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Dana Peleg's avatar

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....

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Kathy Fish's avatar

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!

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Jun 18, 2024Edited
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Kathy Fish's avatar

Agreed. And also the unnecessary burden it puts on litmag first readers, lengthening response times, etc.

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Lacey N. Dunham's avatar

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 β€œhad a better offer” or β€œdecided 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.

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Eliza F.'s avatar

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).

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