34 | The Writer • November 2019
For the short term, Submittable
will remain indispensable. For the
long term – well, it’s just another one
of the unknowns in the literary maga-
zine world.
4
SEEKING THE VOICES
OF THE FUTURE:
DIVERSITY IN PAGES
AND ON MASTHEADS
White men (usually
straight and cis) dominated the pages
of literary journals for decades.
That finally has begun to change.
Every editor surveyed for this article
said they seek submissions from a
more inclusive group.
“We actively court diverse voices
through solicitation. I’m reaching out
to writers I admire and making sure
each issue that comes out is diverse so
it becomes known that’s what we’re
looking for,” says Beth Staples, editor
of Shenandoah at Washington and
Lee University.
She says this open door is critical
to increasing submissions from
underrepresented voices. Another
journal she worked at, she says, was
known for “white guy in a rowboat”
stories, but through consistent broad-
ening of its author list, that image
changed: “It’s hard to break, but even-
tually other people felt more comfort-
able submitting.”Barrelhouse began, admittedly with
a masthead of “four middle-aged,
white, straight guys,” says Dave Hous-
ley, conference organizer for the maga-
zine. “It took a while to push past the
perception that we’re just a bunch of
dudes.” That only happened after the
magazine began consciously reaching
out to non-white, non-male, non-
straight writers.
It’s not just publishing these
authors, though. Adding people of
color and LGBTQ editors as well as
editors with disabilities is the only way
to ensure a lasting diversification of
voices, Housley believes. “It matters
what your masthead looks like,” he
says. “The best thing we’ve done is toFIVE THINGS LITERARY MAGAZINE EDITORS
WANT YOU TO KNOW
1
Many of them are
volunteers. “I
don’t think folks
realize that a lot of
the time literary
magazine staff –
unless they have
some serious
backing from a
wealthy funder or
from a corporation
(like Medium) or a
university – may
be working for
FREE (or very low
costs) because we
believe in the mis-
sion and others’
work and giving
visibility,” says Jen-
nifer Baker, a con-
tributing editor at
Electric Literature.2
You can submit
speculative
fiction even at
journals that
haven’t
traditionally
published the
genre. “We have
received and
published more
literary science
fiction, fantasy,
fabulism, and so
on over the past
few years, and we
anticipate this
trend continuing,”
says Shashi Bhat,
editor of EVENT.3
They don’t want
to make edits...
though they will.
“We have some
pieces that are
almost ready to
publish when they
come in, and we
limit the amount
of pieces we do
intense work to a
few per issue,”
says Alexandra
Watson, executive
editor of Apogee
Journal. “We do
work closely with
writers, we use
‘suggested edits’
in Google Docs,
and we’ve had
good experiences
working closely.”4
Some pay
through Venmo
or PayPal – but
they’ll give you a
paper check if
you want one.
“Sometimes we
hear from writers,
‘Oh, this is the
first story I’ve
been paid for. Can
I have a paper
check? I kind of
want to keep it.’ I
love it when that
happens,” says
Bodega editor-in-
chief Cat
Richardson.5
A rejection
doesn’t mean
you’re a bad
writer. “If I’m not
interested in this,
don’t take it per-
sonally,” says Beth
Staples, editor of
Shenandoah. “I
liken it to dating.
If I don’t fall in
love with you, it’s
not because
there’s something
wrong with you.
We’re just not a
right match.”