SUBMIT Part 2

Searching for that perfect submission opportunity (and other updates)

What’s new with you?

Hi!

It’s Mat here. I hope all’s well with you and yours.

I think it has been at least six weeks since my last newsletter. Yikes. That flew by.

But I ain’t jus’ been a-twiddlin’ them li’l ol’ thumbs. Hell naw! I was pretty gosh-darn heckin’ busy, yessiree Bob! [Strums banjo.]

So, what have I been up to?

Well… I was honoured to host and facilitate an amazing panel discussion for Writers’ HQ. We had editors from Urban Pigs Press, Trash Cat Lit, Neither Fish Nor Foul, and Frazzled Lit online. The eds shared their insights and experience with a room full of budding writerfolks. It was a brilliant session. We covered a lot of ground - with conversations about what editors look for in a story, how authors can make a submission stand out, the different approaches each editor takes to their role, and loads more.

The biggest take-home for me? The thing that really came through loudest and clearest? It was this: reading submissions and selecting stories for publication is an incredibly subjective, fuzzy process. There is no absolute truth. A story that makes the cut is not definitively better than a story that is rejected. The difference between ‘accept’ and ‘decline’ has far more to do with an editor’s personal tastes, preferences, and foibles, even their mood in the moment of reading, than it does with objective judgement.

That last sentence is worth re-reading. Keep it in mind when your beloved story racks up its seventh rejection. If the email says “this does not reflect the quality of your writing”, you should know that they are being absolutely, completely honest. The exact same story might be precisely what another editor is waiting to read. Sometimes you just have to keep plugging away.

Case in point: I had a story I loved. It was a strange and eccentric flash fiction - surreal, lyrical, and deeply idiosyncratic. I’d edited and polished and polished again. The music and the breath and the rhythms flowed just right. There was not one word I would change. But that story was rejected. And rejected again. And again. In fact, it was rejected 13 or 14 times before finally being accepted. The editor who eventually said ‘yes’ absolutely adored the piece. They totally got it. The venue was a beautiful print publication - one of my dream magazines. And it was a paid acceptance. I got £50 for the story, plus free author copies. Don't forget, this all came after being rejected by more than a dozen non-paying mags.

So, yeah… If a story you love is being declined over and over, my advice is to hang in there. The right home could be just around the corner.

Anyway, that’s quite enough waffle, let’s crack on with Part 2 of our free course.

SUBMIT Part 2: Finding the perfect submission opportunity for YOU

Photo by an thet on Unsplash

By now, you’ve read Part 1 of this series, and pinned down your motivations for getting work published. You’ve written, edited, buffed and perfected at least one incredible story. Now you need to find the perfect sub call for your work. Here’s a few steps you can take to ensure you’re finding all the opportunities you’ll ever need.

1. Read lit mags.
   That might sound obvious, but it’s probably the most valuable tip in this entire email. The best way to discover which magazines are a good fit for your work is to read them. Bookmark the mags you love most. Revisit them regularly. Subscribe to their newsletters. You’ll be reading inspiring work, finding new authors to stan, and you’ll be first to know when they open for submissions.

2. Check listing sites.
   The internet is a wonderful thing. Not only can you expose yourself to the full spectrum of hateful opinions simply by reading the comments under any news story, you can also find listing sites for absolutely everything. And that includes submission opportunities.
   There are big players like Chillsubs and Duotrope. But there are also genre-specific sites like HorrorTree, which lists all sorts of speculative calls. Each of these is worth a bookmark and occasional peruse!

3. More newsletters.
   Adjacent to the listing sites above, there are magazines that list current opportunities and share the love direct to your inbox. You should check out the likes of AuthorsPublish and SubClub (although sadly this last one seems to hide all the good stuff behind a paywall nowadays).

4. Social media is your friend/frenemy.
   Follow this list on Twitter/X. It has 800+ lit mags on it, publishing all genres of fiction, flash, poetry, CNF, and more. [Disclaimer: Since the X-odus, I’m not sure how many of those mags are still active on the Muskrat’s platform. But I checked in today and it feels like there’s a fair few hanging in there…] You can also delve into this starter pack over on Bluesky. Or this other starter pack, also on Bluesky. I’m sure there are similar lists/collections to be found on Instagram and other platforms, but these are the places I’m most active. If you know of other lit mag directories, please feel free to share in the comments. 👇

If you act on even a couple of those tips, you’ll find that submission opportunities flock towards you like a murmuration of over-friendly starlings, or a beard of benign bees, or a pondful of those weird fishies that eat the dead skin off your literary feet.

“Like a glove, only made of words and pixels…”

The trick now is to join the dots between your story and its future home. Consider the length, style, genre, and tone of your piece. Read the guidelines for each mag carefully. Be honest with yourself. Think about the fit with each submission call. BUT - and this is a big but - don’t self-censor. If you think a specific magazine or anthology is a ‘strong maybe’ for your work, then that’s probably good enough. Submissions are a numbers game after all. And what does it cost you to send a story their way? Maybe 10 minutes of your time. It’s worth a punt. The worst that’ll happen is a rejection.

And if you’re worried about your work being rejected, don’t panic. We’ll cover that in a future part of the series and before you know it, you’ll be wearing those declines across your chest like badges of honour.

Final thought/bonus content: TO FEE OR NOT TO FEE?

As you immerse yourself in the world of lit mags and submission calls, you’ll discover that some opportunities come with a ‘reading fee’ attached. This can range from a couple of nominal quidbucks to keep the virtual lights on, right up to the dizzying heights of £35/$50, or even more.

Before you cough up your cash, I would advise you to stop and think. There are literally hundreds of places you can send your writing. Many, many of them are free to submit. You can get online publications in well-read, respected magazines without paying a fee. You can land yourself spots in beautiful print editions and anthologies without paying a fee. You can earn professional rates for your stories without ever paying a fee.

How do I know this? Because I’ve done it. I’ve found homes for dozens of stories, accumulated a shelf of books with my words inside, featured on podcasts, landed single-author collections, and earned a couple of hundred quid along the way. I did all of it without shelling out reading fees.

So really think it through. What will the payment achieve? Can you reach that outcome any other way, for free? (Spoiler: the answer is probably ‘yes you can’.) You may disagree with me, and feel the fee is worth it, but at least you’ll have thought about your reasons why.

NEXT TIME: SUBMIT Part 3: Keeping Track and Staying Organised - The Noble Art of the Spreadsheet

What am I reading?

I fell in love with Jeff Vandermeer’s Southern Reach series from the first few pages of Annihilation. The original trilogy was near-perfect for me - a glorious blend of weird horror, sci-fi, and espionage thriller. So, I was a little nervous when the author decided to revisit Area-X a decade later, in Absolution. What if he spoiled a beautiful thing?

I needn’t have worried. The final book is an absolute humdinger, bringing together everything that made the series great, exploring the origins and aftermaths of the tale, packed with call-backs and strange revelations.

Oh, and it also includes some of the best swearing ever committed to the page:

Five stars, no notes, loved it.

What am I writing?

Publishing counts as writing, right? In that case, I’ve been a busy boy!

I received a proof copy of my forthcoming short story collection An Ill-Stitched Menagerie, and it’s looking beautiful. This is going to be the first release from my very own Ghost Willow Press, so I’m incredibly excited and also kinda nervous.

The book is now finalised and set to release on Saturday 7th June! The Kindle edition is available for pre-order now! I’m so proud of how it turned out. I love all 12 of the stories - like an ugly, inbred brood of terrifying mutant children. Any support you can offer, gentle reader, in terms of spreading the word about this one would be gratefully received.

I’ve also been pulling together my chapbook of cut-up poetry, themed around hurting, healing, and self-image. The Man Who Looks Like Me is available as a PDF (for the price of a coffee) or a print edition (for the price of two coffees). Links on my LinkTree.

Writing prompt

If you’ve been reading this newsletter for any length of time, you’ll know how much I love a randomised prompt. The way they force me to grapple with elements I wouldn’t have chosen consciously or deliberately - it fires my creativity in new ways.

So imagine my glee when I discovered this: Random Idea Generator.

Each time you click, the site collides a randomised adjective and noun, sparking a whole host of fun and intriguing juxtapositions.

I got “Curious Guide”, “Grieving Pancake”, and “Scary Coral”. I also got “Able Cane”, which feels like an oblique biblical reference…

Anyway, one of those has already got me pondering a possible horror story about marine biologists on a tropical reef. Fish are dying, washing up onshore. The scientists dive to investigate and something goes horribly wrong, just as they make a terrifying discovery.

Why don’t you click a few times and see where you end up?

Where to submit?

Ink & Ivy have opened submissions for a new anthology themed on floriography, the language of flowers. More info on their Twitter.

Our good friends at Trash Cat Lit are also open for a print anthology call. They’re looking for stories that find treasure in unexpected places. There’s a beautiful mood-board and a characteristically clear set of submission guidelines on their website.

If you’ve got a teeny-tiny microfiction kicking around, you should consider sending it to Mythic Picnic, the Twitterary Mag, publishing issues on X. They are open for subs now and they pay $25. Clickety click.

Finally, TruBorn Press is looking for novella-length submissions of extreme horror from self-identifying women and non-binary authors. More details here.

Signing off

That’s yer lot. I hope it was useful and/or entertaining. I’ll be back soon with more news, links and other groovy writing-related shenanigans.

Best wishes and toodle-fuckin’-oo,

Mat