#submittable

And I'm as pleased as punch to be its first-ever guest editor in Fiction! 📚 Please spread the word that we are now open for submissions, and don't forget to send in your stories, poetry, or art!

What is EPOCH?

EPOCH is one of the most prestigious and widely anthologized literary magazines in America. Under the helm of its most recent-editor-in-chief, the late (and dearly beloved) Michael Koch, EPOCH won the first ever O. Henry Prize for best publisher of fiction and best literary magazine in America, an award given in later years to publications such as The New Yorker; it has had its work reproduced in every major literary anthology in the United States. EPOCH featured the first published fiction of many noteworthy writers, including Thomas Pynchon and Don DeLillo, as well as early stories from emerging writers like Philip Roth and Joyce Carol Oates.

EPOCH is published biannually and is currently seeking works of fiction, poetry, essays, comics, and graphic art.

How do I submit?

Full submission guidelines can be found here. EPOCH accepts both electronic submissions via Submittable (August and January only) as well as mail submissions (August through March).

EPOCH also pays its contributors! Payment is currently from $100 to $500 for poetry, prose, or comics, depending on length, and 350$ for cover art!

As the guest editor this year and assistant editor in the past, I can attest that every submission sent to EPOCH is read and considered extremely carefully. Please, send in your works of fiction, poetry, and art!!! I am personally especially excited to see works of speculative fiction, weird or magical realist fiction, and anything else that sparks the imagination, but all genres and styles are welcome! 👀

With over ten years experience writing and submitting my work, it’s become clear to me that online resources are super important to writing. Whether you want to track your submissions, find new markets to submit to, or just figure out what agents are looking for, these website are key to your writing career.

Here are some of my favorite websites for writers:

The Submission Grinder — http://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/

A free submissions tracking website with powerful charts and submissions tracking tools, including searching by genre, word count, and more. Allows you to track how long your submission has been out and how long a venue usually takes to get back to you. Gives average rejection times. Offers a monthly submission email newsletter. A great tool for writers, but only tracks fiction, not poetry.

Duotrope — https://duotrope.com/

A powerful tool for tracking submissions. Costs $5 a month. Provides much of the same abilities as the Submission Grinder, except you can track poetry. Also has lists of “fastest turnaround” journals and a Calendar feature that tells you upcoming theme deadlines for journals and anthologies. Worth the cost if you’re a poet!

Query Tracker — https://querytracker.net/

Query Tracker is like Duotrope but for finding an agent.

Shunn’s Manuscript Format — http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html

The standard manuscript format for submissions in most genre magazines. Also useful for any journal that asks for a header and author information on the first page of the submission.

Submittable — https://www.submittable.com/

A submissions online portal used by the majority of magazines. Free to sign up, connects to Paypal for submission fees or via credit card.

The Review Review — http://www.thereviewreview.net/

A review website for literary journals. A good resource for researching the right journal for your piece. Includes interviews and submission calls in the classifieds section.

New Pages — http://www.newpages.com/

A website which lists reviews, calls for submissions, contests, and conferences. Has a great list of classifieds for submission calls.

Clifford Garstang’s Pushcart Prize Rankings — http://cliffordgarstang.com/?cat=951

This website lists the top journals ranked by Pushcart Prize winnings. A helpful tool in creating tiered submissions.

Literary Mama — http://www.literarymama.com/

Another website with monthly submission calls, sometimes with a focus on parenting submissions, but usually for all types of submissions.

Entropy Mag — http://entropymag.org/category/where-to-submit/

Another great listing of submission calls. You can never have too many.

Rejection Wiki — http://rejectionwiki.com/

A user-generated website which lists rejection letters in tiers. Helpful to see if a journal really likes your work and has given you a “personal” rejection.

Publisher’s Weekly — https://www.publishersweekly.com/

I suggest checking out this website if you are a novel writer. They list recently acquired titles — a great way to find who is buying the kind of book you are writing.

SFWA (Science Fiction Writers Association) — http://www.sfwa.org/

SFWA is a fantastic resource for speculative writers. It lists “pro” markets (those that pay at least .08/word) and provides resources such as an emergency medical fund, mentorship programs, networking and marketing, grants, and volunteer opportunities. You must have a certain number of pro sales to join.

Poets & Writers Magazine — https://www.pw.org/

A great resource for submissions, they have a database of journals. Also you can subscribe to the magazine and it has lots of submission opportunities.

MSWL (Manuscript Wish List) — http://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/

Submit to The Phoenix literary journal to get your literary work published!

We accept Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Hybrid Works.

MSJ Open to Submissions on Saturday, December 1

Have you always wanted to see your name in the pages of Mad Scientist Journal? Polish up your stories and classified ads, because our final submission period for 2018 opens on Saturday, December 1!

Let’s Talk About S….

Submissions! Duh. What did you think I was gonna say?

Maybe you saw the tweet that went viral lately, about the woman who made it her goal to get 100 rejection letters by the end of the year.  She’s having trouble reaching her goal because she keeps getting acceptances instead! Which is awesome! Good for her.

This year I also set a goal: submit two short stories for publication.  I set the bar…