Weekly Roundup: April 12, 2024
Writing this in the early hours of Thursday, at a coffee shop, first time in over a month because Ramadan, and wondering (again) how to balance work with everything else in life.
I’ve been lucky! I’ve had literary magazines either accept or reject my stories within a couple of months so far, so I assumed that’s normal. Turns out, it’s not!
I’ve had one of my stories stuck on “in-progress” on Submittable for over two months with four different magazines and I didn’t know what to think of it. So I turned to Twitter.
Here’s how that conversation went:
Apparently, writer Addison Zeller had an editor forget to accept his piece, so it took 15 (!!!!!) months of waiting… I swear, I may just not be cut out for this industry based on how impatient I am.
Seriously, this literary world is, and forgive me if I sound like a broken record, a SLOTH! I mean, one of my stories got accepted at BULL way back in February, and it won’t be published until Summer… and I don’t even know when in Summer.
All this waiting is making me antsy.
Anyhow.
Opportunities
With a focus on creative and magazine writing. I try to include a mix of super high-profile and indie publications that are more beginner-friendly. (Click the names of the publications for detailed submission guidelines.)
I’ve got a bunch of close deadline opps today, FYI. Hurry hurry hurry!
Brevity: This is a reminder that Brevity’s submission window will close on April 30. Brush up those flash nonfiction pieces (< 750 words) and submit them ASAP! Pay: $45.
Boulevard: They’re also closing their submission window soon-ish—May 1. They accept fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Pay: $50 - $300 based on genre.
Flash Fiction Online: They’re now open for themed submissions (Weird Horror) until April 21 or until they’ve received 1000 submissions… yeah, submit soon. Stories must be 500-1,000 words long. Pay: $100.
New England Review: They’re closing submissions on May 1, and they accept fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and dramatic writing. Pay: $20 per page for print and $50 for digital publications.
The Forge: They’re closing submissions for fiction and nonfiction on May 1. They prefer stories under 3k words. Pay: $100.
After Happy Hour: They’re closing subs on April 30 for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, visual art, etc. Pay: Smol honorarium.
Common Ground Review: They’re too closing submissions on May 1 for prose and poetry. Pay: no.
Amsterdam Quarterly: They’re accepting fiction, nonfiction, and poetry submissions through April 30. Pay: no.
BANG! (New Guard Lit Review): BANG! showcases three pieces from one author. So, send them three pieces. It can be a combination of genres (flash fiction, flash nonfiction, and poem). Feel free to mix and match. For example, you may submit three flash fiction pieces, or two poems and one flash nonfiction. Whatever the combo may be, you must submit three pieces. Prose must be 500 words or less. Poetry must be 20 lines or fewer. Deadline is May 2. Pay: no.
Cosmic Daffodil: They’re accepting themed submissions (Yin & Yang) until April 25. They accept poetry, flash fiction, flash nonfiction, and visual art. Pay: no.
New World Writing: A breath of fresh air, guys! FAST ACTION ALERT!!! This magazine accepts submissions in the first two weeks of January, April, July, and October (so you have a couple of days left this month to submit) in all genres and publishes… PUBLISHES(!!!)… in the same month!!!!!!!! If they accept it, that is. What’s the opposite of a SLOTH? It’s that. Heh. Pay: no.
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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.***
That is all, for now. Have a good weekend.