The Edgar nominees were listed on the awards web site. I found the authors, titles, and categories in both the searchable database and the PDF newsletter, but a few handy links seemed to be missing!

When I asked for help checking out the nominees at my local library, the librarian and I had to manually enter titles from the Edgars site. I wondered if the MWA had publicized the nominations ahead of time to libraries and bookstores? I stumbled across Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll, a Best Novel nominee, prominently displayed at the public library, a used bookstore, and a Barnes & Noble, but none mentioned that the book was up for an Edgar. I felt looped into a little secret when I found books from the list.

So here’s a nominee list with my preferred links, which should help you find all this fine work faster:

2024 Best First Novel

I read four of five nominees cover-to-cover in this category, since its closest to where I am in my novel-writing career.

P.S. This is the Edgar you can only get once—there’s only one first novel.

Small Town Sins by Ken Jaworowski

A moving, character-driven thriller set in a rural Pennsylvania town from three wildly different points of view. I finished it in a day. My favorite read across categories.

• Library
• Bookshop
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon

The Last Russian Doll by Kristen Loesch

An emotional mystery that weaves the collapse of the Soviet Union back to a love story in pre-1917 Russia. I loved the ending though it left one dangling thread.

• Library
• Bookshop
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon

The Golden Gate by Amy Chua

An intricate World War II-era dual mystery set in the Berkeley Hills involving some excellent tension and Bay Area history. This was longer and more detailed than expected, but I enjoyed the journey.

• Library
• Bookshop
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon

Murder by Degrees by Ritu Mukerji

A no-nonsense female doctor is a pioneer in medical education for women in 19th century Philadelphia must solve the murder of one of her patients. More traditional than the other nominees but a well-timed surprise divides the story into a before and after.

• Library
• Bookshop
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon

The Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S. Berry

A spy thriller during the Arab Spring with a slow burn start.

• Library
• Bookshop
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon

2024 Best Novel

I sampled the opening chapters of all but one of these nominees. The ones that moved me, moved me quickly.

Flags on the Bayou by James Lee Burke

Moving Civil War novel with many shades of gray from the onset. First chapter left me longing to go deeper.

• Library
• Bookshop
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon

All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby

The first black sheriff of a rural Virginia town deals with everything from a school shooting to a serial killer to a Confederate parade. Looking forward to reading more.

• Library
• Bookshop
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon

The Madwomen of Paris by Jennifer Cody Epstein

Historical mystery in a Parisian asylum that hires recuperated women as the next wave of employees. Sometimes a title and a cover are spot on.

• Library
• Bookshop
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon

An Honest Man by Michael Koryta

Just read that opening scene.

• Library
• Bookshop
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

• Library
• Bookshop
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon

The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger

• Library
• Bookshop
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon

Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead

• Library
• Bookshop
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon

Best Short Story

If nothing else, read these stories to see what’s great in the genre without investing time into multiple novels. I read all these nominees; Sean and I had a consensus on our favorite. A strong variety of styles shines here.

“Pigeon Tony’s Last Stand” by Lisa Scottoline

Old timers in Philly confront a generational problem in their neighborhood and deal with it in an oh, so, charming way. My favorite story.

• Amazon exclusive

“Hallowed Ground” by Linda Castillo

An atmospheric, gentle but firm and satisfying mystery. My second favorite.

• Library
• Bookshop — not found
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon

“The Rise” by Ian Rankin

Twisty, twisted murder mystery in a London high rise. Unusual ending but a fun journey to it.

• Amazon exclusive

“Miss Direction” by Rob Osler

• Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine — free PDF

“Thriller” by Heather Graham

• Library
• Bookshop
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon

Best Paperback Original

I read the least in this category, but a few of the samples were so fun I plan to finish several more novels.

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

• Library
• Bookshop
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon

Lowdown Road by Scott Von Doviak

• Library
• Bookshop
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon

Boomtown by A.F. Carter

• Library
• Bookshop
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon

Hide by Tracy Clark

• Library — not found
• Bookshop
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon

The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey

• Library — not found
• Bookshop
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon

I didn’t even get to categories like Juvenile or Young Adult, Fact Crime or Critical/Biographical, or the four Memorial Awards. You can see more at the Edgars site.

This deep dive into a fiction subgenre I’m curious about left me excited about what’s possible and much more informed for the awards itself.

At the Edgars

Otto Penzler, who’d included our stories for his well-known mystery anthologies in 2019 (me) and 2022 (Sean), invited us to parties before and after the awards. His Mysterious Bookshop in Tribeca is quite the bookstore to visit in person. The shelves of books behind us in the following photo require ladders.

We met a fun cadre of creative people.

Debbie Babitt, between us in the the above photo, is on the verge of releasing her third thriller.

LitHub and CrimeReads editor Olivia Rutigliano has a Ph.D. in nineteenth century British literature and an eye for creative public spaces, like the French metro as a Jules Verne setting…

Ken Jaworowski earned a Best First Novel nomination and shared a potential title for his second. We chatted for what felt like an hour about forgotten authors, memorable endings, and of course, book recommendations.

Joe Brosnan, a senior editor at Grove Atlantic, was generous with his time and answering our questions about today’s market.

I got to thank Jesse Q. Sutanto and wish her luck shortly before she took the stage to accept her Edgar.

We sent back someone else’s steak in favor of a cauliflower dish after a vegan joke gone wrong. Sorry John!

S. A. Crosby shared an anecdote and a laugh after the ceremony.

Otto shook our hands and nudged us to write another good story for next year’s consideration.

On the surface, the formality of the Edgars seems more serious than any literary conference or sci-fi convention I’ve been to. Just look at my suit!

But there’s a strong, unique energy here. We felt lucky that so many were welcoming of people new to the Mystery Writers of America community. I’m invigorated to return to my thriller novel draft.

So if you get an opportunity to attend an event that’s outside your usual cup of tea, go for it. Take a chance and read broadly. You never know what the immersion will inspire.

Now if you’ll excuse me and my new favorite reading chair, I still have some novels waiting for me.

Welcome to The Rejection Quarterly, Fall 2023 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 rejections I collected from September 2023 – November 2023.

Since introducing The Rejection Whisperer, I’ve had fun plugging in wordy rejections and getting quick interpretations. Check out the interpretations below each rejection email. And please feel free to try your own rejections!

Nimrod International Journal encouraging rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending us your work. We appreciate the chance to read it, but, unfortunately, we will not be publishing your submission at this time.

You can be assured that your work has been read by editors who are dedicated to making thoughtful and aesthetically sensitive decisions—editors who wish they could publish all the sincere and well-crafted work that is submitted to Nimrod.  

Again, thank you for your submission. We would be happy to receive new work from you in the future. 

Best,

Eilis O’Neal

Editor-in-Chief

Nimrod International Journal

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Alaska Quarterly Review encouraging rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you, sincerely, for giving us the opportunity to read your work. Though ultimately your submission was not selected for publication, please know that it was seriously considered. We certainly hope you will send more of your work our way. 

For the foreseeable future, we’ll only be accepting submissions via Submittable. Information regarding open submission reading periods will be posted on our website. 

Wishing you safe and well, all our best,
The Editors
Alaska Quarterly Review
https://aqreview.org/

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

storySouth rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for allowing storySouth to consider Lunch with Scott & Zelda. We have read it carefully, but must decline to publish. We regret that the volume of submissions we receive and the small size of our staff prevent us from giving a more personal response, but we appreciate your interest and support. 

We wish you the best in placing this work elsewhere.

Sincerely,

Jen Julian

Fiction Editor, storySouth

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Pleiades rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov:

Thank you for submitting to Pleiades. Although we appreciate your interest in the journal, we are unable to publish your work at this time. Nonetheless, we thank you for thinking of us, and we wish you the best of luck placing your work elsewhere.

Sincerely,

The Editors
Pleiades

2023-10-04 13:43:04 (GMT -5:00)

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival rejection

Thank you for entering the F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival Short Story Contest. We appreciate your interest in and your support of our festival.

Results are now live on the Festival Website..

We would love for all participants to join us at the Short Story Contest Award Ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 12 at 6 pm in the First Floor Meeting Room at the Rockville Memorial Library.  Judge Nate Brown will be present as will current and previous winners of the contest. There will be a short reception at the end of the ceremony.

We also invite you to join us at the full day festival on Saturday, October 21, where we will honor author Jonathan Franzen. Please visit our website for more information about the day.

Thank you again for your participation.

We look forward to seeing you at one or more of our events.

Mary Hopkins

Short Story Contest Coordinator

Editor-in-Chief, Redivider

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Redivider rejection

Dear Arthur,

Thank you for trusting us with your work. We appreciated the opportunity to consider “within & without,” but have decided not to accept it for publication.

We wish you the best of luck in placing it elsewhere.

Sincerely,

The Fiction Team @ Redivider

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Hexagon encouraging rejection

Hello,

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to read the story that you submitted to Hexagon Magazine on September 1st. I appreciate the time and effort you took to send it in for consideration. Although it does not fit the needs of the magazine at this time, I wish you luck in placing it elsewhere.

I hope you will continue to consider us for future submissions.

Warmest regards,

JW Stebner

Editor in chief

Hexagon SF Magazine

hexagonmagazine.ca

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

The Paris Review rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Please forgive the delay. Owing to the overwhelming number of submissions we received, decisions on submissions have taken us longer than we anticipated. 

Thank you for your patience while we evaluated “Verdant Heaven.” We regret that we are unable to publish it, but we appreciate your interest in The Paris Review.

Yours sincerely,

The Editors

http://theparisreview.org

Please do not reply to this email—this inbox is not monitored.

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Gulf Coast rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending “within & without” to Gulf Coast. While we didn’t feel it was the right fit for our pages at this time, we appreciated having the chance to consider it.

Best wishes to you and your writing.

Sincerely,

The Editors
Gulf Coast Journal
https://gulfcoastmag.org/

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Kenyon Review rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you so much for submitting “”First Lines” and “Parting Pages”.” After careful consideration, we determined that this submission was not the right fit for us. We are grateful for your interest in The Kenyon Review, appreciated the opportunity to read your work, and wish you the best of luck in placing it elsewhere. 

Sincerely,

The Editors

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Chestnut Review rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for your submission to Chestnut Review. Although we must decline your submission this time, we appreciated the chance to consider it. Please do not interpret this as a judgment of your art as a whole. Individual tastes matter a great deal in decisions like these, and though we have to decline this round, we encourage you to keep writing and creating. The world needs it, and you.

We’d also appreciate your reporting stats on Duotrope for this submission, if you use that site.

Thanks again. Best of luck with all your work.

Sincerely,

The Editors

Chestnut Review

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

The Deadlands encouraging rejection

Dear Arthur,

Thank you for submitting “Terminus” to The Deadlands. We very much appreciate the chance to read your work, but we are regretfully saying no to this submission. We wish you luck with placing it elsewhere and hope you will continue to consider us in future.

E. Catherine Tobler
Editor, The Deadlands

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Little Patuxent Review rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for submitting your work to Little Patuxent Review. We appreciate the effort that has gone into your submission. Unfortunately, it is not the right fit for our upcoming issue. Please be assured that your submission was read thoroughly and given careful consideration by our editorial staff.  We wish you the best of luck in placing your work elsewhere.

Best regards,

Sarah Berger

Editor

Little Patuxent Review

Welcome to The Rejection Quarterly, Summer 2023 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 rejections I collected from June 2023 – August 2023.

Since introducing The Rejection Whisperer, I’ve had fun plugging in wordy rejections and getting quick interpretations. Check out the interpretations below each rejection email. And please feel free to try your own rejections!

The Missouri Review encouraging rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for letting us consider “Evertour” for publication in the Missouri Review. We enjoyed reading your work, and though it doesn’t quite fit our needs at this time, we wish you excellent luck with it and hope we will have the chance to read more of your writing in the future.

Sincerely,

The Editors

———-
ATTENTION WRITERS: the 33rd Annual Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize is NOW OPEN. Winners in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction are awarded $5000 each plus publication and promotion. All entrants receive a 1-year digital subscription to the Missouri Review, as well as the latest digital anthology from Missouri Review Books, THE TALENT: STORIES OF AUTHORS AND ARTISTS. All entries are considered for publication. Go here to learn more and submit your entry: https://missourireview.com/contests/jeffrey-e-smith-editors-prize/.

2023-06-14 12:55:05 (GMT -5:00)

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Wigleaf rejection

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,

Scott

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Barrelhouse rejection

Dear Arthur,

Thanks for letting us read within & without. Unfortunately, we’ve decided this one’s not right for us. We wish you the best of luck in finding a home for the story elsewhere, and in your continued writing. 

Sincerely,

Team Barrelhouse
www.barrelhousemag.com

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

The Pinch rejection

Dear Arthur,

We appreciate your interest in The Pinch. Thank you for sending us “Still Watching.” Unfortunately, we are unable to publish your work at this time.

We’re aware that writing is hard work, and that these letters do not reflect the time and care put into your submission. Nevertheless, we thank you for thinking of us, and we wish you the best of luck placing your work.

Best wishes,

Courtney Santo

Pinch

http://www.pinchjournal.com

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Redivider encouraging rejection

Hi Arthur,

My name is Katie and I am the Editor-in-Chief for Redivider. Thank you for your patience while we reviewed “duskwing” for our Blurred Genre summer special issue. After careful consideration by our readers and editors, we have decided this piece is not a fit for this issue of Redivider.

Despite not being selected, I ask you not to give up on your hybrid, experimental, short, or otherwise different work. We pride ourselves on offering this unique opportunity to create space for the space between genres, and we hope you’ll demand that the industry make more space for these kind of pieces..

We appreciate the opportunity to consider your work, and hope you will again consider us for your future submissions.

Find us at our website: redivider.emerson.edu.

Please be well,

Katie Mihalek

Editor-in-Chief, Redivider

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Granta rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to consider ‘Verdant Heaven’. We are sorry to tell you that this particular text is not quite right for the magazine, but we wish you all the best with your writing. 

Yours sincerely,

Granta Magazine

www.granta.com

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Ploughshares encouraging rejection

Thank you for submitting to Ploughshares.  Although we will not be
publishing “Verdant Heaven” at this time and are sorry to disappoint you,
please be assured that your manuscript was read carefully by editors and
trained screeners.

Our reasons for not accepting particular submissions are varied and often
have more to do with the shape of our recent acquisitions and upcoming issues
than with the quality of writing we receive. Thank you again for the
opportunity to consider your work, and we regret any delay in our response to
you.

We hope you’ll continue to read and submit to Ploughshares. 

Sincerely, 

Ploughshares Editors

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Outlook Springs rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you so much for sending us “Parting Pages.” We appreciate the chance to read it. Unfortunately, the piece is not quite right for us. We apologize for the long response time; we’re restructuring our reading periods to remedy this.

Thanks again. Best of luck with this.

Sincerely,

Outlook Springs

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Nimrod International Journal encouraging rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending us your work. We appreciate the chance to read it, but, unfortunately, we will not be publishing your submission at this time.

You can be assured that your work has been read by editors who are dedicated to making thoughtful and aesthetically sensitive decisions—editors who wish they could publish all the sincere and well-crafted work that is submitted to Nimrod.  

Again, thank you for your submission. We would be happy to receive new work from you in the future. 

Best,

Eilis O’Neal

Editor-in-Chief

Nimrod International Journal

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Welcome to The Rejection Quarterly, Spring 2023 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 rejections I collected from March 2023 – May 2023.

Since introducing The Rejection Whisperer, I’ve had fun plugging in wordy rejections and getting quick interpretations. Check out the interpretations below each rejection email. And please feel free to try your own rejections!

Monkeybicycle encouraging rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending us “encircled”. We appreciate the chance to read it. Unfortunately, it’s not quite right for Monkeybicycle so we’re going to pass. Do feel free to send us more of your work though. 

Thanks again, and best of luck finding a home for this piece. 

Sincerely,

Monkeybicycle Staff

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Little Patuxent Review rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for submitting your work to Little Patuxent Review. We appreciate the effort that has gone into your submission. Unfortunately, it is not the right fit for our upcoming issue. Please be assured that your submission was read thoroughly and given careful consideration by our editorial staff. We wish you the best of luck in placing your work elsewhere.

Best regards,

Chelsea Lemon Fetzer
Editor
Little Patuxent Review

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Gulf Coast rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending “furl & unfurl” to Gulf Coast. While we didn’t feel it was the right fit for our pages at this time, we appreciated having the chance to consider it.

Best wishes to you and your writing.

Sincerely,

The Editors
Gulf Coast Journal
https://gulfcoastmag.org/

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Witness rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov:

Thank you for allowing us to consider “Evertour.” Unfortunately, we have to pass at this time. We wish you the best in placing this piece elsewhere.

Sincerely,

The Editors
Witness Magazine
https://witness.blackmountaininstitute.org/

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Alaska Quarterly Review rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you, sincerely, for giving us the opportunity to read your work. Though ultimately it wasn’t selected for publication, we’re so thankful for it; now more than ever, the arts feel as necessary as they are fragile, and it’s up to each of us to keep them going.

We’d like to encourage you to submit your work to Alaska Quarterly Review again. For the foreseeable future, we’ll only be accepting submissions via Submittable. Information regarding open submission reading periods will be posted on our website. We certainly hope you’ll consider sending more of your work our way in the future.

Wishing you safe and well, all our best,

The Editors

Alaska Quarterly Review

https://aqreview.org/

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Threepenny Review rejection

We have read your submission, and unfortunately we are not able to use it in The Threepenny Review.  Please do not take this as a comment on the quality of your writing; we receive so many submissions that we are able to accept only a small fraction of them.

Thank you for sending your work to us, and please accept our apologies for the automated message system. We wish we had time to reply to everyone individually.

The Editors

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Lightspeed Magazine rejection

Thanks for submitting “Terminus,” but I’m going to pass on it. It didn’t quite work for me, I’m afraid. Best of luck to you placing this one elsewhere, and thanks again for sending it my way.

John Joseph Adams
Editor/Publisher
Lightspeed Magazine
www.lightspeedmagazine.com

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Uncharted rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending “Lunch with Scott & Zelda” for consideration in Uncharted. We really enjoyed your story, but we’re sorry this isn’t the right story for us right now. We did find much to admire in your work, though, and we hope you’ll send us more to consider soon.

Sincerely,

Tommy Dean

Uncharted Mag

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

The Gettysburg Review rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for letting us consider “Verdant Heaven.” We regret that it does not suit our present needs. Please accept our apologies for the delayed and disappointing decision and our thanks for your patience.

Best of luck with it and your other work. 

Sincerely,

The Gettysburg Review

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

jmww rejection

Dear Arthur, 

Thank you for sending us “Duskwing.” We appreciated the chance to read it. Although there was a lot to like here, it didn’t quite come together for us in the end, and we regret to pass. 

Thanks again for thinking of us. Best of luck with this!

Sincerely,

The Editors at jmww

Narrative encouraging rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov:  

Thank you for sending your work to Narrative. We are always grateful for the opportunity to review new work, and we have given “Evertour” close attention and careful consideration. We regret, however, that “Evertour” does not meet our needs at this time. We hope that you will keep us in mind in the future.  

Sincerely,  

The Editors  

CRAFT encouraging rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending us “encircled” to consider. Unfortunately, we must pass on this story at this time, but please keep us in mind for future submissions.

Sincerely,

The Editors

CRAFT

Ninth Letter encouraging rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending us “Parting Pages, duskwing, encircled”. We really enjoyed your work, but we didn’t feel this submission was right for Ninth Letter.

We hope that you will continue to send us your work, and we apologize for our delayed response to your submission.

Sincerely,

The Editors

Ninth Letter

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Welcome to The Rejection Quarterly, Winter 2023 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 rejections I collected from December 2022 – February 2023.

Since introducing The Rejection Whisperer, I’ve had fun plugging in wordy rejections and getting quick interpretations. Check out the interpretations below each rejection email. And please feel free to try your own rejections!

Barrelhouse rejection

Dear Arthur,

Thanks for letting us read Mornings Rolling Off Nob Hill (fiction) for Barrelhouse. Unfortunately, we’ve decided this one’s not right for us. 

Please take this for what it is: a subjective judgement by a class of undergrad students who were tasked with reading a lot of stories, essays, and poems (nearly 600!) and could only select a very few for publication. 

We really do appreciate you sending us your work. It’s pretty amazing how much great work people send our way, how much great work is being made out there in the world, all the time! It warms the heart. Please keep at it, and consider trying us again.

Best,

Mike Ingram’s Fall 2022 Writers at Work Class at Temple University (i.e., the editors of The Gray Issue)

http://www.barrelhousemag.com

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Witness encouraging rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov:

Thank you for allowing us to read “Terminus” and for your patience as we considered it. While we have to pass on this particular submission, we were very impressed by your work and hope you take this note as particular encouragement to send us more in the future. I found the story clever and ambitious, yet it flowed in a natural way, and I have no doubt that it will find its perfect home soon. 

Sincerely,

Xueyi Zhou

Fiction Editor

Witness Magazine

https://witness.blackmountaininstitute.org/

Twitter: @witnessmag

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

The Arkansas International rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for submitting “Mornings Rolling Off Nob Hill” to The Arkansas International. Regrettably, we are unable to find a place for it in our next issue, and we’re going to have to pass at this time. Thank you for your patience and for allowing us to consider your piece. We wish you the best of luck placing this elsewhere. 

Regards,

The Editors

The Arkansas International

http://www.arkint.org

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

The Kenyon Review rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you so much for submitting “Verdant Heaven.” After careful consideration, we determined that this piece was not the right fit for us, but we appreciated the opportunity to read your work and are grateful for your interest in The Kenyon Review. 

Sincerely,

The Editors

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Baltimore Review rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending us “Lunch with Scott & Zelda.” We appreciated the chance to read your work. We will not be including your submission in the upcoming issue, but we wish you well with your writing and hope that your work will be a perfect fit for another publication. 

As writers ourselves, we understand the time and effort that writers devote to their craft, and we know that it is never easy to receive these messages. Please know that we receive many submissions and can publish only a small number. Often, decisions are difficult.

We do accept–and encourage–simultaneous submissions. See long lists of other publication possibilities at 

http://newpages.com/

https://www.newpages.com/writers-resources/young-writers-guide

http://www.pw.org/literary_magazines?&perpage=*

http://www.everywritersresource.com/literarymagazines/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/35517751475/

https://creativewritersopps.blogspot.com/

https://discover.submittable.com/

https://publishedtodeath.blogspot.com/

https://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/

https://chillsubs.com/

https://heavyfeatherreview.org/calls/#journals

https://www.clmp.org/programs-opportunities/calls-for-submissions/

https://catapult.co/dont-write-alone/stories/2023-submission-and-freelance-writing-opportunities-literary-magazines

Thanks again.

Sincerely,

Barbara Westwood Diehl

The Baltimore Review

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Washington Square Review encouraging rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for submitting your story furl & unfurl to Washington Square. While this piece was not a right fit for us, we were impressed by your writing. 

We hope that you feel encouraged by this note, and will consider sending us more of your work in the future. We very much appreciate your interest in our magazine.

Sincerely,
The Editors
Washington Square Review

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

If you wade into a maze, would you cry at every dead end? I turn around and find another way.

Do you…

• Re-read rejection emails?
• Over-analyze the word choices an editor used to say no?
• Post rejections to wikis and compare them with others?
• Publish rejections on your blog? (Guilty.)
• Read into how quickly or slowly people respond?
• Check stats like response times or acceptance rates?

None of that matters.

That’s why I made The Rejection Whisperer. Copy & paste your rejection; get a concise interpretation. It’s time to nod & let go.

Let’s leave behind the things we cannot control. There’s always another idea, another draft, another opportunity. Smirk at the dead ends and keep exploring the maze.

Perhaps you’ve written a few stories, poems or essays and want to know where and how to submit your work for publication. What’s the best draft to send? How do you choose among the deluge of submission opportunities? How do you make sense of submission guidelines? Learn what tools and resources exist to help you on your journey to publication in this informative workshop for writers who want to begin their paths to publication in literary journals or magazines.

Workshop description

When: March 18, 2023 from 9:30am – 12:00pm Eastern
Where: online, Zoom
Cost: $30 or less

A big thanks to Hampton Roads Writers and their Traveling Pen Series of workshops for asking me to share my experience and help more folks submit!

Welcome to The Rejection Quarterly, Fall 2022 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 rejections I collected from September 2022 – November 2022.

I’ve decided to remove the number of days it took to hear back. Does it really matter how slow or fast any given opportunity is? It doesn’t change that a “no” is still a “no” or if I’ll submit again if they encourage me to. Goodbye, stress-inducing numbers.

Rejection from The Normal School

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Many thanks for submitting “encircled” to The Normal School. Unfortunately, it doesn’t serve our needs at this time. 

Best Wishes,

The Editors

http://thenormalschool.com/

Encouraging Rejection from One Story

Dear Arthur Klepchukov:

Thank you for sending us “Verdant Heaven”. We really enjoyed this piece, but we didn’t feel it was right for One Story.

We hope that you will continue to send us your work.

Sincerely,

The Editors of One Story

Rejection from Midway Journal

Dear writer,

Thank you for your submission to Midway Journal’s -1000 Below: Flash Prose and Poetry Contest. We are pleased to announce the 2022 winners selected by guest judge Kim Chinquee:

Winners:

First Place: “Three Ways of Looking at a Harmonica” by Bonnie Proudfoot

Second Place: “What She Knew” by Kim Bundy

Third Place: “Husks” by Stephanie McConnell

Honorable Mention: “An Onion at the End of the World” by Chel Campbell

Finalists:

Isabella Marie Garcia

Zemia Edmondson

Joel Savishinsky

Alder Geshem

Cole Williams

Linda Petrucelli

Jendi Reiter

Trish Lindsey Jaggers

Lana Spendl

Congratulations to our winners and finalists! We received many high-quality submissions for this year’s contest, and we appreciated the opportunity and to read your work! Thank you for your submission to Midway Journal.  

Sincerely,  

The Editors

Midway Journal

Encouraging Rejection from Granta

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to consider ‘Evertour’. We are sorry to tell you that this particular text is not quite right for the magazine, but do feel free to send us new submissions when you are ready.

Yours sincerely,

Granta Magazine

www.granta.com

Rejection from America’s Next Great Author

Arthur,

Thank you for sharing yourself, your pitch, and your pages with us. As we promised, every single submission was poured over by the ANGA team. Because we had so few slots and so many pitches, we were forced to make many really hard decisions. We are very sorry, but you are not a semifinalist. We know how tough it is to hear this news because we are writers, and we have enough NO’s between us to wallpaper our entire house with rejections. As we say over and over, perseverance is the single most important trait of any writer. Seriously.

We hope you use this as motivation and a learning experience as you continue the long and often arduous climb up Publishing Mountain. We hope that once we start up the full 10-episode show that you will trust us with your story again.

Lastly, we hope you will join us on October 6 at 8:00 pm EDT for a live workshop available only to writers who auditioned. (We’ll follow up to provide a link closer to the date. A recording will be available.) We’ll talk about what we saw in many pitches and how to make them even better. The workshop will help you continue to hone your pitch, polish your pages, and shine on the page and screen as you move forward in your writing career.

We are proud of you for saying YES to yourself. Your stories matter.

Check out this special message from Kwame recorded for you. 

You’ve still got this!

Arielle and David

Rejection from Michigan Quarterly Review

Dear Arthur Klepchukov

Thank you for your submission to Michigan Quarterly Review’s Mixtape Issue. We received many wonderful submissions and enjoyed spending time with your work. However, we regret to say that your submission doesn’t meet our needs at the moment. Thank you for thinking of us, and we wish you and your work the best of luck going forward!

Thanks again.

Sincerely,

The Editors

Michigan Quarterly Review

Rejection from The Common

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending us “Evertour.” Our readers and editors have read it carefully. Unfortunately, this piece does not fit our current editorial needs, but we appreciate the opportunity to consider it.

Thanks again for submitting to The Common. We know that submitting your work takes time and energy, and we wish you the best in placing your piece elsewhere.

Sincerely,
The Common

Encouraging Rejection from storySouth

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for allowing storySouth to consider “Still Watching”. We have read your work carefully, but must decline to publish. We regret that the volume of submissions we receive and the small size of our staff prevent us from giving a more personal response, but we were impressed with the quality of your work and hope that you will submit to us again.

We wish you the best in placing your work elsewhere, and we thank you for your support of storySouth.

Sincerely,

Jen Julian

Fiction Editor, storySouth

Rejection from jmww

Dear Arthur, 

Thank you for sending us “Parting Pages.” We appreciated the chance to read it. Although there was a lot to like here, it didn’t quite come together for us in the end, and we regret to pass. 

Thanks again for thinking of us. Best of luck with this!

Sincerely,

The editors at jmww

Rejection from Barrelhouse

Dear Arthur,

Thanks for letting us read encircled. Unfortunately, we’ve decided this one’s not right for us. We wish you the best of luck in finding a home for the story elsewhere, and in your continued writing. 

Sincerely,

Team Barrelhouse
www.barrelhousemag.com

Rejection from Ninth Letter

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

This contest submissions season covers deadlines from December 1, 2022 through February 28, 2023. Thanks to Literistic, Poets & Writers, Submittable Discover, and New Pages for many of these contests.

Much like editors are looking for reasons to reject work, I want to focus on opportunities worth my time. Thus, my list of writing contests below includes reasons to submit to that particular writing contest. May you find a promising opportunity among this list and spend less time searching for where to send your exceptional work.

I found quality opportunities for emerging and established fiction writers. Each comes with its own handy list of reasons to submit. See my recommended Winter 2022-2023 writing contests.

Still staring at the same words for your next draft? Learn how to revise in this playful, hands-on workshop by experimenting with techniques that go beyond writing–like creating movie posters, floor plans, caricatures, mind maps, and typography bombs. Your next draft needs you to dream bigger. Bring at least 1,000 words to revise, and plan to practice and discuss various techniques. Let’s draw your next draft!

Writer Unboxed OnConference

Welcome to The Rejection Quarterly, Summer 2022 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 rejections I collected from June 2022 – August 2022.

I’ve decided to remove the number of days it took to hear back. Does it really matter how slow or fast any given opportunity is? It doesn’t change that a “no” is still a “no” or if I’ll submit again if they encourage me to. Goodbye, stress-inducing numbers.

Encouraging Rejection from Uncharted Mag

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending “Terminus” for consideration in Uncharted. We really enjoyed your story, but we’re sorry this isn’t the right story for us right now. We did find much to admire in your work, though, and we hope you’ll send us more to consider soon.

Sincerely,

Tommy Dean

Uncharted Mag

Rejection from The Masters Review

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending us “Evertour” for consideration in The Masters Review. We appreciate that you thought of us when submitting your work. However, I’m afraid this submission isn’t a good fit for us at this time. I wish you luck in placing this piece elsewhere soon.

Best,

Cole Meyer

The Masters Review

Rejection from Short Story Substack

Hello, 

Unfortunately, your submission to shortstory.substack.com was not picked as this month’s winner. That being said, please feel free to submit for the coming months as submissions are rolling throughout the year. 

Remember, a rejection this month doesn’t mean a rejection in future months, and the prize money only gets bigger. 

Thanks, 

Mike 

Encouraging Rejection from Nimrod International Journal

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending us your work. We appreciate the chance to read it, but, unfortunately, we will not be publishing your submission at this time.

You can be assured that your work has been read by editors who are dedicated to making thoughtful and aesthetically sensitive decisions—editors who wish they could publish all the sincere and well-crafted work that is submitted to Nimrod.  

Again, thank you for your submission. We would be happy to receive new work from you in the future. 

Best,

Eilis O’Neal

Editor-in-Chief

Nimrod International Journal

Rejection from Epiphany

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for submitting your work, “Evertour.” 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!

Sincerely,

The Editors

Rejection from Flash Fiction Online

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for considering Flash Fiction Online for “duskwing.” 

Unfortunately, we have decided not to accept this story.  We wish you the best of luck finding a home for it.

Sincerely,

Flash Fiction Online

Encouraging Rejection from The Missouri Review

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for letting us consider “Verdant Heaven” for publication in the Missouri Review. We enjoyed reading your work, and though it doesn’t quite fit our needs at this time, we wish you excellent luck with it and hope we will have the chance to read more of your writing in the future.

Sincerely,

The Editors

———-
Announcing the 32nd annual Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize! Learn more and submit your poems or prose piece here: https://www.missourireview.com/contests/jeffrey-e-smith-editors-prize/. Want to stay up to date with the latest from TMR? Subscribe at https://www.missourireview.com/the-missouri-review-newsletter-sign-up/

For over 40 years, the Missouri Review’s mission has been to discover, publish, and celebrate the best writing of the day. Submissions are open year-round; find helpful guidelines here: https://www.missourireview.com/submissions/submission-guidelines/

If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe, either in print or digital. Learn more here: https://www.missourireview.com/store/

2022-06-29 17:34:01 (GMT -5:00)

Encouraging Rejection from Uncanny Magazine

Dear Arthur,

Thank you for submitting “Terminus” to Uncanny Magazine for consideration. Unfortunately, we’re going to pass on this one. It just didn’t work for us.

We look forward to reading further submissions from you.

Best,

The Uncanny Magazine Editors

Rejection from The Puritan

Thank you again for submitting your work to The Puritan, Issue 58: Summer 2022.

As you might imagine, our small team of volunteer readers is forced to select an extremely small number of works from the hundreds of great submissions we receive each quarter. Submissions for this issue were once again excellent. Although we have to pass on your submission this time around, we’re truly grateful that you thought to send it our way.

We wish you best of luck in your future writing!

Sincerely,

The Puritan Editorial Staff

Encouraging Rejection from Apex Magazine

Dear Arthur,

Thank you for submitting “Terminus” to Apex Magazine. We appreciate the chance to read it. Unfortunately, the story does not meet our needs at this time. We’re going to pass.

We wish you the best of luck finding a home for “Terminus” and hope to read something new from you soon.

Sincerely,

Jason Sizemore and Lesley Conner
Chief Editors 
Apex Magazine 

STAY CONNECTED
Twitter: @apexmag
Facebook: ApexMag
Join Our Newsletter

Encouraging Rejection from CHEAP POP

Hi Arthur. 

A sincere thanks for sending us “Anagrams for Our Yesterdays”—it means so much you’d trust us with your work. While we greatly appreciated the chance to read this, unfortunately, it’s not the right fit for us at this time. 

Thanks for bearing with us—this was a substantially larger submissions cycle for this special issue than we thought we’d get, so it’s taken longer than anticipated to read and consider all pieces. But please note that we are just one journal and editing tastes and needs are so subjective—we hope you find a good home for this elsewhere and that you consider submitting to us again during our next submissions cycle.

Again, thank you for sending this.

Sincerely, 

Rob

Encouraging Rejection from Pleiades

Dear Arthur Klepchukov:

Thank you for submitting your work to Pleiades. Although we will not be publishing your work this time around, we want you to know that we took a special interest in it, and we encourage you to submit to us again in the future. 

Sincerely,

The Editors 
Pleiades

2022-08-16 11:45:31 (GMT -5:00)

Rejection from Boulevard

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you very much for sending “Verdant Heaven” to Boulevard. Although it was not selected for publication, we’re glad you thought of us. Good luck placing this with another magazine.

Sincerely,

The Editors

Boulevard
www.boulevardmagazine.org

Encouraging Rejection from Hobart

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending us “encircled.” We appreciate the chance to read it. Unfortunately, this one isn’t a match for us. That said, it is strong, interesting piece and I both wish you luck with it and encourage you to submit again.

Thanks again.

Sincerely,
Kimberly Bliss
Hobart

This contest submissions season covers deadlines from September 1, 2022 through November 30, 2022. Thanks to Literistic, Poets & Writers, Submittable Discover, and New Pages for many of these contests.

Much like editors are looking for reasons to reject work, I want to focus on opportunities worth my time. Thus, my list of writing contests below includes reasons to submit to that particular writing contest. May you find a promising opportunity among this list and spend less time searching for where to send your exceptional work.

I found quality opportunities for emerging and established fiction writers. Each comes with its own handy list of reasons to submit. See my recommended Fall 2022 writing contests.

Welcome to The Rejection Quarterly, Spring 2022 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 rejections I collected from March 2022 – May 2022.

Rejection from Daily Science Fiction

20-day response time

Arthur,

Thank you for submitting your story, “duskwing”, to Daily Science Fiction. Unfortunately, we have decided not to publish it. To date, we have reviewed many strong stories that we did not take. Either the fit was wrong or we’d just taken tales with a similar theme or any of a half dozen other reasons.

Best success selling this story elsewhere.

– Jonathan & Michele, Daily Science Fiction

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Encouraging Rejection from jmww

44-day response time

Dear Arthur, 

Thank you for sending us “encircled.” We appreciated the chance to read it. Although there was a lot to like here, it didn’t quite come together for us in the end, and we regret to pass. Although we’re sorry we don’t have better news at this time, consider submitting to us again in the future!

Thanks again for thinking of us. Best of luck with this!
Sincerely,
The editors at jmww

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Encouraging Rejection from CRAFT

52-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending us “Still Watching” to consider for CRAFT. We’re sorry this isn’t the right story for us right now. Please keep us in mind for future submissions.

Sincerely,

The Editors

CRAFT

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Rejection from Witness

85-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for trusting us with “furl & unfurl” during our Fiction (Fall/Winter 2022) call for submissions. Unfortunately, we have decided not to publish it for this upcoming issue. We appreciate having had the chance to consider your story and hope it finds a home elsewhere. 

Thanks again, and best of luck with your writing. 

Regards,

The Editors

Witness Magazine

Issues

Twitter: @witnessmag

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Encouraging Rejection from Narrative

36-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov:  

Thank you for sending your work to Narrative. We are always grateful for the opportunity to review new work, and we have given “Still Watching” close attention and careful consideration. We regret, however, that “Still Watching” does not meet our needs at this time. We hope that you will keep us in mind in the future.  

Sincerely,  

The Editors  

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Encouraging Rejection from Beneath Ceaseless Skies

5-day response time

Thanks very much for sending this story to _Beneath Ceaseless Skies_. Unfortunately, it’s not quite right for me.  We publish fantasy set in pre-tech worlds; this setting to me felt too modern for us.

We appreciate your interest in our magazine.  Please feel free to submit other work in the future.

Regards,

Scott H. Andrews
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief
_Beneath Ceaseless Skies_
http://beneath-ceaseless-skies.com

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Rejection from The Atlantic

100-day wait time

Never responded.

Submission guidelines specify: “We will only be in touch should we have interest.” I gave up waiting after 100 days.

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Rejection from Popshot Magazine

77-day response time

Never responded.

Submission guidelines specify: “If you do not hear from us before the last week in April 2022 you can assume your submission has not been successful.” I gave up waiting after May 1.

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

I’ve been invited to give my submissions workshop at the lovely Gaithersburg Book Festival in Gaithersburg, MD for a third time on Saturday, May 21.

Perhaps you’ve written a few stories, poems or essays and want to know where and how to submit your work for publication. What’s the best draft to send? How do you choose among the deluge of submission opportunities? How do you make sense of submission guidelines? Learn what tools and resources exist to help you on your journey to publication in this informative workshop for writers who want to begin their paths to publication in literary journals or magazines.

Workshop description

Learn more at GBF 2022.

When are traditions worth breaking? When can they heal other patterns that hurt? My latest short story publication, “Evergreen Promises,” explores these questions and appears in print in Palooka #12:

Evergreen Promises

“I’ll never buy a real Christmas tree again,” I say as I flip on the car’s emergency lights.
“Huh?” My stepdaughter looks up from the back seat. Pulls off her giant headphones, but someone’s still rapping. Probably about daddy issues.
“Didn’t you see what happened?”
“What?” Her eyebrows squirm like I’m still talking.
“Turn around.”
She does.

Read the full story in Palooka #12

My efforts to get “Evergreen Promises” published:

• ~1,200 words
• 3 drafts
• 10 submissions
• 2 acceptances (yes, more than 1)
• 7 rejections, 1 encouraging rejection
• 1 withdrawal

I share blog posts like these because every story has a different journey. So if you’re in the doldrums between drafts or facing another rejection, may this encourage you. This process has taught me that publication is more steps away than we think. Read on about this story’s journey and you may find what will get you over the next hump.

Draft 1—Xmas Story in November

In December 2015, I jotted down an idea that left me curious—what would make someone abandon a tradition of buying real Christmas trees and switch to plastic ones?

The question grew in the back of my mind for almost four years, until the first draft took shape in November 2019 at 1,400 words (about 6 pages in standard manuscript format). We were on the cusp of a cross country move and the family reasons for making the leap informed my two main characters. I chuckled at the idea of the story being a Christmas-themed submission, maybe published in a Winter issue of some sort.

Draft 2—Reading and Revising for Submission

I was impatient and happier than usual with my first draft. I only gave it a month before revising it. My wife took a break from her story-in-progress to confirm that the current draft didn’t need a ton of work. Unlike most of my other stories, I skipped seeking another critique and dove into the next draft.

Because it’s so close to the flash fiction limit of 1,000 words, I use my flash fiction revision checklist to drive toward draft 2:

• Decide theme. When deciding what to cut and what to save, decide what your story’s about, then proceed along that theme.
• Review in Hemingway App. http://www.hemingwayapp.com 
• Slashing, in which a whole paragraph may go if it’s just unnecessary background.
• Cut weak constructions like “it is” and “there are.”
• Replace dialogue tags with short action-verb sentences. Do you really need that ping-pong game of “he said, she said”? How many replacement verbs have you cooked up for “said”? “Fumed,” “sighed,” “stated,” “pronounced,” “averred”…Cut “he said” and, in its place, put a short action-verb sentence. That will identify the speaker and build some action. Not “I don’t like you,” she said. but “I don’t like you.” She yawned. That way, you can cut the next two sentences, which were all about how boring she found him.
• Replace “very”, “only”, “just” with stronger verbs and adjectives.
• Cut creeping A&B-ism. “I am sick and tired of your constant and never-ending fits and tantrums.” Nah. “I’m tired of your tantrums.”
• Review adjectives (iA Writer)
• Review adverbs (iA Writer)
• Review verbs (iA Writer)
• Review in Pro Writing Aid.

This cut down over 200 words, which is considerable for a 1,400 word story.

I make my first submissions at the end of 2019.

The Baltimore Review rejection, “Rituals” theme, January 2020

55-day form rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending us your work to consider for our summer contest. Although your work was not selected for a prize, I want you to know that we enjoyed reading the many poems, short stories, and creative nonfiction pieces with the “Rituals” theme, and decisions were often difficult. 

I hope that you enjoyed writing on this theme and that you will soon be able to place the work in another publication.

See long lists of other publication possibilities at http://newpages.com/ , http://www.pw.org/literary_magazines?&perpage=* , https://www.facebook.com/groups/35517751475/, and https://creativewritersopps.blogspot.com/ .

Thanks again.

Sincerely,

Barbara Westwood Diehl
The Baltimore Review

“Rituals” felt like a strong theme for this story, but it didn’t earn an encouraging rejection from The Baltimore Review.

Electric Literature rejection, April 2020

121-day form rejection

Dear Arthur,

Thank you for sending us your work; while it was not a fit for Electric Literature, we appreciate the chance to consider it.

Sincerely,

Editors,
Electric Literature

Narrative rejection, May 2020

37-day encouraging rejection

Dear art: 

Thank you for sending your work to Narrative. We are always grateful for the opportunity to review new work, and we have given “Evergreen Promises” close attention and careful consideration. We regret, however, that “Evergreen Promises” does not meet our needs at this time. We hope that you will keep us in mind in the future. 

Sincerely, 

The Editors 

I’m always glad to see encouragement to submit again. Nice to know another person saw something in this draft.

The Harvard Advocate rejection, May 2020

82-day form rejection

Dear Arthur,

Thank you for your submission to the Harvard Advocate. Though we appreciated the chance to read your work, I’m sorry to let you know that your story was not selected by the board for publication or as a finalist for the Begley prize. We wish you the best of luck with your writing, and we hope the piece finds a home elsewhere.

Sincerely,
The Fiction Board

Ninth Letter rejection, “Debts” theme, June 2020

85-day form rejection

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

I thought the “Debts” theme might be a stretch, unless you consider the emotional debt we owe to traditions both good and bad. But Ninth Letter publishes solid stuff; I’m glad I tried.

Finding Palooka

I found Palooka through Jonathan Starke’s nonfiction in Gulf Coast. I found his nonfiction so enjoyable and emotionally resonant, I mistook it for fiction (as did Gulf Coast, briefly, when they published his work online). That mischaracterization led me to emailing him, finding Palooka, and enjoying the fiction he’s chosen to publish in the magazine. Across the previous three years, I’d submitted six stories—three separate short stories and a batch of three flash fictions. All came back with speedy, encouraging rejections.

Jonathan Starke’s heartrending novel, You’ve Got Something Coming, has a father and daughter at the core of the story. I imagined that after all the time he spent with his pair of characters, Jonathan might be receptive to my very brief take on another father/daughter dynamic in “Evergreen Promises.”

Palooka Acceptance #1, August 2020

67-day response

Hi Art,

How are you doing?

“Evergreen Promises” is very good. Is it still available? If so, there are some slight line edits I’d like to make to tighten it up (nothing major). It’s something I’d do and send it over to see if you’re agreeable before accepting. Does that work for you? I’m offering this now rather than later because this piece is brief and already very tight. I also know you’re particular with what you do, so if we can come to terms on the changes beforehand, that’s better than concerns later.

Best,
Jonathan

After his previous encouraging rejections, I was excited to work with Jonathan. I accepted and withdrew my one outstanding submission of the story to The Sea Letter.

I agreed with almost all of Jonathan’s line edits. We had a good back-and-forth over email about clarifying the relationship between the main characters—and settled on the daughter being a stepdaughter instead of adopted to heighten the threat of abandonment. He challenged me to rethink the title given the closing lines of the draft, but I kept it, instead rewriting the ending to reconcile the real and fake trees and what they both imply.

This part of the process is wonderful when you get a strong, thoughtful editor. Even the line edits made for a stronger story. I’ve had similarly great experiences with revisions after an acceptance.

Draft 3—Back on Submission

Unfortunately, soon after Jonathan Starke and I wrapped up edits on “Evergreen Promises,” his printer of ten years went out of business. Thanks 2020.

Instead of leaving my story (and presumably others) to wait in limbo, Jonathan suggested:

This is discouraging, but I’ll hopefully figure something out in time. In regard to your story, it’s tighter now, and I like what you’ve done. I’d suggest continuing to submit this around and see what happens. It’ll definitely get picked up. Sorry about this, but I hope my edits were at least helpful. 

That email saddened me, not because I wouldn’t see my words in Palooka as soon as I’d hoped, but because we may not have Palooka to read. I’d seen a handful of journals permanently close their doors since I started submitting, but I hadn’t been this close to one that was threatened by circumstance.

I wished Jonathan luck, thanked him for his edits, called that draft 3, and got the story back out there with a hint of sadness. Acceptance doesn’t always mean publication. I reflected on the same question I ask when I get a rejection—where will I submit this now? (And occasionally, does this need another draft instead of another submission?)

Washington Square Review rejection, December 2020

103-day form rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for submitting your work to Washington Square. We appreciate the efforts that have gone into this piece. Unfortunately, it is not a fit for our upcoming issue. Please be assured that your story was read thoroughly and given careful consideration by our editorial staff. We wish you the best of luck finding a home for it elsewhere.

Sincerely,
The Editors
Washington Square Review

Epiphany rejection, December 2020

89-day form rejection

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for submitting your work, “Evergreen Promises.” 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

Palooka Acceptance #2, February 2021

A few months after Palooka’s printer went out of business, Jonathan Starke wrote back that Palooka had found a replacement. Was “Evergreen Promises” still available? Yes, but I was still waiting on Washington Square and Epiphany to make their decisions. Jonathan encouraged me to wait for their responses. When they passed, I resubmitted to Palooka.

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

I love the strength and authenticity of this voice and story. The father-daughter dynamic speaks to me as well, especially given that they’re thrown together, chosen, not biological. This feels raw and tender. I’d like to publish “Evergreen Promises” in Issue #12 of Palooka. Thank you for submitting such wonderful work.

What you need to do:

[ Steps omitted for succinctness ]

Congratulations! I’m excited to publish your story.

Best,
Jonathan Starke, Founding Editor

[ Terms of Publishing Agreement omitted for succinctness ]

Jonathan said ahead of time it may be a while, even as long as a year, before he had enough material for Issue #12. I appreciated that Palooka emphasizes quality instead of sticking to a traditional publishing schedule.

In the meantime, I got to brag about my mug on the “Future Palookas” section of the Palooka web site:

In Print, March 2022

“Evergreen Promises” finally found a home and after a patient year, my beautiful copies of Palooka #12 arrived. The new printer did a fantastic job.

Bianca Rivetti Burattini’s art is great inside as well. So far, I really dug B. B. Garin’s “Retrograde” story and both of Kaitlinn Rose’s poems, especially “Enough to Build Your Castle.”

Read “Evergreen Promises” in Palooka #12.

Welcome to The Rejection Quarterly, Winter 2022 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 rejections I collected from December 2021 – February 2022.

Rejection from Fiction

280-day response time

Dear Contributor:

Thank you very much for submitting your work to Fiction. After careful consideration, the editors were not able to accept it for publication.

We would like to offer personalized letters or feedback but limitations of time and staff have made that impossible at the present. We wish you the best of luck in finding a journal to publish your writing. The editorial staff, including the editor-in-chief, Mark Jay Mirsky, welcomes critical response to past issues of the magazine if you wish to include any in future submissions or letters.

With best regards,

The Editors

2022-01-02 06:06:59 (GMT -5:00)

Form rejections after so many months are especially disappointing.

Rejection from Alaska Quarterly Review

74-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

We’d like to thank you, sincerely, for giving us the opportunity to read your work. Though it doesn’t meet our needs at this time, we’re so thankful for it; now more than ever, the arts feel as necessary as they are fragile, and it’s up to each of us to keep them going.

For the foreseeable future, we’ll only be accepting submissions via Submittable. Information regarding open submission reading periods will be posted on our website.

Wishing you safe and well, all our best,

The Editors

Alaska Quarterly Review

https://aqreview.org/

AQR is open for less than one month out of the year, but I’m grateful for the relatively speedy response.

Rejection from Epiphany

96-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for submitting your work, “Still Watching.” 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!

Sincerely,

The Editors

Rejection from The Rupture

99-day response time

Dear Arthur,

Thank you for the opportunity to read “Still Watching.” Unfortunately, we will not be publishing the fiction you submitted, but we wish you the best of luck in placing it elsewhere.

Sincerely,
Gabriel Blackwell
Editor
The Rupture

Encouraging Rejection from Mystery Magazine

36-day response time

Thank you for submitting your story, “furl & unfurl” to Mystery Magazine. This is very, very good! Unfortunately, it is missing a crime. I am sorry I will not be accepting it for publication, but hope you find a home for it elsewhere. I would be happy to read more of your work, please continue to send your mysteries our way.

All the best,

Kerry Carter
Editor

Mystery Magazine
Available in Print on Amazon!
editor@mysterymagazine.ca
https://MysteryMagazine.ca
https://twitter.com/MysteryWeekly
https://facebook.com/mysteryweekly

This response made me smile. Their submission guidelines don’t explicitly call out crime as a requirement, but this is a reminder to read where I submit more closely. Cozy mysteries don’t have to involve murder, but still tend to have crime. And not every crime story is a mystery. Know where you’re submitting by reading, reading, and reading some more!

Encouraging Rejection from Uncharted Magazine

15-day response time

Dear Arthur,

Thank you so much for submitting “furl & unfurl” for consideration in our Crime/Mystery Prize judged by Kimberly McCreight.

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 UnchartedTeam

Rejection from Asimov’s

12-day response time

Dear Arthur,

Thank you very much for letting us see “Terminus.”  We appreciate your taking the time to send it in for our consideration.  Although it does not suit the needs of the magazine at this time, we wish you luck with placing it elsewhere.

Sincerely,

Sheila Williams, Editor
Pronouns: she, her
Asimov’s Science Fiction 
www.asimovs.com

Rejection from SmokeLong Quarterly

2-day response time

Dear Arthur,

Thank you for your submission of “Parting Pages” to SmokeLong Quarterly. We gave your work careful consideration. Though we are not accepting it for publication, we hope you find a better fit for it elsewhere.

Thanks again for trusting us with your work, and thank you for reading SmokeLong Quarterly. Our story archive is available free to read online.

All the best,

Christopher Allen

SmokeLong Quarterly

http://smokelong.com

Rejection from Vestal Review

12-day response time

To Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending us “encircled.” Unfortunately we won’t be able to use this work for Vestal Review. We receive many well-written, compelling stories but can take only a limited number because we come out twice a year with only 10-15 stories each issue, which means a 2% acceptance rate. We wish you the best of luck in placing your story elsewhere.

Sincerely,
Vestal Review

This contest submissions season covers deadlines from March 1, 2022 through May 31, 2022. Spring is a great time to submit to literary journals associated with universities before the end of their semester. Response times may lag over the summer though and the pandemic continues to delay and cancel many past opportunities. Thanks to Literistic, Poets & Writers, Submittable Discover, and New Pages for many of these contests.

Much like editors are looking for reasons to reject work, I want to focus on opportunities worth my time. Thus, my list of writing contests below includes reasons to submit to that particular writing contest. May you find a promising opportunity among this list and spend less time searching for where to send your exceptional work.

I found quality opportunities for emerging and established fiction writers. Each comes with its own handy list of reasons to submit. See my recommended Spring 2022 writing contests.

Welcome to The Rejection Quarterly, Fall 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 rejections I collected from September 2021 – November 2021.

Rejection from Boulevard

165-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you very much for sending “Still Watching” to Boulevard. We’re sorry for taking such a long time with your work. Although it was not selected for publication, we’re glad you thought of us. Good luck placing this with another magazine.  

Sincerely,

The Editors, Boulevard

Rejection from storySouth

129-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for allowing storySouth to consider furl & unfurl. We have read it carefully, but must decline to publish. We regret that the volume of submissions we receive and the small size of our staff prevent us from giving a more personal response, but we wish you the best of luck in placing this work elsewhere.

Sincerely,

Jen Julian

Fiction Editor, storySouth

Rejection from The Southern Review

303-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov:

Thank you for sending us your work. We appreciate the opportunity to read your writing, but unfortunately we are unable to use your manuscript. We wish you the best in finding a home for it elsewhere.

Thank you for trying us.

Sincerely,

The Editors of The Southern Review

2021-09-30 21:49:30 (GMT -5:00)

Encouraging Rejection from Nimrod International Journal

53-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending us your work. We appreciate the chance to read it, but, unfortunately, we will not be publishing your submission at this time.

You can be assured that your work has been read by editors who are dedicated to making thoughtful and aesthetically sensitive decisions—editors who wish they could publish all the sincere and well-crafted work that is submitted to Nimrod.  

Again, thank you for your submission. We would be happy to receive new work from you in the future. 

Best,

Eilis O’Neal

Editor-in-Chief

Nimrod International Journal

Rejection from LeVar Burton Reads Contest

79-day response time

Hello,

Thank you for submitting to the first ever LeVar Burton Reads “Origins and Encounters” Contest. We’ve received over 700 submissions and applications are highly competitive. Unfortunately, our readers have declined to move your application forward into the second round of deliberations. On behalf of the team, we appreciate your effort and hope your work finds a home with another publication.

Keep writing!

The LBR Contest Team

Rejection from Kenyon Review

53-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for submitting “Mornings Rolling Off Nob Hill.” Although this piece is not right for us, we appreciated the opportunity to read your work.

We’re grateful for your interest in the Kenyon Review.

Many thanks,

The Editors

This contest submissions season covers deadlines from December 1, 2021 through February 28, 2022. Thanks to Literistic, Poets & Writers, Submittable Discover, and New Pages for many of these contests. 

Much like editors are looking for reasons to reject work, I want to focus on opportunities worth my time. Thus, my list of writing contests below includes reasons to submit to that particular writing contest. May you find a promising opportunity among this list and spend less time searching for where to send your exceptional work.

I found quality opportunities for emerging and established fiction writers. Each comes with its own handy list of reasons to submit. See my recommended Winter 2021 writing contests.

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/

This contest submissions season covers deadlines from September 1, 2021 through November 30, 2021. Thanks to Literistic, Poets & Writers, Submittable Discover, and New Pages for many of these contests.

Much like editors are looking for reasons to reject work, I want to focus on opportunities worth my time. Thus, my list of writing contests below includes reasons to submit to that particular writing contest. May you find a promising opportunity among this list and spend less time searching for where to send your exceptional work.

I found quality opportunities for emerging and established fiction writers. Each comes with its own handy list of reasons to submit. See my roundup of Fall 2021 writing contests.

I think I only dream in present tense, though time is surreal in dreams. When recounting a dream, I think I do so in past tense, though with the occasional foray into present tense. Surely some dreams are exciting enough to relay in real time. The dream experience happened, though the events never quite did, and past tense usually fits. Though that seems more like a storytelling convention rather than treating dreams or dream experiences like the actual past.

So when a character recounts a dream to another character, would they do so in past tense? Even in a story written in past tense? Or would that be past perfect? Or depend on the frame in which the dream was introduced? Would they slip into the present tense for dramatic effect? Would a narrator recount a character’s dream in past tense? Depends on if it’s in scene or summary. And the tense of the story. And how much weight you’d give to things that never happened (in the context of fiction itself, which only ever emotionally happened).

And if you really want to dive into the rabbit hole, consider a story set in the future, told in the past tense, with an ending that begs the question how it could be relayed in anything but the present? In retrospect—ha—this is a strong reason to use the first person point of view; it’s a way of staying grounded to a particular character when time and reality are uncertain.

Welcome to The Rejection Quarterly, Spring 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 March 2021 – May 2021.

Rejection from Upstreet

5-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov:

We’re sorry we won’t be using “The Blackboard Epilogues,” which you submitted to upstreet number seventeen. Although your work will not be included in the final selection, we do appreciate your having thought of upstreet.

We wish you all the best with your writing; thank you for giving us the opportunity to read it. 

The Editors

upstreet
P.O. Box 105
Richmond, MA 01254-0105
http://www.upstreet-mag.org

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Encouraging Rejection from Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine

61-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thanks for letting us read your story “furl & unfurl.” We gave it careful consideration, but did not think it best suited to any of the spaces we currently have open. We hope you’ll soon find the right publication for the story, and that you will continue to think of EQMM when you have new work.

With best wishes,

Janet Hutchings, Editor
Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine
www.facebook.com/elleryqueenmm
www.themysteryplace.com/eqmm/

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Rejection from Nashville Review

52-day response time

Dear Arthur,

Thank you for giving Nashville Review the opportunity to consider your work. While we enjoyed your submission and appreciate your interest in our publication, unfortunately, it doesn’t fit our needs at this time. 

We wish you luck placing your work elsewhere.

Best,

NR

https://as.vanderbilt.edu/nashvillereview/

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Rejection from The Common

151-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending us ‘furl & unfurl.’ Our readers and editors have read it carefully. Unfortunately, this piece does not fit our current editorial needs, but we appreciate the opportunity to consider it.

Thanks again for submitting to The Common. We know that submitting your work takes time and energy, and we wish you the best in placing your piece elsewhere.

Sincerely,
The Common

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Rejection from Unstamatic

31-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to view your work. After careful consideration, we have determined that it is not quite the best fit for our publication, and we are unfortunately going to pass at this time.

We receive a great number of submissions each month, but in this span we can only accept two writing and two art submissions for publication. You have our sincerest thanks for making these choices so difficult.

We are confident you will find another home for your work, and wish you the best of luck in doing so.

Sincerely, 

The Unstamatic Team

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Rejection from The Rumpus

55-day response time

Dear Arthur,

Thank you for sending your short fiction to The Rumpus. We understand how much hard work you put into your work, so please know this submission was fairly considered and given the attention it deserved. While this isn’t a fit for us, we wish you the best of luck in finding a home for it elsewhere, and many successes with your writing.

Sincerely,

Marisa Siegel

The Rumpus

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Encouraging Rejection from CRAFT

85-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending us ‘Terminus’ to consider for CRAFT. We’re sorry this isn’t the right story for us right now. Please keep us in mind for future submissions.

Sincerely,

The Editors

CRAFT

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Encouraging Rejection from Wrongdoing

15-day response time

Dear Arthur,

Thank you so much for trusting us at Wrongdoing with your work. We appreciated the chance to consider it, however we ultimately found that it isn’t quite the right fit for the magazine. We encourage you to submit again in the summer/fall for our Thorns issue.

Thank you again for your submission; we hope you are keeping safe and well.

If you have sent us work in another category, you will receive a separate email regarding that submission in the near future.

Best wishes,

Pascale, Editor-in-Chief

Wrongdoing Magazine

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Encouraging Rejection from perhappened mag

22-day response time

dear arthur,

thank you so much for trusting us at perhappened mag with your work. we are honored to review it, and we deeply apologize for the delay on our end as we waded waist-deep in submissions!

unfortunately, our team felt that your flash fiction submission, “duskwing,” was not quite a match for our DAYDREAM issue. however, it was a privilege for us to review, and our guest reader marked this story as particularly vivid, wistful work. we’re confident it will land with a wonderful home, and we would love to see more from you!

we would recommend resubmitting “duskwing” to alien magazine, spelk, interstellar lit, breakwater review, and/or farside review. once again, we are deeply grateful for your trust and interest in perhappened mag. we are open for DAYDREAM submissions until tonight, april 3rd at 11:59 pm pst. from our little literary family to yours, we hope you are staying safe and well!

warmest regards,
isaura ren
editor-in-chief
perhappened mag

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Rejection from Gulf Coast

24-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending ‘Still Watching’ to Gulf Coast. While we didn’t feel it was the right fit for our pages at this time, we appreciated having the chance to consider it.

Best wishes to you and your writing.

Sincerely,

The Editors
Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts
https://gulfcoastmag.org/

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Encouraging Rejection from storySouth

96-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for allowing storySouth to consider The Blackboard Epilogues. We have read it carefully, but must decline to publish. However, we received an exceptional crop of stories this spring, and this piece did make it to the final reading round due to the quality of the writing. We would love to see work from you in the future and sincerely hope that you will consider submitting to us again.

We wish you the best in placing this fine story elsewhere.

Sincerely,

Jen Julian

Fiction Editor, storySouth

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Encouraging Rejection from Monkeybicycle

198-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending us ‘Working remotely isn’t even remotely working.’. We appreciate the chance to read it. Unfortunately, it’s not quite right for Monkeybicycle so we’re going to pass. Do feel free to send us more of your work though. 

Thanks again, and best of luck finding a home for this piece. 

Sincerely,

Monkeybicycle Staff

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Encouraging Rejection from Fugue

13-day response time

Dear Arthur,

Thank you for sending us “The Blackboard Epilogues”. Our staff, composed of writers, is keenly aware of the anxieties and subjectivities of submission. Unfortunately, we were unable to find a place for this story in Fugue at this time. We wish you the best of luck placing this story elsewhere, and hope that you will keep us in mind for future submissions. 

Sincerely,
Sean Theodore Stewart
Fiction Editor of Fugue

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Rejection from Washington Square Review

109-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for submitting your work to Washington Square. We appreciate the efforts that have gone into this piece. Unfortunately, it is not a fit for our upcoming issue. Please be assured that your story was read thoroughly and given careful consideration by our editorial staff. We wish you the best of luck finding a home for it elsewhere.

Sincerely,
The Editors
Washington Square Review

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Rejection from The Cincinnati Review

167-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov:

Thank you for the opportunity to consider your submission “within & without.” We’ve read it with care but have decided not to accept it for publication. Best of luck placing it elsewhere.

Sincerely,

The Editors of The Cincinnati Review

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

This contest submissions season covers deadlines from June 1, 2021 through August 31, 2021. Summer is a slower time for any literary journal or contest associated with a university, but there are still opportunities between beach waves and new drafts. Thanks to Literistic, Poets & Writers, Submittable Discover, and New Pages for many of these contests.

Much like editors are looking for reasons to reject work, I want to focus on opportunities worth my time. Thus, my list of writing contests below includes reasons to submit to that particular writing contest. May you find a promising opportunity among this list and spend less time searching for where to send your exceptional work.

I found quality opportunities for emerging and established fiction writers. Each comes with its own handy list of reasons to submit. See my roundup of Summer 2021 writing contests.

Welcome to The Rejection Quarterly, Winter 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 December 2020 – February 2021.

Rejection from SmokeLong Quarterly

1-day response time

Dear Arthur,

Thank you for your submission of ‘Dialing Islands’ to SmokeLong Quarterly. We gave your work careful consideration. Though we are not accepting it for publication, we hope you find a better fit for it elsewhere.

Thanks again for trusting us with your work, and thank you for reading SmokeLong Quarterly. Our story archive is available free to read online.

All the best,

Christopher Allen

SmokeLong Quarterly

http://smokelong.com

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Encouraging Rejection from MacQueen’s Quinterly

1-day response time

Dear Art,

Heartfelt thanks for brightening my morning with a trio of lyrical stories. Just my cuppa tea! :-) I enjoyed reading them all, and I would be so pleased to publish this pair:

…

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Though this was an acceptance for two of my pieces, it was still a rejection of the third.

Encouraging Rejection from The San Franciscan

3-day response time

Dear Arthur,

Thank you for coming to the reading and for your support for The San Franciscan! It’s really wonderful to hear.

I enjoyed reading your submission, you write with such beautiful descriptive language. Our fiction section for our next issue is currently full (I’ve just updated the website to reflect this). We typically publish personal essays and fiction with a very strong sense of place–pieces that really evoke San Francisco and the Bay Area. We also only have room for about one of each in every issue. 

I’d love to read more of your work for future issues (we publish twice a year), especially if you have pieces that evoke that strong sense of place and are focused on the Bay Area. 

In the meantime, I’d encourage you to continue to familiarize yourself with our magazine and definitely check out the print issue if you can. If you’re up in [ redacted ], we’re selling at [ redacted ] and [ redacted ], among a few others (I grew up in [ redacted ]). 

Sincerely,
Erica

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Rejection from The Arkansas International

37-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for submitting “Terminus” to The Arkansas International. Regrettably, we are unable to find a place for it in our next issue, and we’re going to have to pass at this time. Thank you for your patience and for allowing us to consider your piece. We wish you the best of luck placing this elsewhere. 

Regards,

The Editors
The Arkansas International
http://www.arkint.org

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Rejection from Washington Square Review

103-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for submitting your work to Washington Square. We appreciate the efforts that have gone into this piece. Unfortunately, it is not a fit for our upcoming issue. Please be assured that your story was read thoroughly and given careful consideration by our editorial staff. We wish you the best of luck finding a home for it elsewhere.

Sincerely,
The Editors
Washington Square Review

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Encouraging Rejection from Breakwater Review

23-day response time

Dear Arthur,

Thank you for sending us “within & without” for 2021 Breakwater Review Fiction Contest. We appreciate the opportunity to read your work. However, after careful consideration, we have decided to pass. We apologize for the delay in notifying you of our decision, but we’ve received a great number of work over the past months that have taken us more time than we expected to get through with equal and fair consideration. We appreciate your patience!

Although this piece was not right for us at this time, we encourage you to try us again in the future.

Thanks again.

Sincerely,

Suchita Nayar

Logan Buckley

Fiction co-editors

Breakwater Review

http://www.breakwaterreview.com

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Rejection from Calvino Prize

72-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending us ‘Terminus’. We truly appreciated the chance to read it. Unfortunately, the piece has not been chosen by our judge for the Calvino Prize this year. 

Winners and finalists will be posted on social media and our website (http://louisville.edu/english/creative-writing/contests) in early January.

Best of luck in all of your literary endeavors, and please do look out for next year’s Calvino Prize.

Sincerely,
Ian Stansel
Director of Creative Writing
University of Louisville

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Encouraging Rejection from Epiphany

89-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for submitting your work, “Evergreen Promises.” 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

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Rejection from Thimble Literary Magazine

7-day response time

Thank you for entrusting your work to us at Thimble Lit Mag. Unfortunately, your work is not the right fit for us at this time.

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

Best,
Nadia Arioli

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Encouraging Rejection from Crazyhorse

76-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

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

Thank you for the opportunity to read your work during this difficult time. We hope you are safe and well.

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, and the month of July, during which we only accept entries for Crazyshorts!, our annual short-short fiction contest. 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 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. 

The Crazyshorts! Contest accepts entries from July 1st to July 31st. Submit 1-3 shorts of up to 500 words each. Each entry is considered for publication, and the entry fee includes a one-year subscription. The winner receives $1,000 and publication. Three runners up will be announced.  

For more information, please visit our website: http://crazyhorse.cofc.edu

Wishing you the best of luck with your writing,

The Eds.
Crazyhorse

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Rejection from Ruminate

52-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for submitting and giving us a chance to consider ‘Counting.’ 

After close review, this submission wasn’t the right fit for The Waking. We appreciate that you think enough of our magazine to have shared it with us, and we wish you all the best with your work. 

Sincerely,

Ruminate

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Rejection from Split Lip Magazine

20-day response time

Dear Arthur,

Thank you for sending us ‘WINC-FM.’ While we are grateful to have had the opportunity to read your work, we’re sorry to say it isn’t a good fit for us at this time. Our submissions queue continues to grow, and we often have to decline many excellent pieces. 

We hope that you are taking good care of yourself and staying healthy during this difficult time.

Thanks again for trusting us with your work. Best of luck with this piece and all of your writing.

Sincerely,

The Editors

Split Lip Magazine

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Encouraging Rejection from Fantasy Magazine

112-day response time

Dear Arthur,

Thanks for submitting “duskwing.” There were things we enjoyed about it, but overall it didn’t quite work for us. Best of luck to you placing this one elsewhere. We look forward to seeing more work from you soon. 

Sincerely,

Arley Sorg & Christie Yant
Editors-in-Chief
Fantasy Magazine
www.fantasy-magazine.com

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Encouraging Rejection from The Missouri Review

102-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for letting us consider “Still Watching” for publication in the Missouri Review. We enjoyed reading it, and though it doesn’t quite fit our needs at this time, we hope we will have the chance to read more of your writing in the future.

Sincerely,

The Editors

———-
Announcing the 2021 PERKOFF PRIZE from TMR: The re-vamped Perkoff Prize will award $1000 and publication each to writers of the best story, set of poems, and essay that engage in evocative ways with health and medicine as judged by the editors. Learn more here: https://www.missourireview.com/contests/perkoff-prize/

Subscribe to TMR, and discover the best new fiction, poetry, and nonfiction being written today: https://www.missourireview.com/subscriptions/

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Encouraging Rejection from Slice

86-day response time

Dear Arthur:

Thanks so much for giving us the opportunity to consider “Still Watching” for Slice. Due to the high volume of submissions we receive, we regret that we aren’t able to respond to each submission personally. Unfortunately, your piece isn’t the best fit for our upcoming issue and so we’re passing. We wish you success placing it in the right home and hope you’ll consider submitting to Slice again in the future.

Best wishes,

The Editors
http://www.slicemagazine.org

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Rejection from Redivider

148-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for trusting us with your work. We appreciated the opportunity to consider ‘The Blackboard Epilogues,’ but have decided not to accept it for publication.

We wish you the best of luck in placing it elsewhere!

Sincerely,

Abby Provenzano

Fiction Editor 

Redivider

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Rejection from The Racket

10-day response time

Arthur

I wanted to write and say thank you again for your submission.

We are going to pass on it at this time.

I know how much it takes to send your work out into the universe. Please know how much we appreciate you giving us the chance to read it.

Keep at it. 

– The Racket

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Encouraging Rejection from The Lit Mug

117-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for your submission to The Lit Mug. We enjoyed the opportunity to read Anagrams for Our Yesterdays. Unfortunately, we regret to inform you that, despite its obvious merits, your piece was not selected for our publication. We thank you for your patience during this whole process; The Lit Mug opened submissions believing we would only receive 30 or 40 total. We received over 120, an unprecedented amount of support for our mission. We promised feedback for anyone who submitted, so we took a significant amount of time to finish that. We would also like to note that, while your piece was not selected for publication, please know that it was a difficult decision, and that your piece was in the top twenty. We greatly appreciate you submitting to us, and we would be honored if you would submit again for future volumes.

Our feedback was as follows:

The format of this piece is clever! The anagrams work within this piece, and the message comes across clearly. With very little words, we see a timeline of a relationship and can feel those emotions from each section. It is a very poetic fiction piece. However, the relationship ends up a little vague. Consider expanding on the relationship with specific details and moments. For example, who is the ‘him’ mentioned during the paragraph that begins with ‘Goal At Sin’? There is movement in this piece, but we want to experience the journey with the characters.

Finally, as a thank-you for submitting, and for your patience, we would love to offer you a coupon code for our store once that opens. We expect to launch a Logo Mug around February 14, and our first issue is scheduled to drop on March 1. If you go to our store on our website (https://thelitmug.wixsite.com/thelitmug) and plug in the coupon code “[ redacted ],” you will receive 5% off your order.

Your support and your art have been greatly appreciated, and we hope to hear from you again!

Best,

Carling, Steven, and Jena

The Lit Mug Team

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Rejection from The Sea Letter

212-day response time

Dear Arthur,

Our editors have reviewed your short fiction submission. Unfortunately this work doesn’t fit what we are looking for, but we thank you for considering us.

Zac Warren

Senior Editor of The Sea Letter

[ email address redacted ]

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Encouraging Rejection from 100 Word Story

39-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. 

It’s difficult for us because despite the number of great pieces we receive, many of them don’t quite fit into our editorial needs. 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. Best of luck with this.

Sincerely,
100 Word Story

P.S. Please follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/pages/100-Word-Story/213141275370389) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/100word_story). 

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Encouraging Rejection from Witness

21-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for trusting us with within & without during our 2021 Fiction call for submissions. Unfortunately, we decided it was not the right fit for this upcoming issue. We appreciate having had the chance to consider your story and hope you will keep us in mind for the future. 

Arthur, once again, I’d like to encourage you to submit more work. I find your prose magnetic, but for this story, I sometimes struggled to understand which details were significant, particularly as I tried to understand the relationship between the narrator and the “you.” 

Thanks again, and best of luck with your writing. 

Best,

Robert Ren

Fiction Editor

Witness Magazine

https://witness.blackmountaininstitute.org/

Twitter: @witnessmag

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Rejection from Gigantic Sequins

57-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov:

Thank you for sending us ‘1 Short Story: “The Blackboard Epilogues”‘. We appreciate the chance to read your writing. Unfortunately, we have not chosen this work for our upcoming issue. Best of luck in placing it elsewhere.

We discourage replies to this notice about your submission’s final status as we may not have time to read through or reply to any. You may contact us through the email link on our website if you have a specific inquiry or comment with a fresh subject line that indicates your topic, please.

We appreciate you looking to Gigantic Sequins as a journal where you’d like to see your work in print.

Sincerely,
the Gigantic Sequins editors
http://giganticsequins.com

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Rejection from PRISM international

120-day response time

Dear Arthur,

Thank you for sending ‘The Blackboard Epilogues’ to PRISM international. Our editorial board read your work for PRISM’s upcoming issues. Unfortunately, after careful consideration, we will not be accepting your submission.

We receive many excellent submissions, and are unable to publish them all. It is worth noting that a rejection is not necessarily a reflection on the quality of your work, as there are many things that factor into our decisions, including the composition of each issue as a whole. We are grateful to you for sharing your work with us.

Warm wishes,
Tanvi

—-
Tanvi Bhatia
Prose Editor
PRISM international
http://prismmagazine.ca

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Encouraging Rejection from jmmw

44-day response time

Dear Arthur, 

Thank you for sending us ‘Anagrams for Our Yesterdays.’ We appreciated the chance to read it. Although there was a lot to like here, it didn’t quite come together for us in the end, and we regret to pass. Although we’re sorry we don’t have better news at this time, consider submitting to us again in the future!

Thanks again for thinking of us. Best of luck with this!
Sincerely,
The editors at jmww

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”