Submission Mistakes & How to Avoid Them

Rejections are part of the publishing game but following a few guidelines can help minimize their frequency.

1. Do your research. Have you been submitting poetry, short stories, and essays willy nilly in hopes something will stick? Save your energy (and your money!) by first taking the time to research whether your work is a good fit for the journal and vice versa. Submitting magical realism to a journal that historically publishes traditional fiction is not going to serve you. Find journals that match your writing aesthetic rather than trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. This means reading their already published issues. Submittable, Twitter, and Instagram are great places to find new journals.

2. Proofread your work. Spelling and grammar mistakes happen, but too many of them can be a turn off to publishers. If you're new to writing, or if you don't trust your own eyes, find a resource that can help. There's no shame in the Grammarly game! 

​3. Make it make sense. Lack of clarity will ruin even the most beautiful prose. If the journal's editor can't figure out the purpose or central theme of your piece, they won't publish it. Readers should be able to identify the tension in your work. Lack of tension is the number one reason poetry submissions don't get published.