The_Writer_11_2019

(Ron) #1
writermag.com • The Writer | 33

THINKING OF


SUBMITTING?
Heed these
four tips from
literary
magazine
editors

“Read the type of work you
want to submit and ask your-
self what gets you excited
about reading it. Apply that to
your own work.”
—BETH STAPLES, SHENANDOAH

“If you’re responding to a
specific current political real-
ity, think about something
that has been overlooked and
has urgency.”
—ALEXANDRA WATSON,
APOGEE JOURNAL

“If you’re out there submit-
ting and don’t hear back,
please understand it is being
read – read carefully by peo-
ple who love to do it. We
want to respect your piece,
but it might take time.”
—CARRIE MUEHLE,
TRIQUARTERLY

“[We look for] honest work
that feels as if it has far more
purpose than a writer want-
ing to write a story.”
—TARA LASKOWSKI,
SMOKELONG QUARTERLY
submission fee debate” on page 35), and
Submittable limits unpaid submissions,
which it doesn’t earn anything for.
Yet walking away from Submittable
is a double-edged sword. While maga-
zines could save money, they also lose
the orderliness and ease of the submis-
sion process, which would demand
more time from editors – who are
often volunteers.
Editors frequently discuss the issue at
conferences, throwing out alternatives


and new ideas. Some magazines have
experimented with submission software
that works only on their site and find it
less user-friendly for both writers and
editors. Nothing has emerged to take
Submittable’s place.
“They’ve made a wonderful prod-
uct,” one editor says. “Many of the
things it lets us do, we could never do
by email. We’re lucky enough to be able
to afford those services, but most mag-
azines can’t.”

ON THE UP AND UP:
Submission numbers
at a glance

Why have submission num-
bers risen? Editors say it’s a
mix of many things. Submit-
table, certainly, has been a
big factor – it’s easier to sub-
mit through a digital man-
ager than via snail or even
email. Longer open submis-
sion periods, more outreach
to writers through confer-
ences and social media, and,
yes, frustrations with the
current presidential adminis-
tration that manifest in cre-
ative output have all
increased submissions.
Several editors say the
number of publications
objecting to simultaneous
submissions has also
decreased, so writers can
send the same stories to
multiple magazines. (Side-
note: One editor whose
magazine accepts simulta-
neous submissions said she
saw a story she’d recently
rejected published in
another literary magazine.
The author apparently didn’t

read the simultaneous sub-
mission policy. The story
was identical, except in the
published story, a character
was a skunk; the one sub-
mitted to the editor, it was a
raccoon. Writers sure are
creative.)
How much have submis-
sions risen? A few maga-
zines shared their numbers:

SmokeLong Quarterly
2016: 60-75 submissions
per week
2019: 100 submissions
per week

Tahoma Literary Review
2014 (first year):
4 submissions per day
Most recent 12-week
reading period:
13 submissions per day

Kenyon Review
2016-’17 six-week reading
period: Just over 6,000
2018-’19 six-week reading
period: 7,200
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