"The Submittable Minds." A Chat with Sumitra Singam, Nina Miller, Sally Reiser and Grant Shimmin, submission readers

"Make it be your own."

Ahoy, friends! I come with news of a brand new interview, freshly wrapped.

Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Sumitra Singam, Nina Miller, Sally Reiser and Grant Shimmin. They joined from various corners of the globe to tell us about their experiences as “slush pile” readers for different magazines. Collectively, they’ve read or are currently reading for Five Minute Lit, Fractured Lit, Does it Have Pockets, Longleaf Review and WestWord.

In our conversation, we talked about the different editorial approaches at these magazines. Some editors include readers in their decision-making process while at other magazines the readers are not part of the final decision at all. Some readers are given a kind of overview of what the journal seeks in submissions, while at some magazines this is not done.

One topic that I found particularly interesting was the sense of responsibility these readers feel. Indeed, at many magazines, these readers are the first “gate” that a writer will encounter. How does it feel to be in that position? What has serving in this role taught them about their own writing and submissions process? What are some common reasons a piece will be quickly declined?

Also, how important are cover letters? Do readers actually read them? And to whom should we address our cover letters when the editors on a magazine’s masthead are not the first set of eyes on our work?

In addition to all of this, what should we know about what these particular magazines look for? What words of inspiration or advice do they have for writers eager to break in and/or land a particularly hard-to-place work?

So many questions, all with illuminating answers. To peer into “the black box” that is submitting to lit mags, be sure to watch!

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To everyone who came out to participate today, thank you for tuning in! Your faces are the bright beautiful sky in my cloudy post-rain city day!

And, of course, huge thank you to Sumitra, Nina, Sally and Grant for taking the time to peel back the curtain of several lovely little lit mags.

Happy viewing!