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charlottecovey · 7 years ago

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Thirteen things to do (or not to do!) when submitting to literary journals

Hi! In the past few months, peers have been asking me questions about submitting to literary journals. This is something that I have been doing quite often (and that is putting it lightly) for the last several years. I finally managed to compile a nice little list of things I think are important to know about submitting. Feel free to message / email me with additional questions; I’m sure there’s something I’ve forgotten to cover!

1. READ ALL THE GUIDELINES. This is so important! I just had to make it first on the list. It’s especially important to pay attention to because, while a lot of journals have very similar guidelines, a lot of them have a few weird specific things that set them apart from the rest of the literary journals. For example, Barely South Review requires that you submit each poem separately. Western Humanities asks that the subject line of your submission (generally where the title of the piece goes) be your last name, first name, and then the genre of your work. Some journals only read blind, and ask that you not put any identifying information in the document you send them. Some journals will only read your submission if you have your name, mailing address, phone number, and email address listed at the top of every page. Basically, don’t give editors any reason to reject you as soon as they open your file; pay attention to the little things.

2. Get to know the market. This takes time. It’s taken me over three years to get fairly good at this. Read a sample of the journal if you can. A tip for cheapskates like me: if it’s a print journal that doesn’t feature any work online, find the table of contents of their most recent issue. Google a couple of the writers in that issue. Somewhere, they have all probably published SOMETHING online. Read some of their stuff. It’s not the best way to do things, but it should give you SOME idea of the aesthetic of a particular journal. Also, remember that most journals will take at least three months to get back you. Some only take a month or two, but others, like Painted Bride Quarterly, can take over a year. Keep that in mind as you send work out. Know what to expect. Remember to be patient.

3. Do not sell yourself short. Ask around. Talk to writers you know and respect. Don’t send your stuff to low-tier journals with obscenely high acceptance rates; you’re better than that! You’ll feel much more accomplished if a journal you respect takes your work than if a journal that takes almost everything does. Generally, I only submit to journals that have an acceptance rate of 5% or less. Duotrope is an excellent resource for this kind of information. It’s fifty dollars a year for a membership, but you get access to a lot of valuable information like acceptance rates, response times, and a really cool (and useful) submission tracker feature. However, if you can’t afford it, there is a poorman’s way of getting an idea of what tier a journal falls in. If you Google: “Duotrope Journal Title” (for example, “Duotrope Fifth Wednesday”), then you can see some of the information on a journal’s Duotrope page (the really good stuff is hidden unless you pay for an account). However, look at the left corner, by the title of the journal. See the little star with a number next to it? That’s how many users are tracking that particular journal’s listing. For context, at my last check, The Kenyon Review had 1,037 stars. Rat’s Ass Review had 36. My (rough) rule of thumb is that the higher number of stars correlates to a more successful, popular journal. This is not always the case, due to acceptance rates. Eunoia Review has 226 stars, but the acceptance rate is 25% (aka, too damn high). It’s not a perfect system, and I really do recommend getting a Duotrope account, but do your best. Ask around. Do some research. Poets & Writers is a good source, too. They have a literary magazines database that lists circulation numbers, aka, how many people are reading / subscribing. Very useful.

4. There are exceptions to the rule! Help your friends out. We are all trying to make it in the writing / publishing world. If your pals start a journal, and they ask you to send them something, do it! If you get a solicitation, that’s awesome! Do it! However, DON’T expect to get accepted to a journal just because you were solicited. And maybe don’t send your friend’s journal the poem that you’re sure is good enough for Tin House (unless, of course, your friend works at Tin House).

5. Always submit as much work as you can! This mostly pertains to poetry. If a journal asks for 3-5 poems, always send five! Your chances grow! This whole thing is just a numbers game, after all!

6. Keep careful records. Make an Excel sheet. Right now. Put in every piece you submit, and every journal each piece goes out to. I like to color code mine. Just make sure that YOU understand your chart. It is SO important to keep good records. Once you get an acceptance somewhere (and you will!), you need to be able to withdraw the piece from every other journal it is out at, and you’ll need to be able to do it in a timely manner. If you don’t, and ANOTHER journal ends up wanting to take the same piece, they’re going to feel super sour when you have to decline them, and you’re going to feel super salty, since this makes you look disorganized and unprofessional. Everybody makes mistakes, but try to avoid this one. You may think that you’ll never need to withdraw right away, since the idea of a piece getting accepted to TWO places is so foreign to you, but trust me, it does happen from time to time. Just keep good records and avoid the hassle.

7. Keep your cover letter simple. Please. If you’re trying to be funny in your cover letter, chances are you’re not funny. I have a cover letter that I copy and paste in every submission:

Dear Editors, The attached poems are for your consideration. They are unpublished. This is a simultaneous submission. Thank you for your time and effort. Charlotte Covey

See how simple! I also have a biographical statement that I paste below my cover letter, like so:

Dear Editors, The attached poems are for your consideration. They are unpublished. This is a simultaneous submission. Thank you for your time and effort. Charlotte Covey Biographical Note: Charlotte is from St. Mary's County, Maryland. Currently, she is an MFA candidate in Poetry at the University of Missouri - St. Louis. She has poetry published or forthcoming in journals such as The Normal School, Salamander Review, CALYX Journal, the minnesota review, and The Monarch Review, among others. In 2017, she was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She is co-editor-in-chief of Milk Journal and an assistant editor for Natural Bridge.

Nothing fancy! Don’t make either your cover letter or your biographical note too long. Keep it short and simple! Only list your five best publications, and that’s my personal maximum. I know some people like to list their entire bibliography, but there is a point when your note just looks a little braggy. If you don’t have any publications, that’s okay! Say if you’re in school! Mention if you’re involved with a journal or your local writing scene! Even though I do genuinely believe that mentioning previous publications makes a difference to some editors (just my own, personal theory), journals also like fresh talent! If a journal accepts your piece, and it’s your first publication, that’s awesome! Everyone starts somewhere.

8. Don’t give up! Rejections happen. Writing is subjective. I probably received over fifty rejections before I got my first acceptance. That’s normal! Acting, singing, writing-- any creative field comes with a lot of rejection, so self-confidence is extremely important. When you get rejected (yes, when, not if) make sure to add that information to your records (VERY important, or you might accidentally send a journal a piece they’ve already rejected; I’ve done this once or twice-- OOPS!), and then delete the rejection off your Submittable page. We don’t need that kind of negativity in our lives!

9. Remember, submitting work is essentially a numbers game. Not everybody is as crazy as I am (at last count, I am out at one hundred eleven journals. Woof!), but don’t expect a success story if you’re only out at four or five journals at a time. My mentor and favorite professor, John A. Nieves, always told me that a good rule of thumb is to always have each of your polished pieces out at five journals. Really, I don’t think it matters too much how many journals each piece is out at, as long as you can keep track of it all. I’m a bit of a wild one, and I’ve been known to have one poem out at over twenty places at once. This is perfectly fine, AS LONG AS you keep meticulous records and don’t mind withdrawing the piece from twenty individual journals if it gets accepted (I have this down to a science now. Just give me a laptop and twenty minutes).

10. Stop obsessing. That’s hilarious, coming from me, but listen: you are never going to think a piece is perfect. If it is clear and proofread and polished, send it out. You can always keep revising it and have the final form in your first book :) Just don’t let obsessing over a piece not being “perfect” keep you from sending it out. You’d be surprised how many first drafts of mine ended up finding homes in respectable journals. And even then, I keep revising them! But if your piece gets rejected constantly, it may be a sign that you should consider tweaking some things. Again, writing is subjective. There’s a market for your work somewhere out there.

11. DO NOT post your unpublished work on Facebook. Don’t post it on your Tumblr or on Hello Poetry. This essentially makes the piece useless, publication-wise. Almost every journal wants First North American Serial Rights. Basically, this means they want credit for being the first people to publish your piece. Unfortunately, posting your work ANYWHERE online essentially means it is “published,” since the public now has access to it. A journal isn’t going to want a piece that everyone has already seen! Which leads me to my next point:

12. DO NOT SELF-PUBLISH!!!! Self-publishing is the kiss of death. You miss out on TONS of first book contests and awards, and journals and presses WILL judge you. Basically, self-publishing makes people think that no one would publish your work, so you decided to do it yourself. I am begging you not to self-publish. It is THE KISS OF DEATH. If you keep getting rejected, revise. Workshop. But DO NOT SELF-PUBLISH. It’s expensive, and generally, no one will end up buying your book anyway, since there isn’t a press to advertise / promote you. If you want your friends and family to see your work, just show them the next time you hang out. But please don’t self-publish. It is an overall bad idea. Please. Just be patient. Keep working. You’ll get there.

13. Get involved! Networking is so important for writers. Go to readings when you can. Read your own work when you can. Go to AWP, if you can afford it. Learn about the publishing world. Immerse yourself in it. Understand that as much as we like to think it is, writing is definitely not a solitary endeavor :)

Happy submitting! <3

Love, Charlotte

#journals #journal submissions #publishing #poetry #fiction #writers #creative writing

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