Thanks! I didn't know about Submittable Discover tab, and your list of publications is very useful. But more than these even, it's your encouragement. There are months I simply give up and don't submit anything. Knowing that it took an author like yourself a decade to get published in Ploughshares, makes me think I should retry.... Thanks, as always....
Excellent post, Christine! I agree with your advice to only submit to journals you really want to be published in. I'm not a fan of the trend of purposely aiming to garner 100 rejections, flooding submission queues everywhere, taking a sort of "numbers game" approach. So much wisdom here. Thank you!
Thank you, Kathy, for reading, and for your kind comment! The 100 rejections goal always fills me with me exhaustion when I see it mentioned. The best way I've found to deal with rejection is to keep reading & writing (& being judicious about where you send your work rather than carpet-bombing). If a rejection comes in, I look for a journal I really do hope will accept my work and send it out again within the next day or so. Having work at 3 - 5 places at a time is a more reasonable way to go about things than sending something out to 20 or 30 or more journals (if a person can even afford that many submission fees.)
Longtime lit journal editor here. Love this whole post, but especially the advice for writers to only submit where they want to publish. In my decades editing for journals, it’s happened a few times that a writer has submitted, been accepted for publication, then withdrew because they “had a better offer” or “decided to try somewhere else.” I have a very long memory for these moments, and I have not let those writers waste my time again, even when I’ve moved on to other journals.
Thank you so much, Lacey, for your kind words! And if I were in your shoes in these situations, I would certainly remember these writers too. Impatience to publish is certainly a hazard of the profession, but gah...
Thanks, Christine! Very helpful. I wanted to put in an additional plug for ChillSubs because I love their humanity. Their "vibe" category is good for a smile if nothing else (but actually, it's good for much else).
Thanks! I didn't know about Submittable Discover tab, and your list of publications is very useful. But more than these even, it's your encouragement. There are months I simply give up and don't submit anything. Knowing that it took an author like yourself a decade to get published in Ploughshares, makes me think I should retry.... Thanks, as always....
We really are all in this together - it's rare that a writer has more good luck than not-so-good luck. Perseverance and forbearance, always!
Excellent post, Christine! I agree with your advice to only submit to journals you really want to be published in. I'm not a fan of the trend of purposely aiming to garner 100 rejections, flooding submission queues everywhere, taking a sort of "numbers game" approach. So much wisdom here. Thank you!
Thank you, Kathy, for reading, and for your kind comment! The 100 rejections goal always fills me with me exhaustion when I see it mentioned. The best way I've found to deal with rejection is to keep reading & writing (& being judicious about where you send your work rather than carpet-bombing). If a rejection comes in, I look for a journal I really do hope will accept my work and send it out again within the next day or so. Having work at 3 - 5 places at a time is a more reasonable way to go about things than sending something out to 20 or 30 or more journals (if a person can even afford that many submission fees.)
Agreed. And also the unnecessary burden it puts on litmag first readers, lengthening response times, etc.
Yep - who mostly do this work for free!
Longtime lit journal editor here. Love this whole post, but especially the advice for writers to only submit where they want to publish. In my decades editing for journals, it’s happened a few times that a writer has submitted, been accepted for publication, then withdrew because they “had a better offer” or “decided to try somewhere else.” I have a very long memory for these moments, and I have not let those writers waste my time again, even when I’ve moved on to other journals.
Thank you so much, Lacey, for your kind words! And if I were in your shoes in these situations, I would certainly remember these writers too. Impatience to publish is certainly a hazard of the profession, but gah...
Thanks, Christine! Very helpful. I wanted to put in an additional plug for ChillSubs because I love their humanity. Their "vibe" category is good for a smile if nothing else (but actually, it's good for much else).
It's a well curated and designed site - I'm so glad a student introduced me to it earlier this year!