How to Match Your Writing to the Right Lit Mag (without your head exploding)

Lesson 8 of 12: Sorry For The Inconvenience — A Submitter's Guide to Lit Mags

Feb 22, 2024

I have been told I can be a bit chatty. Can’t help it. But I can tell you, if you’re opposed to chattiness, scroll to where it says, “Step 1.” Best I can do. Not going to stop. Doctor’s orders. Quiets the screams.

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In today’s lesson, I will be covering:

What truly matters in terms of your success rate
All of the various time-sucks to avoid
Best practices for passively collecting opportunities.
Best practices for analyzing a lit mag’s style
A general overview of different submission strategies to manage time and expectations.
Some other stuff.

If submitting to lit mags were a sport, time and money would be steroids. I have yet to figure out how to obtain more of those two things, so instead, I’ve found ways to organize what I’ve got. Since time is money and money is time, I’ll just talk about “time” since the alternative makes me die a little inside.

The first step is figuring out what matters so you don’t waste your time.

Two things matter:

Your work is good.
Your work fits.

Everything you do should be in pursuit of those two goals.

It is not that other things don’t matter, only that when you’re trying to get published, all other things don’t pay off to the same degree. Some examples of other things that may or may not help but certainly don’t pay off in terms of submission success:

Over-analyzing rejections → You know what is the biggest time suck? Talking or thinking about rejections. There’s Rejection Wiki, Rejection Bingo, The Rejection Whisperer, and rejection erasure poems. It can be fun. But make it part of your fun time. Don’t seriously apply it to submissions. There are countless essays, tweets, and think-pieces about how to emotionally overcome rejection. They’re all great. But, well, think of it this way, if you’re running up a mountain and your only goal is to reach the top of the mountain and every time you trip and fall, there are only so many times someone can say, “You’ve got this champ!” before you want to punch them in the face. I don’t like getting punched. I don’t read rejections. I glance at them, see a no or “unfortunately,” and move on. I don’t care if it’s tiered. Unless there is a specific note addressing the work, I archive it, and off I go. My work didn’t meet their style or standards or was the wrong piece at the wrong time. Rejections mean nothing. Good lord, I’ve just wasted more of your time with a giant paragraph on rejections, fuck me. Sorry, moving on.1
Over-analyzing minute details → Part of why I emphasized what does and does not matter in Lesson 4 is because a lot of folks agonize over these small details. It's also why I simplify my cover letter strategy so much. It is truly not worth it. If you target low-key lit mags, they are usually chill. If you target top-tier ones, you are one in thousands coming into their slushpile. Either way, the little things won’t be what gets you there. Your writing will be what stands out.
Twitter → fuck twitter
Looking for the trick → Want a trick? Cut a Kiwi in half, take a baby spoon, and eat it like two little ice cream bowls. That's a trick. There is no trick to getting accepted. Be good. Be on time. Be a little lucky.
Checking on Submissions → I don't submit anywhere that doesn’t allow simultaneous submissions unless their response time is super short. And if they go past their response time, I start submitting again. Chasing down editors to ask about work is a waste of time. They'll get to it. If they don't, oh well, cross them off your list. The world is full of useless jerks. But mostly just busy, kinda sad, stressed people.

If you follow the methods I laid out in Lesson 7, actually submitting to lit mags should take you very little time. So what should you be spending your time doing?

Step 1: Writing → 70% of the time.

Writing, editing, rewriting, etc. All of the stages from ‘Idea in my brain’ to ‘perfectly polished work, formatted and ready to go.’ I don’t buy into the ‘write every day’ advice. And I think most writing advice on the internet is clickbait bullshit. Do whatever works for you, but in the realm of submitting, make sure it takes up the vast majority of your time. This isn't a writing course. So I'll leave it there.

The results of this will give you everything we went over in Lesson 1. The what that you are trying to submit.

Step 2: Research → 20% of the time.

Writers don't often read lit mags. We pretend to, sure. We even tweet about it and write big-fat essays on why it's so important. So, here's the thing. I have submitted to and been accepted by lit mags I've never read. Many, many people have. The idea that a writer must read a lit mag to submit is totally negated by the common practices of solicitation and agented submissions. If George Saunder's agent went to The Fancy Pants Quarterly Review and said, "George would like to submit this to you," I'd bet my goddamn life that the next words out of the editor's mouth would NOT be, "Hm, has Mr. Saunders read the magazine?" So, THOU MUST READ THE LIT MAG as a moral argument...nah.

Read lit mags because it increases your chances of acceptance. I've had much more success since I figured that out. But how do you do that? Like, actually do that. Not find a mag and click around their website a bit, read a few lines of some poem, shrug, see that they nominate for prizes, and have an easy submission window and go, "OK, fuck it."

I think there are two steps that account for the various stages a writer might be in emotionally or career-wise.

Step 1: Passive Research → Read, take notes, and enjoy.

This step can happily bleed into your writing time.2 It helps not only with gathering intel, but reading is the best way to keep improving as a writer. So, say you are not actively submitting (preferably most of the time). Just read.

Read industry anthologies in the genres you write. Pushcart, Best American, Best Micros, Best of the Net. These will not only give you an idea of what's out there but also be loaded with lit mags credited to the pieces you are reading.
Read lit mags you can actually read. If a lit mag doesn't make its content easy to read and access, why would you want to submit there anyway?

Set aside even just an hour a week. Dedicate that hour to reading anthologies and well-presented lit mags. That's it. You will passively discover loads of opportunities, get a general read on where the industry is at, and understand how your work measures up. Keep a log of all the lit mags you find that you might be interested in and go from there. How you do this is up to you. Maybe keep them in the spreadsheet we developed in Lesson 7, put their deadlines into your calendar, or write them on a Post-it note and stick it to your dog.

Or, ahem, bookmark them on Chill Subs.

When you’re ready, move on to step 2.

Step 2: Active Analysis → Nobody in your life will understand why you do this, but do it.

Let's get more specific here. More actionable. Once you’ve gathered some lit mags you might be interested in, you’re going to want to dig a bit deeper into their style to make absolutely certain you’re on the right track.

I reached out to Erik Harper Klass for some help on this. He analyzes lit mags for a living. I think what he had to say was extremely valuable, and I have yet to find someone who can top it (including me). I think he has something outrageous, like an 80% hit rate with getting work published. So, here is his breakdown of what I’d consider the most efficient method for analyzing a lit mag for prose.

*This method focuses mostly on prose. On Friday, there will be more about poetry (though plenty can still be applied to poetry).

Before submitting to a journal, read at least two of its stories. If the stories seem wildly different, read a few more. Below are things to look for. You might note that I’m much more focused on elements of craft and style than plot or subject matter. (Needless to say, plot and subject are more important in themed journals.)

Start with the following two important elements of craft: descriptive details and figurative language. If the prose is overflowing with details and figurative language—literary devices that top-tier journals often emphasize—and if these are things you emphasize in your own work, target these journals.
Another important element of craft has to do with sentence structure. Focus on the structural form of sentences and the variety of these forms. Sentence structure is one of the fingerprints of style. (As with all of these, if the topic is a concern of yours in your own writing, match with similar journals. If not, don’t.)
The last element of craft to focus on is what I’ll call poetics. Is there poetry (figuratively speaking) in the prose? Verbal playfulness? Alliteration and assonance? Rhyme? Neologism? Interesting vocabulary? In other words, is the sound of the prose significant? (Not surprisingly, journals that publish poetry often prefer poetic prose.)
Consider experimentation, especially of form. Journals that publish experimental work are pretty consistent in their sensibilities. (Note: Don’t trust a journal’s claim that it publishes “experimental fiction.” About half who say they do, do not. Sci-fi, fantasy, and just all-around weirdness are not experimental, per se. They’re speculative. So, once again, you must read these journals.)
If you write genre fiction (including speculative), submit to journals that publish genre fiction. (Did I need to write this one?)
Some journals love casual, even colloquial, language. Some—I’d say most of the top journals—don’t, especially when other elements of craft are missing. Submit accordingly.
Consider difficulty. In my nerdy numerical analysis of literary journals, “difficulty” is one of the lowest average scores. This makes me very sad. Clearly, we’re all getting dumber, and the end is nigh. So if your work is difficult, submit with care.
Lightness of tone and humor are two elements that seem to frequently show up in some journals and rarely in others.
On the other hand, some journals are drawn to dark themes. Checking for this darkness often means reading to the ends of stories (note that most of the topics above (conveniently) do not require reading entire sample stories).
Finally, look for international settings, historical settings, topicality, and underrepresented voices (typically in the story world). These things, I’ve found, are often less important than the topics above, which focus on language at the word and sentence level. But they’re each worth considering.

If you want to take this to the next level, create a spreadsheet and start rating journals in the categories above. For example, a journal like Conjunctions scores high (based on my readings) in categories like “difficult” and “experimental,” but relatively low in “topicality” and “humor.” A journal like Alaska Quarterly Review (I’m just picking a few journals at random) scores high in all of the craft categories, including “poetics,” but not high at all in “experimental”; AQR’s work also tends to be quite dark. Finally, one more example: The Malahat Review scores high in “underrepresented voices” and (perhaps not surprisingly) “international settings”; its scores are above average, but not off the charts, in most of the craft categories.

Now, for poetry,

Shannan Mann

agreed to help me out with some tips on what to look for when analyzing a lit mag to determine if your poems fit.

How to “scanalyze” poetry to vet what different lit mags publish without getting buried in verse! (Well, this is the way I do it).

But first, let me clarify: this is not the way I read lit mags for pleasure but for researching potential publications. The former (which I happily do as well!) might have some elements in common with this technique, but is categorically different regardless.
I try to get some key descriptors for the type of poems being published. I take note of these (you can imagine them like mental tags you use to get the publishing vibe of that particular lit mag): imagistic, lyrical, social justice, love/sex, swearing, formal, prose poems, experimental, genre-friendly.
Some of these will overlap. That’s fine. This is about training your inner intuitive reader.
Imagistic: I scan for similes (easy to spot if you look for “like” and “as” phrases) and metaphors (a quick way to spot these is “of” linked phrases. So like, a “mountain of gold,” etc. Some journals favor really imagistically vibrant or wowing poems. They prize imagery. And narrative is fine to take a back seat in its glitzy favor. If your poems are super light on imagery, you might need to up your imagistic chops or submit elsewhere.
Lyrical: Crosses over with “imagistic” but is a little different. Lyric — the way I use it as a tag for this type of reading — is more flowery, ebullient, adjective-y, adverb-ly, flowy…, often linked with eco-poetics/nature poetry (because there’s a Romantic quality in describing trees and sunlight and Spring, etc. that lends itself innately to being lyrical).
Social Justice: Are the poems very topical, politically-charged, have a revolutionary-core? I write different kinds of poems — some are about deeply political issues (even though I wish they weren’t deeply political issues and we could all just be kind), while others are sad love poems, etc. So if a place really champions (publishes) “Social-Justice” (as in “social-justice” oriented-poetry), then I’ll know what kind of a batch to send them. More on batch-submitting in the next lesson!3
Love/Sex: Pretty straightforward — do they like sentiment and smut? Okay, well, you know it can be deeper than that. But some of my poems talk about sex very frankly, so it is important for me to know if a mag will not publish that kind of stuff). Love poems also can be harder to place. But if the editors already have an affinity for them, it can make an acceptance come by much easier.
Formal: While even non-form poems can be formal sometimes, you’re mostly scouting for strict forms here. How many ghazals do they have or sonnets, villanelle, haiku, etc? And if they publish formal poetry widely, how strict are they about parameters?
Prose poems: Pretty easy to figure out if a mag likes (or even believes in the existence of) prose poems.
Experimental: How many weirdly shaped poems are in the lit mag? Or ones that are more visual than word-based poetry? Or collaborations. Basically, any out-of-the-box stuff you can think of. It may be hard to pin down this tag without scouring the poem in detail. But the more you do this, the more you’ll get better at “scanalyzing” whether a poem is more traditional or experimental.
Genre/speculative-friendly: I love sci-fi and fantasy or fairy-tale-oriented poetry. I write some of it myself, but usually, it is on the border or fringes of genre. While some mags are adamant they will not publish genre-writing, others could be coaxed more easily. See if there are any poems that tangentially have magical elements or might not look out of place in a genre-mag (even if seeming more “sophisticated”). You’ll be surprised how many lit-mags are, say “fairy-curious.”

Disclaimer: You’re not trying to mold your own poems into any of these styles. But you are trying to understand (in kind of a fun way) what the mag’s aesthetic is up-close. This will save you time and effort in the long run. If you’re a real nerd like me, take notes during the process.

I truly can’t give better advice than these two have given. Passive research. Active analysis. You’ll be at different stages in your journey at different times. But reading lit mags will contribute to growing as a writer as well as finding those who will want to publish you. Also, you’ll be able to feel superior to everyone else for actually reading lit mags. And really, isn’t that why we’re all trying to get published in the first place?

…no? No, of course not. Me either.

Step 3: Submitting → 10% of the time

Once you’ve gotten through the writing and researching bits, submitting has much more to do with time management and strategy than anything else. Raccoons, for example.4

I’ll use myself as an example. I submit once a month for a few hours.5 Usually 20-30 lit mags at a time. I always target high and modulate down. As in, I aim for the best possible outlets I think would be interested in my work, then go lower and lower (in terms of tiers).

On Friday,

Shannan Mann

will join me to teach a deep dive lesson on strategizing and tracking submissions. In the meantime, I worked with Bethany Jarmul on an overview of possible ways you might strategize your submissions to get you thinking about it as that — a strategy.

Wide Net - One option is “cast a wide net” by submitting your piece to a high volume of lit mags. Some writers submit one piece to up to 25 places at once.
- Pros: get published quickly, less time researching mags.
- Cons: more time spent submitting, less likely to get picked up by a prestigious mag.
- Difficulty Level: Beginner
Seek Easy Wins - When starting to submit work, some writers begin with sending work to easy-to-get-into journals, usually these are newer or less well-known magazines. Then, as their work gets accepted and they gain more confidence as a writer, they move on to more prestigious mags.
- Pros: get published quickly.
- Cons: not giving your writing a chance to get published by a prestigious mag.
- Difficulty Level: Beginner
Best Fit - Many writers submit only to the literary magazines that seem to be the best fit with their work.
- Pros: fewer rejections, more acceptances.
- Cons: more time spent researching mags.
- Difficulty Level: Intermediate
Play Favorites - After being in the literary world for some time, writers often develop favorites—literary magazines that they admire, editors that they like. So some writers choose to focus on submitting just to their favorites.
- Pros: develop relationships with editors and mags.
- Cons: may or may not be building toward your goals, doesn't push outside your favorite mags.
- Difficulty Level: Intermediate
Money-Focused - For some writers, getting paid for their work is the most important thing. These writers start by submitting their work to the lit mags that pay the most, then to those that pay less.
- Pros: make money.
- Cons: requires patience, lots of rejections.
- Difficulty Level: Intermediate/ Advanced
Prestige-Seeking - If gaining notoriety or breaking into a top literary market is your goal, start by submitting to the most prestigious mags, then move down the list as rejected.
- Pros: possible to break into a top market.
- Cons: time-consuming, must be very patient, lots of rejections.
- Difficulty Level: Advanced
Go with Your Gut - Many writers use a mixture of the above strategies based off of their "gut" instincts about a particular piece of writing and what they know about the literary magazine world and their place in it.
- Pros: works better and better as you learn the literary landscape.
- Cons: Hard for beginners.
- Difficulty Level: Advanced
Poets & Writers: Poets & Writers have a “verified” feature where, if you’ve been published in a certain number of magazines in their database (or have books in specific genres traditionally published), they verify you as a “poet, fiction writer, or nonfiction writer.” Their catalog is limited and the profiles aren’t super user-friendly, but it has good SEO and feels more “official.”
- Pros: Free profile page with good search rankings.
- Cons: limited to specific magazines & time-consuming.
- Difficulty Level: Intermediate
Theme Chasing: There are always magazines with “Themed” submission periods happening. Some highly prestigious magazines offer these periods as well. You can filter for “themed calls” on chill subs, or follow magazines on Twitter to learn about them.
- Pros: less competition because not everyone has work that fits a theme.
- Cons: Requires a specific piece each time you submit.
- Difficulty Level: Intermediate
Submit it and Forget it: Since many magazines (especially the big ones) have massive wait times. Some writers like to submit stories, then forget about them until the result comes in. No tracking or checking Submittable three times a day.
- Pros: No tracking.
- Cons: One piece of writing, one magazine, long waits.
- Difficulty Level: Beginner
The Maurice Method: In an interview with Chill Subs, Maurice Carlos Ruffin shared his strategy of submitting to nineteen places for each piece he wrote since there are so many factors that lead to a rejection, 19 was the golden number.
- Pros: More chances to get accepted.
- Cons: Time spent submitting.
- Difficulty Level: Beginner
Create a schedule: Organizing your submissions into a routine is a great way to keep yourself honest. Here are some sub-strategies for ways to do that.
- By Year: Shoot for a specific number of submissions per year (Options: 100 or 365). (Some people choose to track rejections and aim for 100 rejections per year.)
- By Week: Submit a specific number of times per week (5, 10, 12 times).
- Routines: Submit every week on Fridays (a particular day) or every evening before bed (a particular time.)
By a Specific Goal: Set a certain number of submissions you plan to send out this year. Aim for that goal.

Once you have chosen a technique that fits your goals and schedule, apply the research methodology to developing your list of victims.

I mean, target lit mags.

OK - I want you to take a look at some of the lit mags below. I have chosen them because:

They are a variety: new, old, competitive, accessible, etc.
They cover all genres and several subgenres.
I have not mentioned them or only briefly mentioned them so far in this course.

And most importantly, they all present their published works in exceptionally clean and legible ways so that they are comfortable to read. This is, to me, the single most important aspect of an online lit mag. And that’s good because I want you to read them. Like, really read them. Whatever you can manage. If you’re up for it, try out some of the techniques Erik and Shannon have laid out. If not, that’s OK. For now, just get a feel for what is out there.

I’m not going to give a breakdown of these yet or even tell you which publishes what. Just read and let me know what you find in the comments below.

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