Toward the end of August, writers wait at their keyboards in anticipation of that best of seasons: fall submission period. Many, many mags open up for submissions during the month of September, especially those connected to universities. And we’re no exception: for several years, our submission period has run from September 1 into the spring. Over time, we’ve had to move the end date up, as our numbers increased, in order to stay ahead of the deluge. Last year, for example, our submission period lasted from September 1 through January 1.
And we need to make changes once again! We’re altering some elements of our decision-making process behind the scenes, including more editors in the discussions, so we can’t handle the large numbers of submissions we used to. Also, we regret how long it’s been taking us to respond to submissions lately, in some cases a year or more. We want to change that. As we’ve mentioned in the past, we’re a small staff who does a lot, but we’ve reached our limits!
So, mark your calendars: starting now, we will have three submission periods, in September, December, and May. During each of those months, the submission-manager categories for print-magazine submissions in fiction, literary nonfiction, and poetry will be available. However, we will also have a cap for each submission period, so submit early! We may end up closing before the end of the month, to control numbers, for the reasons mentioned above—perhaps even long before.
If we discover that we’re able to handle a few more submissions, we might have bonus open periods, which would open on the first of the month as well. Visit this site and our social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) to stay informed.
(FYI, miCRo submissions will continue to be open throughout the year, excluding during our contest submission period. If we experience a backlog in that category as well, though, we may temporarily close.)
Also, if you submitted from September 1 2020–January 1, 2021 and haven’t yet heard back, check your account in our submission manager. If it still says “received,” we do still have your work under consideration, and we hope to get back to you as soon as possible. Our apologies for the delay.
As always, read our submission guidelines carefully before you go to the Submission Manager, and thanks for sending your work our way!
