16 Comments
Jul 28, 2022Liked by Becky Tuch

I've had a story "In Progress" since August of 2020. Either my story has been lost or the readers are slow and indifferent. So, in some cases "In Progress" means never. I've contacted the magazine through Submittable many times and no reply. Pank.

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Jul 28, 2022Liked by Becky Tuch

Thanks for the insight and useful advice about compulsive checking, not that I would engage in same.

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Jul 28, 2022Liked by Becky Tuch

Good information but my

Most irritating one has to be the one where they accepted my piece for publication and left it sitting in received status now for months! Lol

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Jul 29, 2022Liked by Becky Tuch

Thanks Nathaniel for this essay. I was wondering if you or anyone who has been “on the other side” of submittable can shed some light on how likely it is for a submission to be misplaced or forgotten using the system?

If a journal doesn’t state a timeframe of how long it may take for them to respond or when you should query the editor, is 6 months about right? Thanks

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In a comment on an earlier Lit Mag News post I complained about an ezine that does not do rejections. If you hear from them, it's an acceptance. The ezine uses Submittable. What I found frustrating was that I would upload a document and the status would never change. I assumed that "Received" meant "Unread." I am this minute years old in learning that the work uploaded could be thoroughly read -- and never change status. So, according to Nathaniel Tower in this essay, the ezine could have read the entire submission. That makes me feel slightly better toward the ezine. It doesn't make me feel any better about Submittable.

Submittable could easily explain what their terms mean. Why don't they? It's hard for me to share the respect Nathaniel Tower holds for them when, as a writer, I don't see much value in what they do. As far as I can see, Submittable mainly makes it easy for publications to charge fees. I suppose that's a valuable service for the lit mag. I don't have to love it. But I do wish Submittable would be more transparent. Users shouldn't have to look for third party explainers to figure out what's going on behind the curtain.

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Thanks for a great, informative article. I had pretty much figured as much, but didn't know for certain. I whole-heartedly agree with, "You'll know when you know," and have adopted this sentiment long ago. Unlike those always looking for the easiest way, I still keep a hard copy to track my submissions in addition to Submittable. One reason is that it takes care of the publications made through another venue like Moksha or a personalized source. The main reason I wanted to comment is that when I log in to Submittable and check on the submissions page, it is usually to make sure I haven't already submitted to a particular publisher. By keeping a hard copy, I ensure that my motives for taking some kind of action are to progress in my career and not to sit around waiting for something to happen. I use the Discovery portion of Submittable as much, or more, than the My Submissions section. Regarding not wanting to submit a piece to a publisher to whom I've already submitted that piece, it's one thing to have those negative feelings that a publisher might be getting sick and tired of seeing my name on a submission but it would be an even greater affront to see that I've submitted a piece that's already been rejected.

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I just got into checking my status on Submittable never was into it and there I am keeping a link open and checking it numerous times a day. I confess to experiencing an uplifting from my In Progress icons! This is valuable info. Becky will not lead us astray, neither permit us any idle revelry.

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This is by far the best article that I've read from your newsletter.

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Jul 30, 2022Liked by Becky Tuch

Such a good piece. It made me laugh. There really is no point obsessing about submissions and exactly where they're at.

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Jul 29, 2022Liked by Becky Tuch

You nailed it. Que sera sera.

We need more of the view from the receivers/publishers side of the submissions divide.

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The "Final Word" section of this post was brilliant & helpful!

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deletedJul 29, 2022Liked by Becky Tuch
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