How do you submit to literary magazines?
- Submit via Submittable or magazine websites.
- Reading periods vary (year-round or seasonal).
- Response time: 2-12 months.
- Simultaneous submissions usually allowed.
- Payment ranges $0-$2,000 per piece.
You submit to literary magazines through Submittable or the magazine's website, following reading periods (some open year-round, some only quarterly), accepting that response times run 2-12 months and rejection rates exceed 95%. Most magazines allow simultaneous submissions; payment ranges from $0 (small magazines) to $2,000 (top-tier like The New Yorker). Publication credentials help when querying agents for novels.
Chapter i·Why it matters
Literary magazine publication builds the writing résumé agents read in query bios. A handful of magazine credits — even small ones — signals "this writer is serious about craft" and improves query response rates. The submission process is also low-cost training in handling rejection, which is much of querying.
Chapter ii·What to include
- A Submittable account (handles most magazines).
- A list of 15-30 target magazines for short fiction, essay, or poetry.
- Submissions during open reading periods.
- A submission tracker: magazine, piece, date, status, response.
- 2-12 month response times.
- A simultaneous-submission policy check per magazine.
Chapter iii·Example
A debut short-story writer submits her 4,200-word story to 18 literary magazines over 14 months. Pattern: 14 rejections, 2 personalized rejections, 2 acceptances (one mid-tier, one small). The two acceptances become her query letter's bio paragraph when she submits her novel; her novel-query response rate is double the average for unpublished writers.
WriteLoom's Pitch studio tracks literary magazine submissions alongside agent queries.
See the Pitch studio