{"id":4493,"date":"2015-06-08T07:16:56","date_gmt":"2015-06-08T11:16:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=4493"},"modified":"2015-06-08T07:48:51","modified_gmt":"2015-06-08T11:48:51","slug":"5-things-submitting-writers-should-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=4493","title":{"rendered":"5 Things Submitting Writers Should Know"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(photo: Martin Fisch, Creative Commons license)<\/p><\/div>\n

AGNI<\/a> <\/em>is the well-regarded literary magazine published by Boston University, and its editor is Sven Birkerts. For the June edition of The AGNI Newsletter<\/em>, <\/em>Birkets took advantage of the journal\u2019s current hiatus in accepting author submissions to reflect on what its editors hope to find when they read their \u201ctowering backlog\u201d of poem, short story, and essay manuscripts.<\/p>\n

How big is that \u201ctowering backlog\u201d? Birkets says he typically receives a hundred new manuscripts a day. He made five points for writers to consider<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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  1. Understand the initial screen<\/em> \u2013 submissions are first triaged into three categories: those clearly off the mark one way or another (more than 60 percent); those that may have potential (25 percent); and those with \u201cobvious appeal\u201d (less than 12 percent), which are circulated to appropriate readers. He doesn\u2019t say whether those 60 receive an immediate \u201cNo, thanks,\u201d or whether they get into a process that takes the two to four months noted in AGNI<\/em>\u2019s submission guidelines<\/a>. (AGNI<\/em> turned down a short story of mine, and it took six weeks.)<\/li>\n
  2. Understand the need for fit<\/em> \u2013 The approximately one-third of the submissions in the \u201cmaybe\u201d queue are reviewed for both quality and goodness-of-fit\u2014as Birkets puts it, whether they fall within its \u201caesthetic profile.\u201d Determining the likelihood that a story will be a good fit is ideally an author\u2019s responsibility, in part. It\u2019s why literary journals typically suggest a prospective submitter read a few copies before<\/em> sending in their work. In other words, self-triage. \u201cIt does take some time to scout out likely venues for work,\u201d he admits, \u201cbut it also takes time sending and re-sending to ones that turn out to be unlikely.\u201d<\/li>\n
  3. Focus on the most important<\/em> \u2013 What AGNI<\/em> editors look for in a cover letter is a quick statement and a short list of the author\u2019s most notable previous publications, if any. By contrast, the first sentences of the story receive the editors\u2019 careful attention. Birkets describes why beautifully: \u201cAs an editor confronting the day\u2019s abundance, I want to find a reason to stop reading as soon as I can. As an editor in love with good writing, I want to find that I cannot stop.\u201d<\/li>\n
  4. Don\u2019t fret about a lack of previous publications<\/em> \u2013 This, he says, is not a barrier with AGNI<\/em>, and, contrariwise, well established writers can be rejected because of the lack of fit noted above Birkets estimates that about half the stories AGNI<\/em> publishes are by newly discovered writers.<\/li>\n
  5. Be committed to the importance of the work<\/em> \u2013 This is the hardest of his points to distill into concrete advice, but may be the most critical. He says he wants to see work that is \u201can authentic and necessary expression, something that couldn\u2019t not<\/em> be written.\u201d In other words, the writing must be propelled by the author\u2019s deep conviction of its necessity in a noisy world. \u201cWe know when we are in the presence of that and, believe me, we are interested,\u201d he says. I have a friend whose OK novel was published a few years ago. Sometime later, I asked him whether he was writing another. \u201cNo,\u201d he said, with astonishing candor, \u201cI found out I don\u2019t have anything to say.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    For my many writing friends who do<\/em> have something to say, AGNI<\/em>\u2019s submissions period opens again September 1.<\/p>\n

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