Summer 2021 Rejections: Crazyhorse, Epiphany, Ninth Letter, The Normal School, and More Literary Journals

Welcome to The Rejection Quarterly, Summer 2021 edition.

Sharing rejections shares the effort behind submissions and makes celebrating acceptances even sweeter. What kind of literary journal rejections are you seeing? On the road to publication, why not “publish” the rejections themselves?

Here are the various rejections I collected from June 2021 – August 2021.

Rejection from The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts

11-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov:

Thank you for sending us “Parting Pages.” Unfortunately, we decided not to send it to the next round of consideration. 

Sincerely,

Randall Brown, Managing Editor
Journal of Compressed Creative Arts
Matter Press, a non-profit 501(c)(3) literary press

Encouraging Rejection from Fractured Lit

71-day response time

Dear Arthur,

Thank you so much for submitting “”Parting Pages” & “duskwing”” for consideration in our Anthology Prize judged by Kathy Fish.

I am sorry to say that your submission was not selected for the shortlist. Unfortunately, we always have to decline some excellent pieces, but we are grateful for the chance to read such high-quality work.

Thank you again for submitting to us, we truly couldn’t do this without you.  We wish you the best of luck with your writing. We hope you will consider submitting to us in the future.

Thank you again,

Tommy Dean and the Fractured Lit Team

Rejection from Ninth Letter

226-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thanks for submitting your work to Ninth Letter. We’re sorry this submission wasn’t right for us. We appreciate your interest in our magazine, and wish you the best of luck placing your work elsewhere.

Sincerely,

The Editors

Ninth Letter

Encouraging Rejection from The San Franciscan

4-day response time

Dear Arthur,

Thank you for sending us “Parting Pages.” We appreciate the chance to read it because we believe that making art is such a daring, wonderful act. 

Despite the number of great pieces we receive, many of them don’t quite fit our editorial needs which are stories by Bay Area writers that specifically relate to living in San Francisco, so we are going to pass on “Parting Pages” at this time. 

We’re glad you thought of us, though, and hope that you’ll submit again. We receive too many manuscripts to make individual comment possible, but we do wish you luck in placing this with another magazine. 

Thanks again. 

Sincerely,
The San Franciscan

Rejection from Wigleaf

161-day response time

Dear Arthur,

We’re passing but thanks so much for giving us a chance with your work–and sorry not to get back to you sooner.

All best,

Wigleaf

Rejection from Epiphany

86-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for submitting your work, “Mornings Rolling Off Nob Hill.” Regretfully, we cannot find a place for it in our upcoming issue, but we wish you the best of luck placing it elsewhere.

At Epiphany we are committed to evaluating every submission we receive thoughtfully and respectfully. Many issues factor into every decision we make either to publish a piece or pass on it, from its consonance or dissonance with other work we’ve accepted to the simple issue of personal preference, which cannot be anything but subjective. To familiarize yourself with the work we do (and some of the work we’ve loved best), please consider subscribing to the journal at http://epiphanyzine.com.

We value long relationships with the writers and artists who entrust us with their work, and hope you’ll keep us in mind for other submissions in the future. Until then, do join our communities on 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/epiphanylit
…Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/epiphanylitjournal
…and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/epiphanylitmag

Thanks again and we hope that you are staying safe and sane out there and that all is well for you and yours in these horrific times!

Sincerely,
The Editors

Encouraging Rejection from Crazyhorse

86-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending us ‘The Blackboard Epilogues.’ While we aren’t able to accept your work for publication, we hope that you will consider submitting to us in the future. 

Crazyhorse welcomes general submissions of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from September 1st through May 31st, with the exception of the month of January, during which we only accept entries for the Crazyhorse Prizes. We ask that submissions of fiction and nonfiction be between 2,500 and 8,500 words in length. In the past, we have accepted work outside of this range, but it is an uncommon occurrence. For poetry, please submit a set of 3-5 poems. 

We are happy to consider simultaneous submissions, but please notify us if your work has been accepted elsewhere. For prose, withdraw your submission in its entirety. Should any of your poems be accepted elsewhere, please add a note to your submission to alert us that they are no longer available. We will be happy to consider the remaining pieces. 

Our response time is typically 16-36 weeks. If your work is under serious consideration, it may take longer.

As mentioned above, the Crazyhorse Prizes in Fiction, Nonfiction, & Poetry accepts entries from January 1st to January 31st. Submit short stories and nonfiction of up to 25 pages or a set of 1-3 poems. Winners in each genre receive $2,000 and publication. The entry fee includes a one-year subscription. 

For more information and to read featured work from recent issues, please visit: http://crazyhorse.cofc.edu

Wishing you the best of luck with your writing,

The Eds.

Crazyhorse

Encouraging Rejection from The Normal School

215-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for submitting “duskwing” to The Normal School. It was well received here, but we’re not going to be able to use it. Please do consider us for your future work.

Best Wishes,
The Editors
http://thenormalschool.com/

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