Alle responds to: "How long to wait for a response from a literary magazine?"
And: what is a simultaneous submission?**
A well known author who recently published at a top literary journal, recommended that I submit to them. I used their name and wrote I wouldn't be submitting simultaneously.**
Now I’m regretting that promise because I’m seeing how long litmags can take with their response. I might not be able to send it out again for a year! Any advice?
Most journals have a “Submissions” page, on which many list their turn-around time.
Generally: follow up exactly in the time they suggest. If no response:
five months, for a well-known journals
take that down to a month for less-established mags
At a top-tier magazine, with the recommendation of a writer known to them, I check in politely in a month or five weeks: “I know you’re busy … wondering where you are in the process of evaluating my submission … “
If I continue to receive no response, I follow up nine weeks from the initial submission, letting them know that since I hadn’t heard, while I would prefer to keep the piece under submission, I will consider sending to other journals.
PRO TIP: in all your communications, include:
name of your piece
date submitted
if the mag assigned your submission a number, use that, as well
Do everything you can to facilitate their quick response.
To learn more tips, as well as to:
Leave with a personalized submission tracker and a query letter for short work
Research and identify the right journals, magazines, and opportunities for your work
Define what literary success looks like for you
**What is the difference between simultaneous and multiple submissions? Check it out below:
ON-LINE CLASS through Hugo House
Submit Strategically: Short Fiction, Essays, and Poetry
From past students of this very class:
"I learned the basics of developing a query, what to do, what not to do, definitions of genres, differences between non-fiction and fiction queries."
“I could not believe how much I learned!”
“Alle is the whole package. She’s funny and serious, and she knows her stuff. Most important to me, she used to be where I am now: no MFA, taking writing classes, sending out short work, and trying for a book. She succeeded and is convinced we all can, too.”
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