Lit Mags With Fast Response Times

a list of lists

By Becky Tuch

It’s no secret that the lit-mag submitting process is often glacial. On Twitter, I’ve seen people talk about having work in the queue for over a decade! Personally, I’ve had a story accepted after a 13-month wait. And other work has sat in the slush pile so long I’m fairly sure it eventually just melted into the gutter.

Of course, the long wait is often justifiable. Editors wear multiple hats, juggling teaching or other full-time jobs, familial obligations, their own writing, and all manner of things, usually with a small staff and typically no pay for their lit mag work. On average, I do think most reputable lit mags are good about responding within about six months.

Still, sometimes you want results fast. Maybe you’re trying to build your resume and hope to boost your publishing credits. Perhaps you’re very eager to see your name in print. Maybe you’re hungry to share your work with a wider audience and it feels good to do that through the editorial imprimatur of a magazine. Maybe you just don’t want to wait.

There are dozens of reasons to want speedy responses regarding your work. So, to that end, here are some resources that will tell you where to find lit mags with fast response times. My original idea was to list the journals themselves. But, it turns out, many others have gone before me in collecting this information. So today we have instead a list of lists. Enjoy and happy submitting!

5 great places to submit if you hate to wait: the poetry list

“Part of the pain of submitting is waiting and waiting and waiting to hear if your piece is accepted. This month we’ve focused on poetry journals, or rather journals that accept poetry, with stellar track records for responding quickly (fiction writers, you’ll find some gems here too).”

5 great places to submit if you hate to wait: The flash fiction list