Here's what the AR says about submissions: ARTICLES Our audience is made up of educated citizens, often professional people, who are interested in matters beyond their fields of special activity. With few exceptions, our subjects cover most of the range of social science and humanities. Our approach tries to steer a middle course between scholars speaking exclusively to other scholars in their field, and workaday journalists appealing to a broad popular audience; both these approaches have their own journals and audiences. We try for the interpretive essay on a topic of current importance, drawing on scholarly materials for its substance and appealing to the intellectual and social concerns of our readers. We are also interested in reviving the moribund art of literary journalism. We DO NOT accept essay submissions between June 1 and September 1. Submissions received during this period will be returned unread (if SASE enclosed) or discarded. FICTION We seldom publish more than three short stories in each issue. Although the new writer as well as the previously published author is welcome, it is the story that counts, a story worthy of the serious attention of the intelligent reader, a story that is compelling, written with distinction. Only rarely do we publish translations of well known or new foreign writers; a chapter of a novel is welcome only if it can be read complete in itself as a short story. We DO NOT accept fiction submissions between June 1 and September 1. Submissions received during this period will be returned unread (if SASE enclosed) or discarded. POETRY Like fiction, we get far more poetry than we can possibly accept, and the competition is keen. Here, where form and content are so inseparable and reaction is so personal, it is difficult to state requirements or limitations. Studying recent issues of the REVIEW should be helpful. No “light” or inspirational verse. Any poetry received without a self addressed stamped envelope will be discarded if rejected and no notice will be sent. No need to enclose a post card for the purpose of acknowledging receipt of a submission. Do not mix poetry and prose in the same envelope. Please submit three to six poems at one time. We DO NOT accept poetry submissions between May 1 and September 1. Submissions received during this period will be returned unread (if SASE enclosed) or discarded. REVIEWS We do not publish unsolicited book reviews and very seldom do we publish essays on literary problems or the canons of significant contemporary writers. The editors and their associates regularly prepare a section of short book evaluations, selectively treating recent publications. STYLE, LENGTH, PAYMENT, ETC. Our literary standards are as high as we can enforce them; we do not have the staff to engage in major editorial rewriting, except on rare occasions when the content justifies the effort. Actually, we have no rigid expectations of length, preferring the content and treatment to determine size. Rarely, however, do we use articles or stories over 5,000 words—and 8,000 at the outside limit. Please address your submission to FICTION EDITOR, NONFICTION EDITOR, or POETRY EDITOR, as appropriate. We DO NOT read domestic submissions that aren’t accompanied by an SASE. International submissions must include either an SASE or an International Reply Coupon (IRC). If an IRC is unavailable, an email response can be requested. Note: email responses are ONLY an option for international submissions. While material read by the ANTIOCH REVIEW is seriously considered, we cannot comment on each rejection. Manuscripts should be typed, double-spaced on one side of white, 8.5 x 11 paper. Please spare the editors the task of reading dirty Xerox copies or pages with excessive inter-linear corrections and revisions. We also prefer manuscripts to be mailed flat, fastened by paper clip only, and one at a time, except for poetry. Please note the type of submission — FICTION, NONFICTION, or POETRY — on the envelope, and do not mix prose and poetry in the same envelope. We try to report on manuscripts as quickly as possible, the process can sometimes take up to four to six months. We acknowledge receipt of a manuscript only if it is accompanied by a return postcard for that purpose. We appreciate your patience. Payment is upon printed publication at the rate of $20.00 per printed page (about 425 words) plus 2 copies of the issue. Authors may buy additional copies at an authors’ discount off the cover price.
Sorry, maybe you've posted this elsewhere, and it's meant as a genuine question, not a rhetorical one--do you write literary short stories? Do you get them published in the top journals? If so, I think your insight is going to be really valuable to @deadrats and I look forward to learning by listening in. But if not--it feels like you're coming on a bit strong. I'm not saying you shouldn't make suggestions--I think you're as qualified as most of the rest of us, if you're in the not-publishing-in-literary-journals camp. But maybe more suggestions, less browbeating? ("You'll never get anywhere that way" kind of jumped out at me as over the top.) ETA: And it's a bit insulting to imply that he hasn't even read their submission guidelines! I mean--that's pretty basic stuff.
The only thing that is keeping her from getting published where she wants to get published, if she's right and she writes well enough for that marketplace, is the negative attitude. And she definitely has that. She offers no information at all about why she gets rejected, she just focuses on getting rejected. If that is the case then the only thing one can do that can possibly help her is point out that attitude is what is in her way.
Do you know how hard it is to get published in literary journals? Do you really think a "positive attitude" and "good" writing is all that's needed? Come on.
@theamorset Do you not think it's likely that deadrats has read the submission guidelines of a journal s/he's very familiar with...? If all that was needed to become traditionally published was a positive attitude, the Amazon slush pile wouldn't exist.
You can't ask The Antioch Review why they rejected you. That's just not how it works. Not at all. I've been in this long enough to know how things work. Still, with the very little I've had published in journals, it means nothing. Regardless of that, I think the way to know what editors are looking for is to read the journals. I'm doing that. This isn't a blind attempt I'm making to write literary fiction. Again, that doesn't mean I am any good. I got an freaking MFA so I could be good at this. Again, that doesn't mean I am any good.
Okay, why don't you ask a respected mentor to review your work then? And as you mentioned reading what they accept is possibly, they sell back issues. It's true that journals aren't responsible for instructing people, and they expect people to learn from peers and mentors, plus they want to protect the anonymity of the reviewers. But that doesn't stop you from seeking out people of the same caliber and asking them to review your work. But I think also, that since there's only a handful of these journals and each one publishes only a dozen or so stories a year....it's a very questionable measure of your success and a questionable goal, because they simply publish so few that a lot of good work is turned away.
Also, I just want to say you all have been great. Rejection was really bringing me down today. As you can see from the guidelines another member posted, I'm obviously not trying to get into the easiest places. Not all the places I try to publish are The Antioch Review, but the places I'm trying for will be at least somewhat familiar to the editors of The Antioch Review. I know this might be a different market than the ones a lot of you aim for or publish in, but we all know what it's like to try really hard and still face rejection. So, thanks to you all who have weighed in on this. It's funny how The Antioch Review has been made such a primary focus of this thread. I hope it encourages more people to want to check them out. They publish some really amazing short fiction. Some of my favorite stories in recent years.
I'm going to try and get something into Cemetery Dance when it reopens for submissions, so I'll see you in rejection hell sometime
I hate to see you so discouraged. There has to be a way to meet goals that are attainable. Again, can you have a respected mentor critique your work?
I've done that, and I've done a whole MFA program. These aren't rough drafts that need critique that I am sending out. Thanks for trying to help me out. I think I just have the rejection blues.
I wasn't familiar with the Antioch Review, but they count among authors they've published such writers as Joyce Carol Oates, William Trevor, and Raymond Carver. That's damned fine company. I have the complete works of William Trevor, and it's brilliant.
Hi, Deadrats, this is your problem, and why you're taking rejection so hard: "And being rejected by these places means I'm not good enough." From post 7. Get this idiot idea out of your head. It is this phrase / this idea that destroys writing careers and ruins writers' mental health. And a lot of the time it's a load of crap. Am I being too subtle here?! People don't usually accuse me of that. You've just told everyone that your work is of a standard. That you've got the skills and the experience. I'm guessing you can read submission guidelines and submit accordingly. So guess what - your work likely is good enough! The number one reason you're getting rejected is called competition. There was one agent who published her stats on submissions and acceptances. Can't remember who or which fora she was posted in. But the numbers were frightening. In one year she got six thousand plus submissions and accepted two - that's two - new authors. Now I don't know your genre or the actual stats for the publications you're submitting to but it's probably going to be similar. So stop beating yourself up. Cheers, Greg.
@deadrats I have a day job that's not writing related. My kids are 17 and 14 so they're still needing me for some stuff. Along with the hubs and the cat. I'm into photography, cross stitch and cooking/baking but my first love is writing. I do have author friends but not in my personal circle (only on line) so if anyone does ask about my writing, I start talking and don't shut up. And of course, I do the bootcamp. I started it in April and have gained half a stone in muscle! Apparently!
I'd like to know which genre deadrats is writing. Everyone needs encouragement and a slap on the back for their work when it's good, but it's nigh on impossible to offer advice when there's so little information forthcoming.
My hobbies beside writing include gourmet cooking, baking, belly dancing and running 5K's/obstacle course mud races. I also have a challenging full time job, am married with a daughter just going off to college, and also have a house and two cats to take care of. Having the time and mental energy to write is one of my biggest challenges as a writer.
Those are nicely complimentary hobbies! Make all the delicious food, then belly dance/run off the calories. Nicely done!
That's not my meaning at all. I mean sending a finished work to a respected mentor, to verify that your work is of the quality desired by places like Antioch, and to get feedback in how to get it up to that level of quality, if it isn't at that level.
~~And even if the respected mentor came back and said the work was the best thing he'd/she'd ever read, doesn't mean that piece will then be accepted where it's submitted to. There are many factors that go into how/if a submission is accepted and only one of those factors is the piece itself.
I understand what you're saying, but I'm just saying I have done that. An MFA program is a lot of work, a lot of writing, a lot of revision. Also, there is no shortage of feedback. Just getting into my program was a pretty big deal for me. They only take a handful of students each year. An MFA thesis is usually 100 to 200 pages of fiction and there is a requirement that the writing in your thesis be of a publishable level. I won't get into the whole thing, but it is a very rigorous process. I worked very hard on all the stories in my thesis for two years. I feel like those stories are really done. I've already been told that my stories are good enough to publish, but it doesn't make it true. Sure, hearing something like that is nice, but it really doesn't mean anything. I'm not looking for anyone to tell me if my work is good enough to get me in these publications or not. There is simply no way to know other than sending out submissions and trying, and I'm sure that is pretty much any of them would say. I can't really say I have a mentor. I do know a writer personally who has been published in The Antioch Review. He's read my work. But even though he's published there, I don't think that means he knows any better than I do if or when my stories will be picked up. It's just frustrating. I feel a little silly for having started this thread. I feel like I'm just whining about not getting my work picked up by the places I really want to publish. It's just that I have been really trying. I've reached a point where I'm not sure what else I can do. I keep writing and I keep trying. This has gone on for years. I don't want to give up. It's just that sometimes I feel like I'm foolish when so much of my best work brings in nothing but rejection, just about as foolish as I feel for complaining to all you forum friends about this. Thanks for listening (reading).
