The Writer 11.2019

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