eight poems are from a new chapbook ms.
Does It Have Pockets: “I Am the Grout of Tesserae Memory” (after Joan Miro’s The Farm) and “A Poem about the Assassination of John F. Kennedy,” scheduled for August 2025 publication. “I am the Grout” was sent to thirteen lit mags since October 2024. Six rejected. “A Poem” was also sent to thirteen lit mags since January 2023 and rejected by five. This lit mag had rejected two other previous submissions of a poetry package and an essay.
The Ekphrastic Review Writing Challenge: “Arcology,” flash fiction.
The Jewish Writing Project: “Each Morning,” ekphrastic poem written in response to The Composition by Lee Krasner. Scheduled for January 2026 publication. Sent to three lit mags since November 2024; two rejections.
The Journal of Expressive Writing: “Blowfish.” Don’t know the pub date. First and only submission of this prose poem and first time submitting to this lit mag.
Making Waves: A West Michigan Review: “A Hole in One,” for the Homer-themed issue. Rejected by six other lit mags over the past year before this acceptance.
Published:
Bewildering Stories: “My Independence Day.” https://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue1088/my_independence_day.html
The Jewish Writing Project: “Henoch: An Inventory.” (March 31). https://jewishwritingproject.com/2025/03/31/henoch-a-footnote-inventory/
Last Stanza Poetry Journal: “Danish Queen of Hearts.”
Mazel tov! I'd love to know how many submissions you send out on average to have 14 acceptances in one month!
I'm averaging 48 a month so far this year.
You are blowing my mind! I'm impressed with your productivity. I'm not a fast writer and I'm easily distracted with the day-to-day stuff.
I've been housebound since September because of a rare, incurable autoimmune disease. At first, I went through a crazy, hyper-creativity period. But then I went through a rough period from December to mid-February and couldn't write a thing. I wrote a lot. A lot a lot. And I'm still writing a lot a lot as I continue to recover.
Barbara, I'm sorry to hear you're dealing with this. But I'm happy for you to be enjoying so many successes, and for you to have writing as an outlet.
I’m a slow poke, too. 3-4 short pieces a year. How do you do it?
Congratulations, Barbara!
Wow! Congratulations, Barbara!
Mazal tov, Barbara
Congratulations!
Lots of hard work and high hopes pay off! Congratulations!
Wow! What a fantastic month. Congratulations to you on these many successes!
Happy dance for a fabulous month! Congrats, Barbara!
Thanks so much, Tracie!
Wow! Congratulations Barbara!
Thank you!
Fantastic! Barbara, you are on a roll.
Thank you!
Wow! Excellent month. Congratulations, Barbara!
Thank you!
Congratulations Barbara - that's quite a month! I just read your piece "Arcology" too.
Thank you!
Congratulations, Barbara!!
Wow Kazowie--congrats!
What a beautiful story and reminder that the work is always working!
I am thrilled to bits that my first-ever published essay in a lit mag has received such kindness: https://open.substack.com/pub/chicagostorypress/p/the-field-between-us-a-story-of-intimacy
I am an emerging writer with not much knowledge of the inner workings of the lit mag world (hence a subscriber here). I didn’t know to research anything or write a compelling cover letter etc. but I did like what I had read on the Chicago Story Press website so I submitted this essay in February and received the green light within two weeks. The editor suggested some minor changes for clarity but other than that it was just such a smooth experience that I am chuffed to write more and send more essays out to lit mags.
Thank you for this opportunity to share.
Congrats on getting your first-ever lit-mag essay published!
Thank you. This one will always be special.
First, well done on this first publications. What a rush! I also enjoyed your piece and how you wrapped it up.
Thank you, Matthew. A rush, indeed. I so appreciate your making the time to read and for your kind words.
I've been married for almost 40 years and you touched on some very important ingredients for long-term relationships. So your heartfelt piece got and kept my attention.
Marriage is definitely a verb and I think sometimes we just need to remind ourselves of that.
I was choked up and touched, just lovely. Keep writing!
Thank you, Nancy. I’m touched that my very raw and vulnerable essay moved you and I truly appreciate the encouragement. 💗
Here's a vulnerable one I published a couple months ago that might resonate with you: https://mrbullbull.com/newbull/creative-nonfiction/eros-v-amor/
What a courageous essay, filled with truth, vulnerability, declarations of lust, love and everything in between all tied up with a bow of poignancy and heartache and a certain kind of loneliness one has to experience to truly understand. But then also so much togetherness. Thank you for sharing this masterful piece of prose with me, Nancy.
Thanks so much, Mansi!
I'm not surprised it has been published. Beautifully written.
Thank you much, Michael. I appreciate your kindness.
Beautiful essay--congratulations, Mansi!
I appreciate your making the time to read it and your kind words, Lisa. Thank you.
I really enjoyed your honest, insightful essay. Congrats on the publication.
Kate, thank you so much for making the time—both to read the essay and write back to me. I appreciate it.
Congratulations, Mansi, on your fine essay! May there be many more.
Many thanks, Donna ❤️
Looks like I'm the first to comment!
Fabula Argentia published the flash piece, ‘Now You See Me, Now You Don't’, one of my personal favourites, but one that suffered many rejections. When publishing, F.A. added, "We loved author Michael Smith’s very different take on how to commit a bank robbery, and we were pleasantly surprised by the inventive outcome."
fabulaargentea.com/index.php/article/now-you-see-me-now-you-dont-by-michael-smith/
A couple of days later, Uppagus published ‘New Legislation’, a wry look at a potential way to save us all a great deal of time and money. uppagus.com/flash-fiction/smith-legislation/
Mid-month, Winamop published the flash fiction piece, ‘1-2-3’ winamop.com/ms2502.htm
And just this weekend, a small, independent bi-lingual bookshop in the town where I live has agreed to sell a couple of my books, the short story collection 'Fonts’ and my first novel 'Gruseltal’. It'll be good to see real paper copies, on real bookshelves, next to other real books. https://theartofbooks.de/about-ueber/
Congratulations, Michael. Fabula Argentea is a fabulous score. Love that lit mag.
Great story! Thanks for sharing with the world.
Thank you.
I was thrilled to have a poem in The Fiddlehead this month, especially because they’re a Canadian journal and I’m moving there in July!
It’s print-only but you can read it on my website here: https://www.poetalicewhite.com/fiddlehead
They were lovely to work with, and also do a cool feature where they have writers they publish write a recommendation of someone else’s work. I picked Leila Chatti’s debut poetry collection, Deluge, which I read recently and loved.
Congratulations, Alice! A beautiful poem!!
Thanks, Kathi!
Lovely poem, Alice! Good luck on your move!
Thanks, David!
Mazel tov on yet another gorgeous poem! Will look forward to hearing more about the move to Canada.
Thanks, Debbie! Hope to see you Monday for the Lit Mag Chat
Looking forward to seeing you too!
Beautiful poem Alice. May I ask how long they to accept your piece from the time you submitted it? Thank you.
It was accepted 40 days after submitting, but that’s fast for them I think…my previous rejection took six months
Thank you for that reply. That says all the more for how the editors appreciated your work.
Congratulations on this fine poem, Alice!
Thanks, Donna!
Well my third book of poetry dropped this month (Arroyo Seco Press) http://www.arroyosecopress.org/books.html which certainly made the month. Also had poems come out in MacQueens http://www.macqueensquinterly.com/MacQ28/Grossman-Cohabitation.aspx , Libre https://www.librelit.com/themagazine/sizzle-gary-grossman and nine more which will come out in the next few months and which I can't remember if I've posted on in the preceding months. Oh and I did have a CNF piece accepted by Bookends Review this month.
Congratulationd! Loved "Cohabitation"--softly comforting ending.
Thanks Ron.
Congratulations on your new book, Gary, and latest publications!!
Thank you Kathi!
I tried the Libre link but it was blocked? Loved the first poem.
Hmmm, not sure of what's going on, but the same thing happened to me. If you send me your email I'll send you a copy of the poem. My addy is gdgrossman at gmail dot com
Lunch Ticket published my short fiction “Dollface” in Amuse-Bouche this month: https://lunchticket.org/dollface/
I finished this piece a couple of years ago so I was very happy that it found a home in Lunch Ticket.
Loved it! Congrats!
Congratulations!
I like how well this describes Eleanor! Congrats, Katie!
Love it! Congratulations!
Congratulations, Katie! What a great character Eleanor is!
Ooh, I really want to get something into Amuse-Bouche. Congratulations!
A poem, "Everything is Prep Work," published in SRPR--it won the Editor's Prize! (https://srpr.org/currentIssue.php) I just got back from doing a reading (my first) there--with Victoria Chang! (gulp). Lovely, lovely editor Steve Halle and supporting staff.
A poem, "Carving a Lyric Out," published in Rogue Agent. (https://www.rogueagentjournal.com/abeheler) Wonderful editor Jill Khoury.
Congrats on winning the Editor's Prize!
Amazing. Congratulations!
Congrats, that's big time
Congratulations on winning the prize! I loved your poem, too!
Three new publications to report!
1) A hermit crab essay creatively probing what counts as truth or lying when we write. "Dear Truth Police": https://www.suddenlyandwithoutwarning.com/dear-truth-police/ I'd had about a dozen rejections for this piece, previously.
2) A fictional romp. The prompt was "write a frame essay." I wrote about a town gone wild for framing. https://brightflash1000.com/2025/04/03/framed/ This got picked up in my first round of submissions.
3) Reflections on abandoned places where I live in Western Massachusetts. "6 Degrees of Abandonment." Link to the PDF as it was published in a print journal, The Gilded Weathervane: https://yudkin.com/Gilded.pdf It had racked up 15 rejections.
"Dear Truth Police" was really fun, thanks.
Love the hermit crab piece - creative idea and wonderful execution!
Loved the "Truth Police"!
Good laugh at Dear Truth Police! But, as a memoirist, I do take offense. I suppose I'd best checks for discrepancies...
My poem "Portrait" was accepted this month by Sugar House Review (it will be published in the fall, in their 16th anniversary issue). It had been rejected 26 times, though I'd gotten some nice comments on it. I forget how I found Sugar House Review, but I really liked their vibe so I thought I'd submit. I was asked to cut a couple of words from the poem, and I happily did that (the editor was right). It's nice because I haven't finished anything in a year due to a serious family emergency, so the acceptance was really encouraging. Also, most of my publications lately have been creative nonfiction, so it was cool to have a poem accepted again.
What a great success story! Congrats, Rita!
congrats on your perseverance with this. best wishes to keep it going after everything!
Ah, April!
My detective story "Goldenrod" opens the Sisters in Crime North Dallas Anthology – Trouble in Texas Metroplex Mysteries Volume IV - https://www.amazon.com/Trouble-Texas-Metroplex-Mysteries-IV-ebook/dp/B0F2B8YC5W/ -
And then, and then... Got a Book published - Considering the idea started as a collaboration on a short story ... and the plot got bigger and bigger ... "Bop City Swing" came out (from Cowboy Jamboree Press), it's a 1950 San Francisco retro-noir, tons of fun to write: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DPJBGPT8 - https://www.amazon.com/Bop-City-Swing-Proctor-Thayer/dp/B0F4DSSQ9V/ .... I wish I could post the cover, it's amazing!
That looks like a fun book. Congrats!
It is!
Proud to be accepted by New World Writing. The piece "It's Not About Lions" is an excerpt from a novella I just submitted to a couple of indie presses.
https://newworldwriting.net/peter-demarco-its-not-about-lions/
Also got an acceptance from Bull, and one from River Teeth "Beautiful Things" that will go up on May 12th.
Nice story, Peter, and NWW is a good place for it. Good luck on the novella submissions...not too many places will even look at them.
Thank you Jon!
Spare, direct, powerful. Congratulations on your story and other acceptances!
Thanks Lisa!!!
Such a great experience with the McNeese Review, who published my essay "Ground Up Glass." They did small edits and then asked me to write a process essay on how I wrote the piece. This piece was rejected about 20 times before editor Michael Robins reached out and asked if it was still available for publication. Here's the link: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/954010
Impressive, riveting beginning, thanks for sharing!
My poem Coming Up Jesus is in Euphany Journal
https://euphonyjournal.org/?s=Jeff+McRae
but even better my manuscript The Kingdom Where No One Dies was selected by Pulley Press and is due out in October
Oh, my goodness, I really liked "Coming up Jesus"!
Thanks!
Congratulations on the publication and the manuscript placement!
April has been oh so good to me! I just started submitting in March for the first time. I have flash fiction out now in Bending Genres “Maybe You Once Loved Pink Floyd And Small Tornadoes” https://bendinggenres.com/maybe-you-once-loved-pink-floyd-and-small-tornadoes/
That piece was submitted just to them and accepted only four days later. I have creative non-fiction forthcoming in wildscape literature journal and Jelly Squid, both of which I discovered through Lit Mag. Just got two more accepted yesterday but I’ll save those for next time when I can share links. Great work everyone!
Nicely quick first acceptance! Congrats!
Thank you! ☺️
Congratulations, Casey! What a fine beginning!
Thank you! ☺️
I love this end-of-the-month bragging space that Becky provides. Congratulations to everyone! Getting short stories published is not easy. I have not written any short stories recently or submitted any essays because I have been working on a novel, which has taken up all my time. And, my brag is that I finished the "final" draft. My novel is set in 865, in Svealand, ie. in Viking times. Now, to get it published!
Huge applause for finishing!
Congratulations on finishing, Alexandra, and good luck with finding the right publisher!
Hello all,
I had three pieces come out this month.
"Death Notices by Text Thread" came out in Leon Literary Review.
https://leonliteraryreview.com/issue-30-liz-rosen/
Emerge Literary Journal published my long-titled story "That Time I Was Almost Hypnotized by the School of Bait Fish Under the Dock as I Told You About the Abortion I Got When I was Forty-Nine."
https://emergeliteraryjournal.com/that-time-i-was-almost-hypnotized-by-the-school-of-bait-fish-under-the-dock-as-i-told-you-about-the-abortion-i-got-when-i-was-forty-nine/
I was honored that my little guy "Garage Sale" helped Fictive Dream start off their new MicroMonday.
https://fictivedream.com/2025/04/14/micro-monday-2/
I'm not as good as manifesting as you are, Becky, so while I got two acceptances for stories this month, I'd been "manifesting" that result for seven years in one case, and five in the other. The good thing about a long manifestation result is how excited I get when it finally occurs!
i particularly admire "Garage Sale" with its somber tone amid humorous hyperbole. Congratulations!
Thank you!
What an evocative scene. I can relate to sharing secrets with a daughter, the revelation and intimacy, the trust and vulnerability. You capture the tender moment beautifully.
Thank you, Polly, and thanks for taking the time to read.
What a phenomenal month you had, Liz! Congratulations!