I am optimistic. Let's start with the problem. In the past, a great number of literary publications came across as MFA exercises in minimalism about some white middle class scholar going through a middle age crisis. My girlfriend would see me with all this copies and asked if she could read some. Several months later I asked what she thought and she said that she stopped reading. Why? Too boring. Too petulant. That scholastic arrogance came across loud and clear when they rejected some of my stories indicating that my story was "too cinematic." I felt discouraged. Then I began to see a shift. Stories in lit mags, began to be more international. They began to cover other narratives. Not only that, but some began to include hybrids, graphic stories, and speculative fiction. Take for instance The North American Review. It's absolutely gorgeous, with art and graphics everywhere. To pass a page feels like eating your favorite dessert. Many of the online magazines have done the same. They are more open to the possibilities. It's like they have re-discovered that concept of STORY instead of vignettes about character. So I see a more positive future. But I also feel they haven't done enough. I think they need to be more inclusive of the general public, not just writing for other writers. They need to learn to promote more. Maybe ask public libraries to have a Lit Mag section (which I discovered that many public libraries do not have). I believe, lit mags are about to explode into a renaissance, where an older population, exhausted and annoyed by traditional entertainment, want something more substantive. And while the market is in flux, and many mags simply cannot stay afloat, others will evolve and if anything find and economic model that will allow them to if anything keep publishing exciting new works. Hail to the lit mag. Hip hip, hurray.
Oh my God!!!!!!! I just love what you're doing. It's eye candy, but then you read the poems, the stories, the non-fiction. My copy by now has pages with food splashes, fingerprints. I consumed it with great joy.
I'll add to the love by reporting that if you buy an issue of the NAR, there's a handwritten thank you note enclosed inside. I believe the one I got was from Emily.
“I think they need to be more inclusive of the general publish, not just writing for other writers. They need to learn to promote more. Maybe ask public libraries to have a Lit Mag section (which I discovered that many public libraries do not have). “
I love every word of this, and wholeheartedly agree.
Luis, I love the idea of public libraries having a section for lit mags--I think the appetite is there.
My (wonderful) public library does not--though when I donated some lit mags to the Little Free Library outside the building, they were snatched up very quickly.
This is a bigger problem than it seems. I packed the back of my Jeep with boxes of lit mags. I went to my library and they said no. That they had periodicals, which they rotated every month, and the had books by authors. So no lit mags. They told me to go to the library in the next town, since they were bigger. There again. No.
This is not right and unfair not only to lit mags, but to the general public that loves a library and sometimes does not feel like reading a novel but a story.
Short stories only reach the general public through curated collections and a few glossies like the New Yorker and the Atlantic. It may be that litmags are either niche publications not designed for a more general public or that that there needs to be some market mechanism for their content to get broader attention. This is a puzzle but it's not a general reader aversion to short fiction or even literary fiction. That fact that not everything you see in litmags is that great or appeals to more than a limited number of readers may also have something to do with it. (Though you could also argue that litmags are taking chances, which they should).
I feel lit mags are only now becoming more accessible. Because I enter some contest, I end up receiving the publications as part of the payment. And in the past, when I read what had won, I would go. How could this story about nothing be the winning story? Aren't they tired of publishing about academics? But lo and behold, that was what was winning. Then a shift began to happen. When exactly, I don't know. The stories had more teeth, more was at stake, more pathos, so I think they are moving toward storytelling instead of craft. That is a good move. I come from marketing and advertising, from promoting product to then educational products to then a university. What lit mags need is to utilize all those principles to get the material out there. I get comments from young people that have started to read short stories and they told me that they were blown away. They were sad, happy, angry, cried, and felt the type of stuff you just don't get by just watching pure entertainment.
“…moving toward storytelling instead of craft.” Yes, I believe that is the secret to finding readers. Since people could speak they’ve been telling stories to understand their world, their dreams. We want, we need stories!
It's also fair to point that market acceptance and number of readers at a time a work is published may be not be the best metric of literary value or merit over time.
I think you should keep trying. Put this request in writing, such as comment cards or find the library website to contact as well. Usually when you ask someone at the desk, they don't have any power and can't make the change. But if you put it in writing, it has a better chance of going to the right person that can take action.
There was a time when libraries had lit mag sections, 40+ years ago. I am that old. That’s how I started reading lit mags. I agree wholeheartedly! Bring back those lit mags.
Luis Vocem, I agree that literary journals need to stop being overly focused on obscure, esoteric writing by MFAs. I value clarity and accessibility in writing. I used to edit Primavera (no longer publishing). We editors focused on encouraging any writer with talent, regardless of academic degrees and status. I even received thank you letters when I sent rejection or revision notes. Best wishes!
Sincerely,
Janet Ruth Heller
Author of the poetry books Nature’s Olympics (Wipf and Stock, 2021), Exodus (WordTech Editions, 2014), Folk Concert: Changing Times (Anaphora Literary Press, 2012) and Traffic Stop (Finishing Line Press, 2011), the scholarly book Coleridge, Lamb, Hazlitt, and the Reader of Drama (University of Missouri Press, 1990), the middle-grade chapter book for kids The Passover Surprise (Fictive Press, 2015, 2016), and the award-winning picture book for kids about bullying, How the Moon Regained Her Shape (Arbordale, 2006; seventh edition 2022).
Here’s how I feel about lit mag submission right now. 1) Simultaneous submissions should be assumed, understood, and perhaps even encouraged. I find disallowing simultaneous submissions disrespectful to writers and outdated/regressive. 2) There should be a maximum response time (12 weeks? 6 months?) beyond which we can deem a lit mag disrespectful of writers/anti-writer. 3) “Ghosting” rejections should be unacceptable. Respect authors enough to communicate a decision. 4) Editors need to stop virtue signaling their supposed desire to uplift BIPOC, women, & marginalized/underrepresented voices if they’re going to put keep putting out issues loaded with dominant-identity authors or works. I’ve seen a lit mag state the intention for inclusivity, then publish a wall of author headshots for their subsequent issue that was almost entirely white and largely male. Just say you’re going to publish the writing you like best regardless of identity then. That would be less disingenuous. 5) Editors need to stop writing patronizing/condescending things in rejections like, “Keep writing!” Why wouldn’t we?
If a mag says no simultaneous subs, they better be making fast decisions, like a week at most. Who’s going to sit around waiting 3 months just to get a rejection before being able to send their work elsewhere? Not me.
Completely agree about simultaneous subs, trust the writer to do the right thing with them! Also yes to no ghosting. I'd rather have a 'no' than never hear.
On point (5) I have been sent "how to" links in rejections and felt totally patronised, even though it was clearly a form rejection. Lists of "other places you might try" however have actually been helpful.
I do like a quick response but please do not reject me within 24 hours or a day or two. I wonder if the piece has even been read or you've hit a subs cap, or filled up with friends/solicited pieces. A week feels about right to me for a quick 'no' .
In regard to 1-3 day rejections: sometimes I'm offended ("Dang, my work was that bad?"), other times I wonder if I've sent my stuff at just the time when the editors were free to read. Generally, when I get quick rejections with no encouraging comment, I'm reluctant to try again with the same editors.
Good comments. Probably "keep writing" and similar phrases are meant to be encouraging but instead reveal a lack of empathy by most likely inexperienced editors (or those not seasoned by rejection themselves).
Fee or no fee for submissions, I assume they are being read blind. Yet underrepresented voices are encouraged, if they are reading blind how does that even work?
I received fan mail from an intern reader at a prestigious lit mag, one whose editor was interviewed by Becky who said they don't have a voice, they just know what they like and that their tastes change-- that they never know what will strike their fancy. So I submitted a story that has been rejected many times elsewhere, and voila, got my very first fan letter. The intern said they loved the story and hoped the editors would too, but if they didn't, well, they wanted me to know they personally loved it and identified with the message. I was/am thrilled and hold out hope that the editor will also like it, but if not, I'm still pleased. I don't know if this was highly irregular on the intern reader's part, but I loved it, regardless.
In October I received four rejections from the same lit mag for the same piece. Three of them were form responses and one was personal. It makes me wonder about how the lit mag's editorial team operates. In the past, I've had very positive experiences with them. Now, I don't know. I did not respond to any of these rejections.
For the lit mag I co-edit, we really want to devote 2025 to creating and nurture our local community. Find local venues for generative writing (central NJ), free webinars from our editorial team, readings, etc. We are wholly supported by grants, so this is challenging.
Had the same thing happen last month where I received four rejections (all form rejections) form the same magazine for the same submission.
If I can give a shout out to Jeff Georgeson who runs Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine. My submission was rejected, but he asked if I would like more feedback on why exactly my pieces were not accepted. I told him I'd be very open to his feedback, and he replied with comments on each of my poems. I tinkered with each of them since then. One of the rejected poems that I reworked was accepted and published earlier this week at the lit mag JAKE.
Barbara, the same thing happened with me: one rejection one day; then, a few days later, three more rejections over the course of an hour--the same rejection from the same lit mag for the same piece.
I wrote a kind email to the editor to ask him to stop--he responded within minutes to say that Submittable had been glitching.
I believe him; in fact, at the same time Submittable was misbehaving for me, too (like temporarily but terrifyingly offering only a blank slate when I logged on to check my submissions).
What a bizarre thing to receive all those rejections. Sounds like a lack of communication and organization, and that is not a “safe space” at all. Handing my work over to a publisher requires a lot of trust that they will treat it with respect and careful consideration.
Echoing the CLEAR guidelines thing. It gets old when guidelines are 'send us anything, we want your weird stuff, we print anything'. But when I do that and said places keep on rejecting my stories (Does It Have Pockets and X Ray, I'm looking at you), I start to think that you just don't like my 'voice' or what I write. I keep submitting to them because I'm stubborn and I recently had a story accepted to Roi Faineant after numerous rejections from them.
On a personal level, I'm finding it hard to write because I'm still furiously angry over the election. I had a friend who said to use that engery to write, and yeah, I agree with that, it's still hard to channel that anger into writing.
What I am doing is revisiting a few stories that I've written that have seen over 30 rejections. I was going to post them on my Substack, but again, I'm stubborn and am willing to see if I can find these stories a good home.
Overall, I'm just taking everything one day at a time. Kinda like I was doing when the world shut down in the spring of '20.
I'm grateful that I've been able to turn to my writing during my post-election slump. At the same time, I recognize that post-January developments are likely to upset the applecart in ways unforeseen. Also--I like that you're revisiting the stories with over 30 rejections. I still occasionally revise and send out pieces that have been rejected 60-70 times.
It's not out right revising, it's more tweaking. The stories in question have been seen by a couple of editors and have been copy and line edited out the wazoo. My general rule of thumb is to let a story sit for a week before running it through pro writer's aid. then I let it sit (or at this point I try to) for a week. THEN I'll start submitting.
"Pop star Justin Bieber, who bought NFTs worth over $2 million in 2022, has seen the value of his assets drop by nearly 95%"...."Collections that were once sold for millions have lost most of their value, with many projects now stagnant."
So, yeah. NFT are 1000% a scam and anyone who promotes them is a ripoff artist at this point, period. Don't waste your time, money, effort, or bandwidth on this nonsense.
Some people did spend quite a lot of money on now-worthless collectibles, but it's not as though NFTs are a technology designed to operate like a Ponzi scheme. To me, the furthest thing from a blockchain enthusiast, poetry NFTs are an interesting if probably doomed experiment (for social reasons), taking the present currency of the lit mag realm (First Serial Rights) and asking what could happen if it were transferable.
Even if NFTs did somehow improve the present mud pit of simultaneous submissions, though, I'm skeptical that changing the technology of patronage would significantly increase the inflows.
The other big criticism of blockchains is their energy inefficiency, but with the advent of proof-of-stake implementations, it has to be more nuanced now.
First, assume all lit mags are run, at this time, by humans with the same fallibilities submitters have. After that, my main question is how lit mags are going to better meet (a) their own needs, including rewards for the work they do; (b) their community or readers and contributors, who are also involved because they too seek various rewards for their interest in literature; and (c) the challenges of the heart, the middle 50%, of the 21st Century as parameters, intentions, and logistics change.
Many good lit mags are publishing good but uninspiring “this is what I’m going through” poems that could have been written 3 decades ago. Where are the poems that look at what we face today, such as maintaining satisfying relationships in the face of climate change, living as an artist in authoritarian times? Not sermons or whining but focusing the promise of literature on possibilities, on the best path ahead.
Can lit mags accept that many of us who are part of their communities have limited income and can’t sign up for all the subscriptions we want? Can lit mags pursue new means of generating income? Some are presenting workshops, which is great, and critiquing services for needed income and community building. How about some online (though in person is better), in-depth themed poetry festivals? How about more events that infiltrate the wider public’s attention? How about cost-effective offers that lift up, rather than shut out, broader community membership? Can lit mags act more as a community instead of separate silos?
In short, how about lit mags more actively defining the future of literature instead of just reflecting its present? And how about lit mags opening up to their communities about their day-to-day and long-term concerns and commitments? In shorter, how about looking at ways to all work better together?
I don't really think it changes much from one year to the next. Small staffs make the process slow but there's nothing they can do about it on a shoestring. I haven't read the comments yet but I hope it isn't turning into a gripefest of things we've all said and heard a thousand times already.
The only thing I can think to say right now is that every era of repressive government I've lived through usually gave birth to a hyperactive underground art scene, and a lot of good stuff was produced. That said, comparing that to women having their rights torn from their hands, a green light given from the top to engage in blatant racism for the fun of it, and the escape from justice by the luckiest asshole the world has ever seen is an awful trade off and not really worth it. But...
You lot - what? - don't stop, give it all you got.
What do I need to do to foster community and support the artists and lit mags that I value?
Since the COVID years, I’ve been so aware of the sucking vacuum of literary submissions/rejections and of the empty feeling when something finally does get published and … crickets.
So I have made it my business to respond personally to a poet when I see a poem or chapbook or book that is wonderful. And I respond to editors of literary journals when and where I can (this takes a lot more time and focus tho)—similar to what your lit mag discussions do. For example, I recently responded to one lit mag praising a poem that had won a prize in a recent issue, and then going through the mag and listing the works that I thought were outstanding and that I found myself reading more than once. I made it clear everything in the issue was great, but wanted to call out the things that rose to the level of amazing. And thanked the editors for their work.
I do keep a list of journals that have ghosted my submissions.
And I have been grateful for journals/editors that, on acceptance, give actual feedback and suggested edits - in every case those have been excellent edits. Recently I’ve gotten that kind of thoughtful, quality response from:
About Place Journal
Calyx
Beloit Poetry Journal
One (Jacar Press, editor Richard Krawiec, who tirelessly supports independent presses and promotes his authors very well)
Needless to say, these are all journals I keep reading and will submit to again. They are the kind of world I want.
Rebecca, I loved your reminder that writers can be better literary citizens, too.
I'm trying to make a habit of emailing writers whose work resonated with me. After the latest Sewanee Review showed up in my mailbox last week, I sent my compliments to two people in its pages: a wonderful poet new to me (James Davis May) and the author of a lovely, understated short story (Jenny Xie).
I don't usually send those same compliments to the editors; your note has me thinking that I should--after all, they selected those wonderful pieces!
But I hesitate, especially if those same editors have a story of mine in their submission queue.
I love this: "So I have made it my business to respond personally to a poet when I see a poem or chapbook or book that is wonderful."
I've only heard a few poets/writers make this statement and it's something that I highly encourage.
And, yes, keep supporting the journals that you like and tell them that you like what they are doing. Being specific is good, too.
I personally wouldn't mind poets telling me what they did not like *as much* coming out in ONE ART. Otherwise, I'm basically relying on analytics (clicks, "reads", etc.) which certainly doesn't tell the whole story.
Do not tell me you are looking for radical and complex voices, marginalized voices, lgbtq voices and then only accept one token to test responses every green moon.
Also, if you send a rude rejection, expect your sub authors to circulate that
What do we need? We need to hear so many voices from the wilderness for so long that we forget that there are guys with tenure, grad students to grade their courses, and full office time to thrust out at every zine and contest--we want to forget about them for awhile, please.
This is so true. They tell you that they want LBTQ, Black and Brown, and underrepresented communities, and on the next issue there's again, a suburban college professor dealing with stuff. But in my experience that is beginning to change.
I see this differently. I see calls for subs for marginalized writers and tons of work published by those writers deemed marginalized. Tons.
I don’t understand the need to single writers out this way. I am a white, Christian, conservative, older, emerging writer. But I don’t identify as anything. I just write. If an editor likes my writing, great, I want to be published on my merit, my talent. I read and enjoy work from all writers, no matter who they are. I just love good writing. I learn something new from every piece of art I engage with. We should all just elevate the excellent literary work no matter how old the writer is, no matter how many previous pubs they have, no matter what color or gender they are.
The worst censorship is self-censorship, as they say. I want to see all talented writers use their voices to express their creativity freely. Free speech is the most valuable right we have, and we should cherish it, uphold it, and perpetuate it.
Over the years, it has been worthwhile for editors (of both lit mags and course anthologies) to pay more attention to presenting diverse voices. Imagine if editors' literary sensibilities had been frozen in a particular era or demographic, how much we would stand to lose as readers. Perhaps in the coming decades, when diverse voices are the norm throughout the literary world, editors won't have to be as self-conscious about this goal. And, of course, as the editors themselves become more diverse (this shift appears to be happening rapidly), there won't be as much overt emphasis on diversity, I suspect.
Hi, Angela St. James. Some editors are narcissists or addicted to substances and feel entitled to tell a writer any garbage ideas that come into their psychotic heads. One editor sent me a rejection note in the 1970s and told me that I must hate literature because I was working on a Ph.D. in English at the University of Chicago. I wrote this editor's college department chair and sent a Xeroxed copy of the rejection note. I explained that I was not looking for academic or career guidance from the editor, just a reaction to my manuscript. I have now published 7 books, so I think that the editor was not in touch with reality. Best wishes! Janet
Mark, I appreciate the ekphrastic session One Art hosted this week. While I wish we had spent more time writing, I had to acknowledge and be grateful for the safe space after the election. This weekend, some other literary communities I've been leaning into are running free poetry readings. i appreciate that, too.
Thanks for this, Barbara. It makes me feel good that you say workshop did truly feel like a safe space. We are really going to need more safe spaces... and I worry they will be harder to keep safe.
I have seen a vast increase in the past couple of years across many journals I submit to, and/or have been published in, whose poet bios reflect one or more collections and awards. I never read a bio before I read the work, and frankly do not find a correlation between collections/awards and the impact of the work and my judgment of its quality. I am really wondering in these days and years to come whether I am increasingly eliminating myself from lit mag publication, which I enjoy, if I do not decide that I must spend time putting together a collection which, even if pubbed, will have minimal impact (being honest here about poetry sales). How we spend time in the days to come after January may be something very few of us are prepared for. It is in this context that I examine my priorities. I simply can't imagine that everything we take for granted will not be on shaky ground - or more.
If there's no correlation between quality and status in what a magazine publishes, isn't that consistent with them curating for quality rather than status?
Many editors say they don't really care about bios, and I choose to believe them because I'm an editor who doesn't really care about bios.
My hypothesis about the change you're seeing is that it's gotten cheaper/easier to put out collections, and more markets have turned to prizes for fundraising purposes.
Doubling down on "no correlation between quality and status" in publication.
There's been plenty of data showing that awards and publications and residencies typically go to those with "cred" going way back... even aligning with having gone to an Ivy League for undergrad... potentially decades earlier... which of course has nothing to do with the real world hours put in to learning a skill (writing) and deserving accolades.
Thanks, David—re: your first comment, my thoughts were based on historical reading of published work in lit mags; it's more recently that I've seen a huge frequency of collections/awards in bios, so thought I'd ask. Your response helps! Much appreciated.
I find it so valuable when a literary mag editor not only likes my poems and invites more, but names one or two of my poems that almost made the cut. Beyond the overall encouragement, this feedback guides my submissions to other places.
I experience the submissions-rejection cycle as impersonal and invalidating. My solution, at least for now, is to attend a regular local in-person reading which is followed by an open mic where I can read short pieces. The applause of the audience provides much needed validation which helps me keep going.
When I'm discouraged by too many rejections, I review my stash of encouraging comments from editors. A good comment from a mag that I respect can keep me going for a while.
I do something similar. I also keep stats on which of my poems and stories are getting the best response. It's somewhat predictive of future acceptances.
Hi Becky! You featured a wonderful personal essay recently and shared your satisfaction with the editorial process. If I’m remembering correctly, it was not a submission that Erik helped you with. Could you say something about your own tiered approach, perhaps with that essay or another, in terms of how you decide where to submit and how you navigate following rejections and future submissions? I’d find it very helpful and think others may too. Thanks.
Thanks Alberta. I'd be happy to talk about my process. For that piece, I actually submitted to the journal (BULL Magazine) after seeing it mentioned here in one of our monthly Lit Mag Brags! But I can certainly go into more detail sometime.
I had some dusty old stories hanging around while I worked on novels, which are really what I love to write. (I've only ever had one story accepted, at slow trains.com, but my second novel is coming out from twisted road, a small traditional publisher, in January. Yes, I''m bragging.)Then I was accepted in an excellent critique group and shared my stories one by one, got great feedback and revised accordingly, and began submitting to lit mags again. I have found that Duotrope, though it took a bit of figuring out, was just what I needed to keep my stories out there. No success so far, but I did get a very positive response from a prestigious magazine asking me to send more which I promptly did of course.
A literary magazine I submitted to earlier in the year advised in July that my piece had 'made the finals' and an outcome would be known three months out. This is a mag where I've come close with other submissions and the editor has been encouraging. In the past week, I've reached out on social media, through the mag's submission portal and direct email. Being ghosted by the editor is both uncharacteristic and very disappointing. Is this a trend or do I just have a sticker on my forehead which says 'sucker'?
I keep a list of places that have ghosted me. This is after reaching out to them three time and all I've heard was crickets. While I don't think it's a trend, I have to wonder if some lit mags have bitten off more than they could chew, for lack of better words.
It's rude and unprofessional. I get the 'small staff/volunteer/we have jobs thing, but christ on a stick, just keep a standard email rejection on hand or update your website to reflect that you are behind on submissions. It shouldn't be rocket science.
Yes, it does. What really pisses me off is that the editor has been cosying up to me over the past year, reaching out in private messages about how much my work resonates with them and how they wished they had more money to publish more work. I believed this, until now.
They have had this story of mine for 11 months. I do understand that life intervenes and if a journal has a small staff; however, getting people's hopes up and not meeting the expectations you, yourself, set and then not responding to polite inquiries from finalists is pretty weak, barring a personal disaster.
Very true. I would love for this story to be published and was understandably hopeful. Now, I'm not so much. It doesn't take much to send a 1-2 sentence update, even a form update.
Hi, Rose. Since we are both waiting on the folks at R, would you like to exchange the stories we wrote that are sitting in limbo? If you're up for it, I'll send you my email address. If not, no worries.
Someone on the earlier thread here mentioned the Smokelong Summer program, and I looked into it and tried out their yearlong program for a month, then joined for a year. The other members tend to be very accomplished writers, many with MFAs and some who are lit mag editors. So it's an inspiring community for writing flash (fiction or CNF) that includes some instruction along with peer feedback. You can check it out at https://www.smokelong.com/smokelong-fitness-the-community-workshop/. I'm glad I did.
I am optimistic. Let's start with the problem. In the past, a great number of literary publications came across as MFA exercises in minimalism about some white middle class scholar going through a middle age crisis. My girlfriend would see me with all this copies and asked if she could read some. Several months later I asked what she thought and she said that she stopped reading. Why? Too boring. Too petulant. That scholastic arrogance came across loud and clear when they rejected some of my stories indicating that my story was "too cinematic." I felt discouraged. Then I began to see a shift. Stories in lit mags, began to be more international. They began to cover other narratives. Not only that, but some began to include hybrids, graphic stories, and speculative fiction. Take for instance The North American Review. It's absolutely gorgeous, with art and graphics everywhere. To pass a page feels like eating your favorite dessert. Many of the online magazines have done the same. They are more open to the possibilities. It's like they have re-discovered that concept of STORY instead of vignettes about character. So I see a more positive future. But I also feel they haven't done enough. I think they need to be more inclusive of the general public, not just writing for other writers. They need to learn to promote more. Maybe ask public libraries to have a Lit Mag section (which I discovered that many public libraries do not have). I believe, lit mags are about to explode into a renaissance, where an older population, exhausted and annoyed by traditional entertainment, want something more substantive. And while the market is in flux, and many mags simply cannot stay afloat, others will evolve and if anything find and economic model that will allow them to if anything keep publishing exciting new works. Hail to the lit mag. Hip hip, hurray.
As the art editor for the NAR, this comment made my day! Thank you!
Oh my God!!!!!!! I just love what you're doing. It's eye candy, but then you read the poems, the stories, the non-fiction. My copy by now has pages with food splashes, fingerprints. I consumed it with great joy.
I love this! 🥰
I'll add to the love by reporting that if you buy an issue of the NAR, there's a handwritten thank you note enclosed inside. I believe the one I got was from Emily.
I'm the managing editor too, so I'm one and only order fulfiller. I stay busy! 😀
I love North American Review!
“I think they need to be more inclusive of the general publish, not just writing for other writers. They need to learn to promote more. Maybe ask public libraries to have a Lit Mag section (which I discovered that many public libraries do not have). “
I love every word of this, and wholeheartedly agree.
Luis, I love the idea of public libraries having a section for lit mags--I think the appetite is there.
My (wonderful) public library does not--though when I donated some lit mags to the Little Free Library outside the building, they were snatched up very quickly.
This is a bigger problem than it seems. I packed the back of my Jeep with boxes of lit mags. I went to my library and they said no. That they had periodicals, which they rotated every month, and the had books by authors. So no lit mags. They told me to go to the library in the next town, since they were bigger. There again. No.
This is not right and unfair not only to lit mags, but to the general public that loves a library and sometimes does not feel like reading a novel but a story.
Short stories only reach the general public through curated collections and a few glossies like the New Yorker and the Atlantic. It may be that litmags are either niche publications not designed for a more general public or that that there needs to be some market mechanism for their content to get broader attention. This is a puzzle but it's not a general reader aversion to short fiction or even literary fiction. That fact that not everything you see in litmags is that great or appeals to more than a limited number of readers may also have something to do with it. (Though you could also argue that litmags are taking chances, which they should).
I feel lit mags are only now becoming more accessible. Because I enter some contest, I end up receiving the publications as part of the payment. And in the past, when I read what had won, I would go. How could this story about nothing be the winning story? Aren't they tired of publishing about academics? But lo and behold, that was what was winning. Then a shift began to happen. When exactly, I don't know. The stories had more teeth, more was at stake, more pathos, so I think they are moving toward storytelling instead of craft. That is a good move. I come from marketing and advertising, from promoting product to then educational products to then a university. What lit mags need is to utilize all those principles to get the material out there. I get comments from young people that have started to read short stories and they told me that they were blown away. They were sad, happy, angry, cried, and felt the type of stuff you just don't get by just watching pure entertainment.
“…moving toward storytelling instead of craft.” Yes, I believe that is the secret to finding readers. Since people could speak they’ve been telling stories to understand their world, their dreams. We want, we need stories!
It's also fair to point that market acceptance and number of readers at a time a work is published may be not be the best metric of literary value or merit over time.
I think you should keep trying. Put this request in writing, such as comment cards or find the library website to contact as well. Usually when you ask someone at the desk, they don't have any power and can't make the change. But if you put it in writing, it has a better chance of going to the right person that can take action.
Any little free libraries close to you? I've found that lit mags get claimed quickly.
There was a time when libraries had lit mag sections, 40+ years ago. I am that old. That’s how I started reading lit mags. I agree wholeheartedly! Bring back those lit mags.
This 80 year-old says amen - exhausted and annoyed... looking for substance!
Luis Vocem, I agree that literary journals need to stop being overly focused on obscure, esoteric writing by MFAs. I value clarity and accessibility in writing. I used to edit Primavera (no longer publishing). We editors focused on encouraging any writer with talent, regardless of academic degrees and status. I even received thank you letters when I sent rejection or revision notes. Best wishes!
Sincerely,
Janet Ruth Heller
Author of the poetry books Nature’s Olympics (Wipf and Stock, 2021), Exodus (WordTech Editions, 2014), Folk Concert: Changing Times (Anaphora Literary Press, 2012) and Traffic Stop (Finishing Line Press, 2011), the scholarly book Coleridge, Lamb, Hazlitt, and the Reader of Drama (University of Missouri Press, 1990), the middle-grade chapter book for kids The Passover Surprise (Fictive Press, 2015, 2016), and the award-winning picture book for kids about bullying, How the Moon Regained Her Shape (Arbordale, 2006; seventh edition 2022).
My website is https://www.janetruthheller.com/
Here’s how I feel about lit mag submission right now. 1) Simultaneous submissions should be assumed, understood, and perhaps even encouraged. I find disallowing simultaneous submissions disrespectful to writers and outdated/regressive. 2) There should be a maximum response time (12 weeks? 6 months?) beyond which we can deem a lit mag disrespectful of writers/anti-writer. 3) “Ghosting” rejections should be unacceptable. Respect authors enough to communicate a decision. 4) Editors need to stop virtue signaling their supposed desire to uplift BIPOC, women, & marginalized/underrepresented voices if they’re going to put keep putting out issues loaded with dominant-identity authors or works. I’ve seen a lit mag state the intention for inclusivity, then publish a wall of author headshots for their subsequent issue that was almost entirely white and largely male. Just say you’re going to publish the writing you like best regardless of identity then. That would be less disingenuous. 5) Editors need to stop writing patronizing/condescending things in rejections like, “Keep writing!” Why wouldn’t we?
Oh my God, everything you just said!! Yes!
If a mag says no simultaneous subs, they better be making fast decisions, like a week at most. Who’s going to sit around waiting 3 months just to get a rejection before being able to send their work elsewhere? Not me.
Seriously! Unless it's a competition, I never submit to a lit mag that doesn't allow simultaneous submissions.
Completely agree about simultaneous subs, trust the writer to do the right thing with them! Also yes to no ghosting. I'd rather have a 'no' than never hear.
On point (5) I have been sent "how to" links in rejections and felt totally patronised, even though it was clearly a form rejection. Lists of "other places you might try" however have actually been helpful.
I do like a quick response but please do not reject me within 24 hours or a day or two. I wonder if the piece has even been read or you've hit a subs cap, or filled up with friends/solicited pieces. A week feels about right to me for a quick 'no' .
In regard to 1-3 day rejections: sometimes I'm offended ("Dang, my work was that bad?"), other times I wonder if I've sent my stuff at just the time when the editors were free to read. Generally, when I get quick rejections with no encouraging comment, I'm reluctant to try again with the same editors.
Good comments. Probably "keep writing" and similar phrases are meant to be encouraging but instead reveal a lack of empathy by most likely inexperienced editors (or those not seasoned by rejection themselves).
Fee or no fee for submissions, I assume they are being read blind. Yet underrepresented voices are encouraged, if they are reading blind how does that even work?
I received fan mail from an intern reader at a prestigious lit mag, one whose editor was interviewed by Becky who said they don't have a voice, they just know what they like and that their tastes change-- that they never know what will strike their fancy. So I submitted a story that has been rejected many times elsewhere, and voila, got my very first fan letter. The intern said they loved the story and hoped the editors would too, but if they didn't, well, they wanted me to know they personally loved it and identified with the message. I was/am thrilled and hold out hope that the editor will also like it, but if not, I'm still pleased. I don't know if this was highly irregular on the intern reader's part, but I loved it, regardless.
In October I received four rejections from the same lit mag for the same piece. Three of them were form responses and one was personal. It makes me wonder about how the lit mag's editorial team operates. In the past, I've had very positive experiences with them. Now, I don't know. I did not respond to any of these rejections.
For the lit mag I co-edit, we really want to devote 2025 to creating and nurture our local community. Find local venues for generative writing (central NJ), free webinars from our editorial team, readings, etc. We are wholly supported by grants, so this is challenging.
Had the same thing happen last month where I received four rejections (all form rejections) form the same magazine for the same submission.
If I can give a shout out to Jeff Georgeson who runs Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine. My submission was rejected, but he asked if I would like more feedback on why exactly my pieces were not accepted. I told him I'd be very open to his feedback, and he replied with comments on each of my poems. I tinkered with each of them since then. One of the rejected poems that I reworked was accepted and published earlier this week at the lit mag JAKE.
Barbara, the same thing happened with me: one rejection one day; then, a few days later, three more rejections over the course of an hour--the same rejection from the same lit mag for the same piece.
I wrote a kind email to the editor to ask him to stop--he responded within minutes to say that Submittable had been glitching.
I believe him; in fact, at the same time Submittable was misbehaving for me, too (like temporarily but terrifyingly offering only a blank slate when I logged on to check my submissions).
I assumed a Submittable glitch, but then there was the separate personal rejection.
Your commitment to your local community makes me wish I lived there!
What a bizarre thing to receive all those rejections. Sounds like a lack of communication and organization, and that is not a “safe space” at all. Handing my work over to a publisher requires a lot of trust that they will treat it with respect and careful consideration.
Echoing the CLEAR guidelines thing. It gets old when guidelines are 'send us anything, we want your weird stuff, we print anything'. But when I do that and said places keep on rejecting my stories (Does It Have Pockets and X Ray, I'm looking at you), I start to think that you just don't like my 'voice' or what I write. I keep submitting to them because I'm stubborn and I recently had a story accepted to Roi Faineant after numerous rejections from them.
On a personal level, I'm finding it hard to write because I'm still furiously angry over the election. I had a friend who said to use that engery to write, and yeah, I agree with that, it's still hard to channel that anger into writing.
What I am doing is revisiting a few stories that I've written that have seen over 30 rejections. I was going to post them on my Substack, but again, I'm stubborn and am willing to see if I can find these stories a good home.
Overall, I'm just taking everything one day at a time. Kinda like I was doing when the world shut down in the spring of '20.
I'm grateful that I've been able to turn to my writing during my post-election slump. At the same time, I recognize that post-January developments are likely to upset the applecart in ways unforeseen. Also--I like that you're revisiting the stories with over 30 rejections. I still occasionally revise and send out pieces that have been rejected 60-70 times.
It's not out right revising, it's more tweaking. The stories in question have been seen by a couple of editors and have been copy and line edited out the wazoo. My general rule of thumb is to let a story sit for a week before running it through pro writer's aid. then I let it sit (or at this point I try to) for a week. THEN I'll start submitting.
I'm in the same place.
Honestly what is on my mind is how irresponsible it is in 2024 to promote authors getting involved with NFTs in any way when the entire market for such garbage has cratered entirely and 96% of NFT collection are considered dead: https://medium.com/@FunNFT/96-of-nft-collections-considered-dead-in-2024-d8db86eb4f2a
"Pop star Justin Bieber, who bought NFTs worth over $2 million in 2022, has seen the value of his assets drop by nearly 95%"...."Collections that were once sold for millions have lost most of their value, with many projects now stagnant."
So, yeah. NFT are 1000% a scam and anyone who promotes them is a ripoff artist at this point, period. Don't waste your time, money, effort, or bandwidth on this nonsense.
Another reader contacted me to say that NFTs are a scam. I was completely unaware of this view. I'll be looking into this further.
Some people did spend quite a lot of money on now-worthless collectibles, but it's not as though NFTs are a technology designed to operate like a Ponzi scheme. To me, the furthest thing from a blockchain enthusiast, poetry NFTs are an interesting if probably doomed experiment (for social reasons), taking the present currency of the lit mag realm (First Serial Rights) and asking what could happen if it were transferable.
Even if NFTs did somehow improve the present mud pit of simultaneous submissions, though, I'm skeptical that changing the technology of patronage would significantly increase the inflows.
The other big criticism of blockchains is their energy inefficiency, but with the advent of proof-of-stake implementations, it has to be more nuanced now.
First, assume all lit mags are run, at this time, by humans with the same fallibilities submitters have. After that, my main question is how lit mags are going to better meet (a) their own needs, including rewards for the work they do; (b) their community or readers and contributors, who are also involved because they too seek various rewards for their interest in literature; and (c) the challenges of the heart, the middle 50%, of the 21st Century as parameters, intentions, and logistics change.
Many good lit mags are publishing good but uninspiring “this is what I’m going through” poems that could have been written 3 decades ago. Where are the poems that look at what we face today, such as maintaining satisfying relationships in the face of climate change, living as an artist in authoritarian times? Not sermons or whining but focusing the promise of literature on possibilities, on the best path ahead.
Can lit mags accept that many of us who are part of their communities have limited income and can’t sign up for all the subscriptions we want? Can lit mags pursue new means of generating income? Some are presenting workshops, which is great, and critiquing services for needed income and community building. How about some online (though in person is better), in-depth themed poetry festivals? How about more events that infiltrate the wider public’s attention? How about cost-effective offers that lift up, rather than shut out, broader community membership? Can lit mags act more as a community instead of separate silos?
In short, how about lit mags more actively defining the future of literature instead of just reflecting its present? And how about lit mags opening up to their communities about their day-to-day and long-term concerns and commitments? In shorter, how about looking at ways to all work better together?
I don't really think it changes much from one year to the next. Small staffs make the process slow but there's nothing they can do about it on a shoestring. I haven't read the comments yet but I hope it isn't turning into a gripefest of things we've all said and heard a thousand times already.
The only thing I can think to say right now is that every era of repressive government I've lived through usually gave birth to a hyperactive underground art scene, and a lot of good stuff was produced. That said, comparing that to women having their rights torn from their hands, a green light given from the top to engage in blatant racism for the fun of it, and the escape from justice by the luckiest asshole the world has ever seen is an awful trade off and not really worth it. But...
You lot - what? - don't stop, give it all you got.
I'm seeking these answers, too. What does the literary community need from editors/curators/facilitators in the days/weeks/months ahead?
This question can go both ways.
What do I need to do to foster community and support the artists and lit mags that I value?
Since the COVID years, I’ve been so aware of the sucking vacuum of literary submissions/rejections and of the empty feeling when something finally does get published and … crickets.
So I have made it my business to respond personally to a poet when I see a poem or chapbook or book that is wonderful. And I respond to editors of literary journals when and where I can (this takes a lot more time and focus tho)—similar to what your lit mag discussions do. For example, I recently responded to one lit mag praising a poem that had won a prize in a recent issue, and then going through the mag and listing the works that I thought were outstanding and that I found myself reading more than once. I made it clear everything in the issue was great, but wanted to call out the things that rose to the level of amazing. And thanked the editors for their work.
I do keep a list of journals that have ghosted my submissions.
And I have been grateful for journals/editors that, on acceptance, give actual feedback and suggested edits - in every case those have been excellent edits. Recently I’ve gotten that kind of thoughtful, quality response from:
About Place Journal
Calyx
Beloit Poetry Journal
One (Jacar Press, editor Richard Krawiec, who tirelessly supports independent presses and promotes his authors very well)
Needless to say, these are all journals I keep reading and will submit to again. They are the kind of world I want.
Rebecca, I loved your reminder that writers can be better literary citizens, too.
I'm trying to make a habit of emailing writers whose work resonated with me. After the latest Sewanee Review showed up in my mailbox last week, I sent my compliments to two people in its pages: a wonderful poet new to me (James Davis May) and the author of a lovely, understated short story (Jenny Xie).
I don't usually send those same compliments to the editors; your note has me thinking that I should--after all, they selected those wonderful pieces!
But I hesitate, especially if those same editors have a story of mine in their submission queue.
Thank you for this, Rebecca.
I love this: "So I have made it my business to respond personally to a poet when I see a poem or chapbook or book that is wonderful."
I've only heard a few poets/writers make this statement and it's something that I highly encourage.
And, yes, keep supporting the journals that you like and tell them that you like what they are doing. Being specific is good, too.
I personally wouldn't mind poets telling me what they did not like *as much* coming out in ONE ART. Otherwise, I'm basically relying on analytics (clicks, "reads", etc.) which certainly doesn't tell the whole story.
Very, very clear and honest guidelines.
Do not tell me you are looking for radical and complex voices, marginalized voices, lgbtq voices and then only accept one token to test responses every green moon.
Also, if you send a rude rejection, expect your sub authors to circulate that
What do we need? We need to hear so many voices from the wilderness for so long that we forget that there are guys with tenure, grad students to grade their courses, and full office time to thrust out at every zine and contest--we want to forget about them for awhile, please.
This is so true. They tell you that they want LBTQ, Black and Brown, and underrepresented communities, and on the next issue there's again, a suburban college professor dealing with stuff. But in my experience that is beginning to change.
I see this differently. I see calls for subs for marginalized writers and tons of work published by those writers deemed marginalized. Tons.
I don’t understand the need to single writers out this way. I am a white, Christian, conservative, older, emerging writer. But I don’t identify as anything. I just write. If an editor likes my writing, great, I want to be published on my merit, my talent. I read and enjoy work from all writers, no matter who they are. I just love good writing. I learn something new from every piece of art I engage with. We should all just elevate the excellent literary work no matter how old the writer is, no matter how many previous pubs they have, no matter what color or gender they are.
The worst censorship is self-censorship, as they say. I want to see all talented writers use their voices to express their creativity freely. Free speech is the most valuable right we have, and we should cherish it, uphold it, and perpetuate it.
Over the years, it has been worthwhile for editors (of both lit mags and course anthologies) to pay more attention to presenting diverse voices. Imagine if editors' literary sensibilities had been frozen in a particular era or demographic, how much we would stand to lose as readers. Perhaps in the coming decades, when diverse voices are the norm throughout the literary world, editors won't have to be as self-conscious about this goal. And, of course, as the editors themselves become more diverse (this shift appears to be happening rapidly), there won't be as much overt emphasis on diversity, I suspect.
Rude rejections? I am relatively new to sending my work out and never even imagined such a possibility! That is awful.
I’ve had some form rejections, never a rude one. The rudest thing I’ve seen is ghosting and that has happened to me twice.
Hi, Angela St. James. Some editors are narcissists or addicted to substances and feel entitled to tell a writer any garbage ideas that come into their psychotic heads. One editor sent me a rejection note in the 1970s and told me that I must hate literature because I was working on a Ph.D. in English at the University of Chicago. I wrote this editor's college department chair and sent a Xeroxed copy of the rejection note. I explained that I was not looking for academic or career guidance from the editor, just a reaction to my manuscript. I have now published 7 books, so I think that the editor was not in touch with reality. Best wishes! Janet
Mark, I appreciate the ekphrastic session One Art hosted this week. While I wish we had spent more time writing, I had to acknowledge and be grateful for the safe space after the election. This weekend, some other literary communities I've been leaning into are running free poetry readings. i appreciate that, too.
Thanks for this, Barbara. It makes me feel good that you say workshop did truly feel like a safe space. We are really going to need more safe spaces... and I worry they will be harder to keep safe.
VERY worried about same....
Sorry I missed this. Covid and husband's pneumonia, still in the healing phase, has kept me offline. Sounds wonderful!
So sorry to hear about the illnesses, Carol. I hope to see you in a future ONE ART space.
I have seen a vast increase in the past couple of years across many journals I submit to, and/or have been published in, whose poet bios reflect one or more collections and awards. I never read a bio before I read the work, and frankly do not find a correlation between collections/awards and the impact of the work and my judgment of its quality. I am really wondering in these days and years to come whether I am increasingly eliminating myself from lit mag publication, which I enjoy, if I do not decide that I must spend time putting together a collection which, even if pubbed, will have minimal impact (being honest here about poetry sales). How we spend time in the days to come after January may be something very few of us are prepared for. It is in this context that I examine my priorities. I simply can't imagine that everything we take for granted will not be on shaky ground - or more.
If there's no correlation between quality and status in what a magazine publishes, isn't that consistent with them curating for quality rather than status?
Many editors say they don't really care about bios, and I choose to believe them because I'm an editor who doesn't really care about bios.
My hypothesis about the change you're seeing is that it's gotten cheaper/easier to put out collections, and more markets have turned to prizes for fundraising purposes.
Also, yes, far easier to publish books in the last two decades. Especially since POD (print on demand) and other factors have brought down costs.
Contests as fundraising can be problematic though, I'd argue, it depends on the specifics of the organization.
Doubling down on "no correlation between quality and status" in publication.
There's been plenty of data showing that awards and publications and residencies typically go to those with "cred" going way back... even aligning with having gone to an Ivy League for undergrad... potentially decades earlier... which of course has nothing to do with the real world hours put in to learning a skill (writing) and deserving accolades.
All very frustrating.
Thanks, David—re: your first comment, my thoughts were based on historical reading of published work in lit mags; it's more recently that I've seen a huge frequency of collections/awards in bios, so thought I'd ask. Your response helps! Much appreciated.
I find it so valuable when a literary mag editor not only likes my poems and invites more, but names one or two of my poems that almost made the cut. Beyond the overall encouragement, this feedback guides my submissions to other places.
I have one big gripe—almost all mags take too damn long to answer. One of my favorite places to publish routinely takes a year!
I experience the submissions-rejection cycle as impersonal and invalidating. My solution, at least for now, is to attend a regular local in-person reading which is followed by an open mic where I can read short pieces. The applause of the audience provides much needed validation which helps me keep going.
When I'm discouraged by too many rejections, I review my stash of encouraging comments from editors. A good comment from a mag that I respect can keep me going for a while.
Good comments go immediately into the Notes column in my submissions excel file. Not losing that!
I do something similar. I also keep stats on which of my poems and stories are getting the best response. It's somewhat predictive of future acceptances.
Hi Becky! You featured a wonderful personal essay recently and shared your satisfaction with the editorial process. If I’m remembering correctly, it was not a submission that Erik helped you with. Could you say something about your own tiered approach, perhaps with that essay or another, in terms of how you decide where to submit and how you navigate following rejections and future submissions? I’d find it very helpful and think others may too. Thanks.
Thanks Alberta. I'd be happy to talk about my process. For that piece, I actually submitted to the journal (BULL Magazine) after seeing it mentioned here in one of our monthly Lit Mag Brags! But I can certainly go into more detail sometime.
I had some dusty old stories hanging around while I worked on novels, which are really what I love to write. (I've only ever had one story accepted, at slow trains.com, but my second novel is coming out from twisted road, a small traditional publisher, in January. Yes, I''m bragging.)Then I was accepted in an excellent critique group and shared my stories one by one, got great feedback and revised accordingly, and began submitting to lit mags again. I have found that Duotrope, though it took a bit of figuring out, was just what I needed to keep my stories out there. No success so far, but I did get a very positive response from a prestigious magazine asking me to send more which I promptly did of course.
A literary magazine I submitted to earlier in the year advised in July that my piece had 'made the finals' and an outcome would be known three months out. This is a mag where I've come close with other submissions and the editor has been encouraging. In the past week, I've reached out on social media, through the mag's submission portal and direct email. Being ghosted by the editor is both uncharacteristic and very disappointing. Is this a trend or do I just have a sticker on my forehead which says 'sucker'?
I keep a list of places that have ghosted me. This is after reaching out to them three time and all I've heard was crickets. While I don't think it's a trend, I have to wonder if some lit mags have bitten off more than they could chew, for lack of better words.
It's rude and unprofessional. I get the 'small staff/volunteer/we have jobs thing, but christ on a stick, just keep a standard email rejection on hand or update your website to reflect that you are behind on submissions. It shouldn't be rocket science.
Hi, Rose. Does this litmag begin with an R? Guess why I'm asking...I had the exact same experience.
Yes, it does. What really pisses me off is that the editor has been cosying up to me over the past year, reaching out in private messages about how much my work resonates with them and how they wished they had more money to publish more work. I believed this, until now.
They have had this story of mine for 11 months. I do understand that life intervenes and if a journal has a small staff; however, getting people's hopes up and not meeting the expectations you, yourself, set and then not responding to polite inquiries from finalists is pretty weak, barring a personal disaster.
Yes, I get the whole small staff/life gets in the way syndrome, but there is no acceptable excuse for ghosting. It is both unprofessional and rude.
Very true. I would love for this story to be published and was understandably hopeful. Now, I'm not so much. It doesn't take much to send a 1-2 sentence update, even a form update.
Hi, Rose. Since we are both waiting on the folks at R, would you like to exchange the stories we wrote that are sitting in limbo? If you're up for it, I'll send you my email address. If not, no worries.
I might take a raincheck on that, Matthew, as I'm pitching the piece elsewhere.
Someone on the earlier thread here mentioned the Smokelong Summer program, and I looked into it and tried out their yearlong program for a month, then joined for a year. The other members tend to be very accomplished writers, many with MFAs and some who are lit mag editors. So it's an inspiring community for writing flash (fiction or CNF) that includes some instruction along with peer feedback. You can check it out at https://www.smokelong.com/smokelong-fitness-the-community-workshop/. I'm glad I did.
This sounds really cool--thanks for sharing!