5 Things I’m Looking for in Lit Mag Submissions

How to get serious consideration at the right literary magazine

Over the years, I’ve read and voted on hundreds of fiction and nonfiction submissions for Carve Magazine (now defunct) and The Masters Review. As a reader at highly selective literary magazines, here are five important things I’m looking for in prose submissions:

The piece grabs my attention early.

The sooner you hook the reader’s interest, the better—preferably, on the first page, and even better, the first paragraph. There are many ways I’ve seen writers do this, from dropping us in the middle of a tense moment, to stunning us with gorgeous, moody language, to wowing us with a compelling narrative voice. Ultimately, it’s up to you, the writer, to figure out how, but craft is going to play a large part of it.

Tip: When you’re sharing your work with others for feedback, ask them to point out the specific sentence where your piece first hooked their interest. If it’s on page 2 or later, you may want to rethink your beginning.

There’s a source of tension/something at stake.

Having a source of tension in the piece (big or small) not only helps to grab the reader’s attention at the beginning (see above), but it also helps to pull the reader through the story because they want to find out what happens. Often, that tension comes from the narrator or the main character having something at stake—a consequence or reward coming their way depending on what happens.

Tip: Ask yourself what your narrator/character stands to lose and what they stand to gain over the course of the piece. If it’s not clear to you as the writer, or the stakes are small potatoes, it’s time to raise the ante.

The writing is fresh, engaging, and shows excellence in craft.

As writers, there are endless narrative techniques at our disposal for creating language, imagery, structure, etc., that surprises and engages the reader. It’s important that you’re continuously developing your writing skills and applying that knowledge to the page. How you choose to tell the story is what’s going to set you apart from other writers in the submission queue.

Tip: There are many ways to hone your craft, from taking workshops and classes to attending readings (virtual or in-person) to reading work in literary magazines you admire. Take advantage of these opportunities as often as you can. Being a writer also means being a lifelong learner.

The piece has a small story AND a larger story

The small story is what is actually happening plot-wise. For example, a woman’s car breaks down and she has to accept help from a stranger. The larger story addresses the question of, Why does this matter? Why should the reader care? In this example, perhaps the larger story is about learning to trust again after being hurt. I see many submissions with a small story but missing a larger story. So, at the end I’m left thinking, Okay, but so what?

Tip: The larger story should never be explicitly stated. Instead, it is something the reader should come to know/feel/understand by the end of the piece. When you first start writing a piece, it’s normal to only know what the small story is. It is through the process of receiving feedback and revising your work that you slowly uncover what the larger story is.

The ending is evocative and earned.

Life is messy and complicated and so are people. Avoid the urge to wrap up your piece with a neat, tidy bow or to sum up what the point of the piece was. I’m looking for an ending that evokes emotion in the reader, that feels in alignment with the rest of the piece, and that stays with me after I’ve finished reading it.

Tip: Whoever you want the reader to invest in over the course of the piece (i.e., whoever’s story it is), whether it’s the narrator or a specific character, stay close to that narrator/character at the end. That is the person we as readers have grown to care about, and who we want to be close to when the piece ends.

This is, of course, not an exhaustive list, but if a piece is doing these five things well, chances are it’s going to get serious consideration at the right literary magazine.

I’m planning to expand on each of these topics in the future - which one(s) are you most interested in?