Recent Submissions and Rejections

Submissions

I was inspired by and proud of the following:

1. I submitted “The Price of Chivalry,” which I read at Lit Camp’s Basement Series, to the Kenyon Review’s 2017 Short Fiction Contest. It’s not a simultaneous submission, but it felt right after the response the story got at the reading and an excellent critique and revision of the latest draft.
   How do you know when a piece is ready? Leave me a comment.
2. The Iowa Review received the last draft of “Nevernight,” after the wonderful metafiction story “Outliving Kafka” by Ariel Dorfman in their Fall 2016 issue. May it find its way to the final judge, Amelia Gray.
3. Speaking of prestigious judges, Lauren Groff is the final judge for Electric Literature’s 2017 Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize. I sent off the latest draft of a new flash story called “Rivet Here” with the poignant stories from Lauren Groff’s earlier collection “Delicate Edible Birds.”
   Which writer-judges do you admire?
4. Epiphany was incredibly kind to send me a sample of last year’s winners for their Spring Contest in Fiction because I didn’t have time to buy and receive a print issue before the contest deadline. They’ll be reading “WINC-FM,” in the vein of the raw and realistic style of last year’s “The Radiance Of Sharing” by Jack Austin.
   Have a story of literary journal kindness? Leave a comment!

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Rejections

My journey to 50 submissions in 2017 will be littered with rejections. Here are some of the latest responses for posterity and response times, since that data shouldn’t only live in places like Duotrope.

Lumina

Rejections 8 & 9 came from Lumina and their Spring 2017 Flash Prose contest. 12 day response time.

Dear Arthur,

Thank you for submitting to our 2017 Flash Prose Contest. We received hundreds of submissions, and we appreciated the chance to read your work. Unfortunately, our editors have decided not to publish your entry.

We hope you will continue to consider us when submitting pieces in the future, and best of luck with your writing.

Sincerely,
LUMINA

The Masters Review

Rejection 7 came from The Masters Review for their Winter Short Story Award For New Writers. 49 day response time.

Dear Arthur,

Thank you for sending us “Nevernight” for consideration in the Winter Short Story Award for New Writers. We really enjoyed reading your fiction, and we are honored that you chose to submit to us. Thank you for trusting us with your writing.

With that said, I am sorry to say that your story was not selected for publication. In the end, we could only publish a very small percentage of submissions, and unfortunately we have to decline some great stories. As writers ourselves, we know that the road to publication can be a long one, and we want you to know that your manuscript was read with great appreciation.

We wish you the best of luck with this piece, and with all of your future writing endeavors. We hope that you will consider submitting to us again.

Warmly,

Kim Winternheimer and The Masters Review team

Black Warrior Review

Rejection 6 came from Black Warrior Review during their open submissions period for fiction. 27 day response time.

Hi Arthur,

Thank you for your interest in Black Warrior Review, and for taking the time to send us your work. Unfortunately, after careful review, we have decided the submission isn’t a good fit for us at this time.

We wish you the best of luck placing your work elsewhere.

Sincerely,

Emily Coon
Black Warrior Review
bwr.ua.edu

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