Get Published: February 1, 2024
Working on this after sending my short story to two other lit mags that just opened today for submission: The Paris Review and Zone 3
So, CRAFT Literary sent me a tiered rejection of a short story I submitted back in December—the same story that I just submitted to the Paris Review and Zone 3.
I believe it is tiered because CRAFT has, previously, rejected three of my pieces with the message, “Thank you for sharing [story] with us. We appreciate having had the chance to read your work, and we're sorry to write with disappointing news—we've decided that the piece is not a good fit for our site at this time.”
This time, however, they had this to say:
Thank you for sending us [story] to consider. We enjoyed your story, but because we can accept so few pieces, we do, sometimes, have to decline good work. Unfortunately, we must pass on this story at this time.
However, we greatly appreciate your interest in our literary magazine, and we hope you will send us more work again in the near future.
According to Rejection Wiki, that’s CRAFT’s tiered rejection message! WIN!
LOL.
For the uninitiated, here’s how a writer/editor friend explained tiered rejection to me: a tiered rejection is when a submission gets past the initial read, editors likely talk about it, kind of like it, think about whether or not to publish, and then decide perhaps it’s better to pass.
I mean, it would be weird if I got an acceptance so early in the submission process, especially considering this is my very first work of fiction, amirite?
[Psst: bookmark Rejection Wiki for future reference. The search bar is tiny and almost unnoticeable in the left sidebar, FYI. You can search a magazine/publication by name for rejection message samples.]
Onward and upward!
Opportunities
Opportunities focus on magazine writing, feature writing, and creative writing. (Click the links for submission guidelines.)
The Paris Review: This is your reminder that prose submission is now open for the Paris Review, so better hurry and submit before they reach capacity! Pay: Paid market; amount unknown.
Zone 3: They are now open for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry submissions until Apr 1. Pay: Paid market; amount unknown.
New Letters: They accept submissions for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry year-round. Send something! Pay: Paid market; amount unknown.
Vox: Paige Vega—climate editor for Vox—is “looking to assign stories on climate change that help readers better understand and navigate our world.” Send pitches to climate@vox.com. Also, please check the tweet link for all relevant info. Pay: $1/word.
Backstory: Book lovers who love talking books, this is for you! Backstory is now accepting pitches for book-related feature stories or columns. They’re accepting pitches for their upcoming issue via email (tom@backstory.london) through Feb 12. Include “Issue 2 pitch” in the subject line. Pay: £150 - £500.
Business Insider: An editor of BI—Stephanie Pitera Statile—is looking for lifestyle/entertainment pitches. DM her on Twitter (link above.) Pay: Paid market; amount unknown.
So to Speak: Submissions are now open through Mar 15 for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual arts. Pay: $100 (According to their tweet.)
BBC Travel/The Specialist: Eva Sandoval is looking for destination guides from the POV of a local expert. Send pitches to eva.sandoval.freelance@bbc.com. Pay: Contact Eva for rates.
Vast Chasm: They accept submissions for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry year-round. Pay: $50.
POPSUGAR: Lena Felton is looking to assign wellness, identity, and related feature essays for POPSUGAR. Email pitches to identitypitches@popsugar.com. Pay: Starts at $200.
Iron Horse Review: They are now open for submissions until Mar 15. Send your poems, fiction, or nonfiction. Pay: Starts at $50.
Baltimore Review: They too are now accepting submissions for poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, through May 31. Pay: $50.
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*** Note: I cannot always vet each of these publications, unfortunately. So, please do your due diligence and research. See if their values align with yours, if there are conditions/restrictions to who can or cannot pitch/submit, whether or not they’re a paying market, how much they pay, etc., if these things matter to you.***
Time to vent:
I don’t like elitist publications, like… this for example (too bad substack doesn’t allow tweet embedding… oh well):
Tweet says:
Honestly kind of shaken by the 3Penny thing. They know their system doesn't work. They still tell you they'll confirm. If you inquire, you get yelled at. If you resubmit, you a get a vicious letter from the EIC. Fellow writers, comrades...no journal is worth that.
Source: https://twitter.com/amhcrane87/status/1752420475404227021
And yet, I still submitted my short story there—the same one that got rejected by CRAFT. The Threepenny Review is one of those coveted literary journals, after all, on par with the Paris Review or Granta. And I happen to be a greedy person, so….
It’s like how I dream of someday writing for the New York Times, even though it’s turned into a propaganda machine since October 7, focusing heavily on one-sided narratives, often leaning into biased and unverified sources. Like… seriously, what happened to journalistic integrity? They continue to refer to an ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing as the “Israel-Hamas war,” while well over 10,000 dead in Gaza are children!
I’m living in a dystopian nightmare where seemingly sensible people cannot and will not employ common sense and humanity to comprehend a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, which, for the record, started well before October 7.
Yeah.
Anyway, thanks for allowing me to vent in this space.
Happy submitting!