Thank you for this article--there's so much distance and dehumanizing when submitting work through the computer (into the "void") it can be hard to remember real people read those submissions--and those people aren't out to get us :)
Loved this post. I picked up on the extremely high subjectivity factor (also totally beyond the writer's/poet's control) early on in the submission game. It helped me be much more philosophical about rejections. I always adhere to the writer's guidelines and am actually glad they are there, because it gives me a better chance of being accepted, since I'm good at following guidelines and constraints. Beyond the basics of competent writing, tastes are SO EXTREMELY subjective that my jaw drops regularly when reading what a publication picked to publish or to win prizes. If I have this reaction, I don't submit there again, as my tastes and theirs are so different that they definitely won't pick what I write.
Yes, it's all subjective - - it has nothing to do with the content and everything to do with the editors' acquired taste (along with publishing writing from their circle of friends).
Good point. I started submitting with the naive assumption that striving for excellence in writing and having really interesting and creative content, rich with symbolism and metaphor yet accessible, would result in frequent publication. I was soon disavowed of that notion, but I wonder if there might be a change on the horizon. Surely everyone must tire of reading about endless dysfunction sooner or later....
Excellence in writing + creative content = a winner's circle piece. But think of it this way, Charmaine: the consumer who's satisfied with a McDonald's burger is not the same person who's seeking a Michelin starred restaurant. Both are hungry - - but what satisfies one person is not suited to the other's taste. Your ms may have been a Rolls Royce - passed up by a Jeep-ownership editorial team. (smile) Yes, surely some editors must be getting tired of "trendy" subjects such as dysfunction & dysphoria. I sure am.
I've been a volunteer reader, I'm an editor, and I am a writer who regularly sends submissions to journals. Places like Submittable, Duotrope, ChillSubs etc will give you a pretty clear indication of your chances of acceptance for that journal, which helps give you perspective. If I like a mag, I may try several times before accepting that my writing and their reading are not a good match. But if your first submission is to, say, The Paris Review, that's a kind of masochism I think. ;-)
I'm not a fan of lengthy rejection emails to soften the blow. It doesn't, especially if no feedback is provided. Just cut to the chase is my preference.
Finally, as an editor, I ask that you respect the places where you submit. So many submissions I receive have obviously never been through a spelling or grammar check or the writer clearly doesn’t know that their computer will tell them at the bottom of the page how many words they’ve written. Mind you, these are also usually the ones that have entirely ignored all the other guidelines, despite ticking a box that says they have read them and understand them. I save my best withering responses for these occasions, including the person who recently submitted a piece on how to skin a human being. Seriously.
I have been a volunteer reader for Five Minute Lit and I loved the experience. It taught me a lot about what makes that mag's specific form (five minutes of your life told in just 100 words) shine in glory when it really works. I also realized how important it is to be able to articulate WHY I liked or didn't like a story, because Susanna Baird, the editor, shares some of the readers' comments with the writer -- and whether you're rejected or accepted, that feedback is gold. I highly recommend the experience.
This is a great article. I read submissions and edit a literary magazine that is much less competitive than even the least competitive of international journals. It's local (limited to Central New Jersey), an annual, not well known, though I've been considering prose for publication since 1988. We do not have to reject good work. We don't get enough submissions to have to pass on what is otherwise publishable. The competition for most magazines is to be taken into consideration when you get that rejection. Also, we get a lot of submissions that are just not publishable, not because they don't follow the guidelines--at Kelsey Review we'll wave those if the writing is good (we get so little good writing). Maybe it's the lack of concrete detail, maybe it's a need for polish of the prose, or maybe it's a poorly constructed story that gets a piece rejected without much discussion between the editors. I got an acceptance from a much more competitive magazine after 22 rejections, not one of them with a personal note (which usually indicates that a story is publishable, just not by the editor who wrote the note!). It took me eight years and a few revisions even after that first submission, heck, even after acceptance, to find editors--that's another thing; a story usually has to impress more than one editor--who liked the story enough to want to publish it. So if you're going to send to competitive magazines, you've got a lot of competition. But it's a lot easier to place a story or poem if the magazine you're sending it to does not get hundreds of submissions.
Thank you. That is truly heartening article. I have just started submitting and I'm nervous. I like what I wrote. I landed a great publisher. But journal submissions scare me. I'm nervous if I submit and they think it's bad they'll never want to read something of mine again. This article opened my eyes. I realize I worry much harder on these fears than they do. Thank you.
Thank you for the kind words. I appreciate your feedback and actually thought you meant something else when I first read it so I'm sorry for misinterpreting. I'm being published by Pegasus in Oxford uk. They have been great and I'm very nervous. I hope people like it. Have you been through this process before? Please share any words of wisdom 🙂
Submittable often posts these opps for slush readers. Most lit mags are short-handed - - except for zines produced on a campus as part of a college course and/or linked to an MFA program.
Thanks from me, too. The point about subjectivity and a submission being read by the right reader at the right time is a particularly good one. But with regard to cover letters, I wonder how much credentials and prior credits influence how closely or completely a slush pile submit is read? (My own guess is that it varies with the litmag, timing and the submission window, and, even at the same litmag, whether its a regular submission or a higher fee, and sometimes blind, contest entry).
lots of great information in your volunteering as a slush reader article - thanks so much for sharing. it is a comfort to know not to suffer publication rejections but instead read them and move on -
This insight is really helpful. I've heard some of it before (like following the Submission guidelines), but I'm glad to know some of my worries about submitting work are unrealized (the blacklist fear). Thanks!
Jillian, thanks so much for sharing this thoughtful, insightful piece. My own experience as an editor and slush pile reader has taught me the same lessons.
This is incredibly insightful and encouraging. I also thoroughly enjoy that you completely relate to our insecurities as writers. And talk about subjective. What happened to being objective?!
Great article! As a Canadian, the word slush doesn't bother me at all. There are different kinds of slush of course, and I think of the pie dough textured slush that makes a great noise as you walk. It's fun and friendly, and one day might be pie. Not the sloppy grey wet stuff that gets in your boots somehow.
What I have learned as a reader about my own work is even more valuable than what I learned about rejections. [Redacted] Magazine has promoted me to Assistant Editor, because I get through my slush pile relatively quickly. I look for poems that, however well written, transcend the merely personal and say something that we all can understand, relate to, feel is true to life—and I rarely find them. The ones I reject, from the truly awful to the competently written but inert ones, make me examine my own work for the flaws I see in others. I look at my poem and ask myself, "Would I reject this if it were in my slush pile?" And don't think all slush readers are undergrads or graduate students in some MFA program; I have a lifetime of experience with language to draw upon. I wish I could respond in detail to every poet who submits, but that's not my job and there's no time. My job is to filter the majority of subpar submissions and pass the best on to the poetry editor. You may want to kill the messenger, but the message is look at your submission again and try to make it better. You all are my big family, keep writing.
I wanted to see what happens on the other side of Submittable when you click SUBMIT. So I volunteered to be a reader at a literary magazine. My own choices to give a piece a thumbs up or down were so influenced by the kind of day I was having, how many submissions I had to get through, how long until dinner time.
So, yeah. So much depends on things other than the quality of the work.
And I haven't submitted anything since volunteering. 🤷♀️
Thank you for this article--there's so much distance and dehumanizing when submitting work through the computer (into the "void") it can be hard to remember real people read those submissions--and those people aren't out to get us :)
Loved this post. I picked up on the extremely high subjectivity factor (also totally beyond the writer's/poet's control) early on in the submission game. It helped me be much more philosophical about rejections. I always adhere to the writer's guidelines and am actually glad they are there, because it gives me a better chance of being accepted, since I'm good at following guidelines and constraints. Beyond the basics of competent writing, tastes are SO EXTREMELY subjective that my jaw drops regularly when reading what a publication picked to publish or to win prizes. If I have this reaction, I don't submit there again, as my tastes and theirs are so different that they definitely won't pick what I write.
Yes, it's all subjective - - it has nothing to do with the content and everything to do with the editors' acquired taste (along with publishing writing from their circle of friends).
Good point. I started submitting with the naive assumption that striving for excellence in writing and having really interesting and creative content, rich with symbolism and metaphor yet accessible, would result in frequent publication. I was soon disavowed of that notion, but I wonder if there might be a change on the horizon. Surely everyone must tire of reading about endless dysfunction sooner or later....
Excellence in writing + creative content = a winner's circle piece. But think of it this way, Charmaine: the consumer who's satisfied with a McDonald's burger is not the same person who's seeking a Michelin starred restaurant. Both are hungry - - but what satisfies one person is not suited to the other's taste. Your ms may have been a Rolls Royce - passed up by a Jeep-ownership editorial team. (smile) Yes, surely some editors must be getting tired of "trendy" subjects such as dysfunction & dysphoria. I sure am.
I've been a volunteer reader, I'm an editor, and I am a writer who regularly sends submissions to journals. Places like Submittable, Duotrope, ChillSubs etc will give you a pretty clear indication of your chances of acceptance for that journal, which helps give you perspective. If I like a mag, I may try several times before accepting that my writing and their reading are not a good match. But if your first submission is to, say, The Paris Review, that's a kind of masochism I think. ;-)
I'm not a fan of lengthy rejection emails to soften the blow. It doesn't, especially if no feedback is provided. Just cut to the chase is my preference.
Finally, as an editor, I ask that you respect the places where you submit. So many submissions I receive have obviously never been through a spelling or grammar check or the writer clearly doesn’t know that their computer will tell them at the bottom of the page how many words they’ve written. Mind you, these are also usually the ones that have entirely ignored all the other guidelines, despite ticking a box that says they have read them and understand them. I save my best withering responses for these occasions, including the person who recently submitted a piece on how to skin a human being. Seriously.
I have been a volunteer reader for Five Minute Lit and I loved the experience. It taught me a lot about what makes that mag's specific form (five minutes of your life told in just 100 words) shine in glory when it really works. I also realized how important it is to be able to articulate WHY I liked or didn't like a story, because Susanna Baird, the editor, shares some of the readers' comments with the writer -- and whether you're rejected or accepted, that feedback is gold. I highly recommend the experience.
This is a great article. I read submissions and edit a literary magazine that is much less competitive than even the least competitive of international journals. It's local (limited to Central New Jersey), an annual, not well known, though I've been considering prose for publication since 1988. We do not have to reject good work. We don't get enough submissions to have to pass on what is otherwise publishable. The competition for most magazines is to be taken into consideration when you get that rejection. Also, we get a lot of submissions that are just not publishable, not because they don't follow the guidelines--at Kelsey Review we'll wave those if the writing is good (we get so little good writing). Maybe it's the lack of concrete detail, maybe it's a need for polish of the prose, or maybe it's a poorly constructed story that gets a piece rejected without much discussion between the editors. I got an acceptance from a much more competitive magazine after 22 rejections, not one of them with a personal note (which usually indicates that a story is publishable, just not by the editor who wrote the note!). It took me eight years and a few revisions even after that first submission, heck, even after acceptance, to find editors--that's another thing; a story usually has to impress more than one editor--who liked the story enough to want to publish it. So if you're going to send to competitive magazines, you've got a lot of competition. But it's a lot easier to place a story or poem if the magazine you're sending it to does not get hundreds of submissions.
Thank you. That is truly heartening article. I have just started submitting and I'm nervous. I like what I wrote. I landed a great publisher. But journal submissions scare me. I'm nervous if I submit and they think it's bad they'll never want to read something of mine again. This article opened my eyes. I realize I worry much harder on these fears than they do. Thank you.
Please know that lit mag editors are unarmed, Sara. No one has ever reported a hail of bullets attached to a rejection note.
And who is the "great publisher," please? We are waiting to shake the tambourines! :-)
Thank you for the kind words. I appreciate your feedback and actually thought you meant something else when I first read it so I'm sorry for misinterpreting. I'm being published by Pegasus in Oxford uk. They have been great and I'm very nervous. I hope people like it. Have you been through this process before? Please share any words of wisdom 🙂
Yes, I have had several poetry books published.
Two being released in 2024 are "Apprenticed to the Night"
https://www.amazon.com/Apprenticed-Night-Lindaann-Loschiavo/dp/1915025788/ref=sr_1_1 and "Always Haunted" https://wild-ink-publishing.com/lindaann-loschiavo/
Sara, I must be honest - - I NEVER worry about rejections. Just keep writing and stay on the good side of your Muse. Best of luck to you!
Thank you! I will definitely get your books and look forward to reading them. And thanks for the advice. You've inspired me.
Thank you, Sara. And much appreciation for your interest in my poetry books, too! :-)
Thank you, Jillian, for your encouraging, behind the scenes view — from one in the slush pile trenches.
I would like to volunteer to be such a reader and would welcome a discussion (or forum) on the topic of how to become a reader for literary magazines.
Thank you again for taking the time to pull back the curtain.
Submittable often posts these opps for slush readers. Most lit mags are short-handed - - except for zines produced on a campus as part of a college course and/or linked to an MFA program.
Thank you, LindaAnn! I will check out your suggestion!
Leslie, you're welcome! These under-staffed indie zines will be very glad to hear from you.
Becky's weekly Substack often lists volunteer opportunities & journals looking for readers.
100% agree!
Thanks from me, too. The point about subjectivity and a submission being read by the right reader at the right time is a particularly good one. But with regard to cover letters, I wonder how much credentials and prior credits influence how closely or completely a slush pile submit is read? (My own guess is that it varies with the litmag, timing and the submission window, and, even at the same litmag, whether its a regular submission or a higher fee, and sometimes blind, contest entry).
lots of great information in your volunteering as a slush reader article - thanks so much for sharing. it is a comfort to know not to suffer publication rejections but instead read them and move on -
This insight is really helpful. I've heard some of it before (like following the Submission guidelines), but I'm glad to know some of my worries about submitting work are unrealized (the blacklist fear). Thanks!
Jillian, thanks so much for sharing this thoughtful, insightful piece. My own experience as an editor and slush pile reader has taught me the same lessons.
This is incredibly insightful and encouraging. I also thoroughly enjoy that you completely relate to our insecurities as writers. And talk about subjective. What happened to being objective?!
Great article! As a Canadian, the word slush doesn't bother me at all. There are different kinds of slush of course, and I think of the pie dough textured slush that makes a great noise as you walk. It's fun and friendly, and one day might be pie. Not the sloppy grey wet stuff that gets in your boots somehow.
What I have learned as a reader about my own work is even more valuable than what I learned about rejections. [Redacted] Magazine has promoted me to Assistant Editor, because I get through my slush pile relatively quickly. I look for poems that, however well written, transcend the merely personal and say something that we all can understand, relate to, feel is true to life—and I rarely find them. The ones I reject, from the truly awful to the competently written but inert ones, make me examine my own work for the flaws I see in others. I look at my poem and ask myself, "Would I reject this if it were in my slush pile?" And don't think all slush readers are undergrads or graduate students in some MFA program; I have a lifetime of experience with language to draw upon. I wish I could respond in detail to every poet who submits, but that's not my job and there's no time. My job is to filter the majority of subpar submissions and pass the best on to the poetry editor. You may want to kill the messenger, but the message is look at your submission again and try to make it better. You all are my big family, keep writing.
I wanted to see what happens on the other side of Submittable when you click SUBMIT. So I volunteered to be a reader at a literary magazine. My own choices to give a piece a thumbs up or down were so influenced by the kind of day I was having, how many submissions I had to get through, how long until dinner time.
So, yeah. So much depends on things other than the quality of the work.
And I haven't submitted anything since volunteering. 🤷♀️