Why Become a Lit Mag Submissions Reader?
How reading submissions can improve your craft and grow your community
Welcome to our weekly column offering perspectives on lit mag publishing, with contributions from readers, writers and editors everywhere.
Literary journals aren’t just venues for getting your work out there and seeing the latest work by established and emerging writers; they’re also vibrant communities of people passionate about the literary arts, and serving as a reader—someone who reads submissions—is a fantastic way to be part of that community. And if you’re developing as a writer, being a reader offers three kinds of excellent learning opportunities.
Learn From Fellow Writers
As a first reader (the first to take on items from the pool of submissions, aka the slush pile), you’ll probably see a number of manuscripts that still need work, and although that can frankly be a drag, it can be valuable training in a manner akin to a perspective Bill Aulet shares in Disciplined Entrepreneurship:
…you will learn a lot from playing against someone slightly better than you. If you start by playing against a top professional, you will learn only that the professional is very good at the sport—you might as well be watching from the sidelines.
While writing isn’t a competitive game, it can be particularly illuminating to see the shortcomings and strengths of a writer at a similar stage of development. Their missteps and aspirations can be more relatable than the achievements of masters and thus more amenable to critique. This can help you cultivate the ability to identify and articulate why a piece is or isn’t suitable for publication, and as you hone this literary discernment, your own writing will benefit from it. That can be transformative, because as George Saunders says in A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, “The difference between a great writer and a good one (or a good one and a bad one) is in the quality of the instantaneous decision she makes as she works.”
Learn From Fellow Readers
Some literary magazines have various ways for readers to interact with each other, such as team reads, Slack channels and even workshops. Team reads involve a small group of readers who each consider the same story individually then share their comments, sort of like a shrunken down version of a book club or writing workshop. By considering points made by fellow readers, each team member has opportunities to see the story from different perspectives, as well as debate its perceived merits and shortcomings. This can also be of benefit to developing writers by bringing them into contact with perspectives they can then apply to their own writing.
Learn From Editors
Though the amount of interaction between readers and editors varies from journal to journal, there are often at least a couple ways to gain insight on how editors evaluate stories. One of my favorites has been to look at the notes on a submission from an editor. Whether a piece is accepted or declined, editors should leave notes regarding their decision, and these notes can reveal something crucial about the piece. Messages from editors to readers or the entire journal team can also provide insight on what editors pay particular attention to in submissions.
Suggested Next Steps
If you’re keen to read submissions, it can be helpful to first determine the kind of literary magazine you think you’re a good fit for before you look at calls for readers.
If no lit mags of interest are recruiting readers, you can hone your literary discernment by reading published stories (or the work of fellow writers) as if they were submissions you’ve been asked to vet. Resist the temptation to decide, “Of course I’d accept this! It’s been published and must be worth sharing with a wide audience.” Literary work gets published or rejected for all kinds of reasons. What’s important in this exercise is to articulate your own reasons; for example, you find that a story’s voice is engaging, but there’s a real lack of description, so this story wouldn’t fit the aesthetic of the kind of journal you’d like to be a reader for (perhaps a journal that offers its readers immersive settings and rich character development).
If you’re interested in serving as a reader in order to hone your literary sensibilities, look at what literary journals offer their readers in terms of community interaction. If a reader application doesn’t provide any information about that, reach out to the editors for details.
To find out about calls for readers, follow lit mags on Twitter, like their pages on Facebook, subscribe to their newsletters, and/or if there is a magazine you really love, contact them and see if opportunities like this exist.
 | A guest post by
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I was a reader for a well-established literary journal for a couple of years. No matter how good or poor the piece (and there were many of the latter), I felt obligated to thoroughly read and evaluate each submission as I would hope a reader would do for my work. Everything was done online, so there was little interaction between the readers and no real sense of shared purpose. While it did offer me some understanding of the editorial/submission process, it was time-consuming and draining, to my mind, wasn't worth the time and effort required.
I'm a reader at a lit mag accepting long form and flash fiction and have read for another that accepted only flash.
At one venue, readers grade assigned pieces and summarize what works or doesn't work. Writing summaries is tough, but it's invaluable to my understanding of what I (and other readers) like and don't like. How attention-grabbing is an opening line? Do I stay immersed in the story or edit as I read? Do my eyes glaze over? Am I offended?
At the flash-only venue, I simply filled out a form for each story, entering scores for overall effectiveness, plot, structure, pace, dialogue, imagery, etc., which gave me insights to the components of my work.
For the first venue, we're also a community on Slack. For the second, I never knew if I was a story's first or fifth or penultimate reader, and I didn't have access to anyone else's scores or comments. I never knew if anyone read my comments or found them helpful. At both venues, I learn from the practice of explaining my scores.
Yes, working as a reader as considerate as Belinda is time-consuming and too often draining. An online community connecting over Slack can't replace in-person table talk. The commitment needed isn't for everyone, for any number of sound reasons. And it's volunteer work for most. But luckily, fitting the commitment into my life rewards my efforts. It's my chance to repay the time and consideration given to my submissions, and believe me, some of my babies have been time and consideration wasters! Yikes!
If you're in a place to read, I encourage you to do so—at a venue you value and can feel valued.