Submitting to Lit Mags: Why Does It Take So Dang Long?

Why does it take so long to submit to lit mags and get a response?

Because:

• The lit mag landscape is not standardized. Websites, guidelines, and submission processes vary widely.
• Editorial and financial resources are limited. Most editors and readers are volunteers or modestly paid staff balancing lit mag work with full-time jobs. Most journals manage on shoestring budgets.
• It’s a crowded space. Thousands of writers are simultaneously submitting thousands of pieces to over four thousand literary outlets.

Chill Subs—what, with its user-friendly, super-organized database management system that facilitates searching for and submitting to outlets and tracking your work—has had a significant impact on speeding up the process.

But still, submitting takes a lot of time. Fortunately, there are things you can do to expedite the process.

1. Start by establishing your goals

I know what you’re thinking: “Ugh, goals again. Really?” Yes really, because goals define where you are going, like a lit mag submitter’s GPS.

Set short- and long-term goals. Be specific. Make them reasonable and relevant. And have a deadline. For example:

• Submit my essay, “Lit Mag Limbo: My Life As a Serial Submitter,” to three lit mags by the end of March and to an additional two outlets by the end of April.
• Pitch an interview and a craft essay by the end of the summer.
• Submit three poem packets to a minimum of three outlets each by the end of 2026.

2. Develop a strategy

Think about where you want to get your work published and what matters to you. Ask yourself how long you are willing to wait. Remember, lit mag acceptance lines are long. And to some extent, getting published is a numbers game. For example:

• I want to get published in mid- to high-tier journals. I’ll use the Chill Subs Vibe filter and Clifford Garstang’s lit mag rankings to identify journals that meet that criteria. I’ll submit each piece to a minimum of three lit mags, ideally five, starting with my reach journals.

3. Set boundaries

Decide what journals to target and how long you want to wait. Consider the journal’s reported response time and whether they charge a submission fee and/or pay for published work. For example:

• Submit to journals that accept simultaneous submissions (if the journal doesn’t, it slows the process way down) and that respond within three months according to the Chill Subs response time filter. Focus on free subs through the end of the year and don’t require that publications pay.

Once you have some key parameters defined, you can start on an action plan.

4. Get prepared

Have everything you need to submit ready and easily accessible so you don’t have to go searching. This will include:

• Bios. Have three or more bios written with varying lengths (e.g., 50, 75, and 100 words), customized to genre, publications included, and work experience highlighted as needed. Clearly label the bios and save them in one place.
• Cover letters. Create cover letter templates with blanks for the name of the piece and the publication. Customize the templates: basic, personalized, and guideline-specific. Clearly label and save in one place.
• The File. Keep everything related to a piece in one location with the current, ready to submit version of your piece and alternate versions (previously submitted, short, long, different openings/endings) clearly labelled.

5. Set aside time

For writers who want to publish, submitting is part of your writing practice. Just as you have to set aside time to write, you also need to set aside specific time to submit your work. Make it a routine, and put it on your calendar—weekly or monthly, whatever works best for you. Consistency is key with maintaining any habit.

6. Batch, batch, batch

Submitting to lit mags takes several steps and you may have many essays, stories or group of poems that you are trying to publish. Grouping submission tasks together (rather than working through submissions one at a time) can expedite the process and move all of your work forward. Batching submissions might look like:

• Prospect. Allocate a time to research potential outlets. Pick 10. Read a couple of pieces in each. Make a list of outlets that fit your work.
• Qualify. With one or more pieces ready to submit, go back to the list of journals that fit. Check reading periods, word limits, themes, guidelines for submission. Identify targets.
• Submit. Block time specifically for submitting. Format docs, draft cover letters, hit send.

7. Track, track, track

Know the status and location of your work at all times!

Keep works-in-progress (those not yet submitted) in one location and maintain a spreadsheet or table with key information—title, genre, word count target outlets, notes—to track of them as you get it ready to submit.

For work you have already submitted, I recommend moving these files to a specific location for submitted work and tracking them using the Chill Subs Tracker.

Keep the filing system simple and easy to access. Routinely check the status of your submissions. And remember: Tracking your work requires you to keep your spreadsheet or the Chill Subs Tracker up to date.

8. Backfilling

Unfortunately, some lit mags will decline your work. If those rejections come in, resubmit the piece to another target outlet as soon as possible. As a best practice, I’d suggest keeping each piece in a consistent submission rotation—e.g., all submissions go out to a minimum of three outlets all the time.

Bonus: Confetti time

Batching your submissions into scheduled sessions of an hour each is an efficient, time-saving approach. But you can also take advantage of what I call confetti time. I subscribe to several newsletters that provide submission resources, like Sub Club on Substack. I quickly scan these newsletters when I’m reading mail, and if I see a potential target outlet for my work, I copy the name, details and my thoughts into a note that I keep on my desktop or phone. Collecting bits of submitting info quickly = confetti time. Then, at my next submission session, I review my note and add these journals to my target list or submit to them directly.

As you submit your work, following the above steps, keep these three things in mind: Submitting is part of being a writer. Submitting is a detailed, time-consuming process. And success only happens when you hit submit.

Andrea A. Firth is an essayist and editor for Brevity Blog. She often teaches and writes about submitting and publishing in literary journals and on the web. On the first Wednesday of each month, she leads a co-working session called Submit It Now!—time to work on submitting your writing with the support of peers in the Zoom room. Andrea starts each session with a review of a topic or questions related to the submission process. There won’t be a Submit-It-Now session in March because Andrea will be at the AWP conference, but she’ll be back on Zoom on April 1st, no fooling. You can register for Submit It Now! here. It’s FREE! Read more from Andrea on her Substack Everything Essay!