Submission Blitz – Women Who Submit

September 2, 2020September 1, 2020

7 Steps to Submitting

Our 7th Annual Submission Blitz is coming Saturday, September 12th. This online event is our annual drive to submit to tier one journals as an action for gender parity in publishing.

In the summer of 2011 a group of women met together in a kitchen to share food, literary journals, and submission goals to encourage each other to submit work for publication. The idea for this first submission party came from WWS cofounder, Alyss Dixson as a response to the Vida Count. We began the Submission Blitz in the summer of 2014 to honor our beginnings and continue to push for gender parity in top tier publishing.

We’ve come to understand that submitting to tier one journals is no easy ask, so to help, check out the 7 Steps to Submitting below. And consider joining us on September 12th. It’s as easy as marking yourself going to the event, submitting to a journal, notifying us know on FB, Twitter, or IG, and letting us shower you in claps and cheers.

Images from our 2019 Submission Blitz LA meet-up at the Faculty Bar in East Hollywood.

7 Steps to Submitting:

by Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo

1. Select a Manuscript – When selecting a piece (for poetry this may be 5-7 poems) to submit, be sure sure to choose a story, essay, or poems you absolutely love or need to see in the world. These are top tier magazines, so if you don’t love the work and need to see it published, why would you expect the editors to?

2. Research & Pick a Journal – Begin by looking through this list of tier one journals with links to guidelines curated by Tisha Marie Reichle-Aguilera. Some things to look into: Who’s on the editorial team? Who’s been published? What’s their mission statement? Do you like what’s been published? Does your work fit within their guidelines?

3. Read & Follow the Guidelines – the fastest way to get your work rejected is to not follow guidelines. Don’t make it easy for an editor to say no to you.

4. Prepare your Manuscript – be sure to adjust your manuscript according to the guidelines, give it to a friend read through for any last minute notes, and read through it out loud before sending to catch any typos.

5. Write a cover letter – be sure to personalize a cover letter with the name of the editor and a sentence about why you’ve chosen to send your work to them. Though it’s up for debate if cover letters are even read, this is a good practice for keeping open communications with editors you hope to create a working relationship with. See more about cover letters here.

6. Submit – once you’re ready, HIT SEND! And then be sure to let us know on our social media accounts so we can clap and cheer for you!

7. Record your Submission – a submission tracker is a spreadsheet and a great tool for keeping your submissions in order. What you put on the tracker is up to you, but the name of journal, name of submission, and date it was submitted is a good place to start. This is helpful for checking back on submissions that have been out for three, six, or more months, as well as keeping up communications when practicing simultaneous submissions (see the link in point 5 for more information on this).

*This is image represents the first six months of my* *personal 2019 submission tracker.*

August 16, 2020September 13, 2020

It’s Time for Submission Blitz 2020!

We, Women Who Submit, want to celebrate the last eight years of submissions, rejections, and acceptances with one giant nationwide online submission party.

We are inviting all women and non-binary writers around the country to submit to at least one tier-one journal (Or maybe five!) on September 12, 2020. Let’s inundate these top journals with our best work and shake up their slush piles!

How to Participate:

Mark yourself as going on Submission Blitz Facebook Event Page.
Before the day, study this list of tier-one journals with links to submission guidelines curated by Tisha Marie Reichle-Aguilera
On September 12, 2020 submit to at least one tier one magazines from where ever you are in the world
Notify us on Facebook Event Page in the comments, on Twitter, or Instagram (@womenwhosubmit), so we can celebrate you with lots of claps and cheers
Follow the stories on Instagram throughout the day for encouraging words and tips from members

August 13, 2019

Strategies for Submitting to Tier One Journals

Eight women with laptops sit on either side of a long table, smiling at the camera

by Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo

The 6th Annual WWS Submission Blitz on Saturday, September 14th is when we call on women and nonbinary writers across the country (and world) to submit to tier one journals en masse as an annual call to action for gender parity in literary publishing. Though we find it important to support and empower each writer in finding her/their own submission and publication goals, sending work to whichever publications, contests, workshops, residencies, and the like are fitting to the individual, we ask our communities to join us in submitting to top tier journals on this one day of the year in honor of WWS’s history and mission and our shared fight for equitable representation, pay, and career opportunities.

In 2009, Vida, Women in Literary Arts counted how many women were published in tier one journals in comparison to how many men. The numbers of the first Vida Count showed unequivocal evidence of a great gender disparity in these publications. When the organization began asking the editors of these journals why the numbers were so, the most common answer from editors was that women don’t submit as often or resubmit as aggressively as men.

In 2011, Women Who Submit was created in response to this conversation. WWS cofounder, Alyss Dixson, who worked with Vida at the time, had the idea to create a submission party–a co-working space for women to share resources, journals, and food, and to submit in real time–to help skew the numbers.

With many barriers to consider when submitting to tier one journals, the following five steps are shared with your success in mind. And remember, the act of sending your work into the world is its own success.

STEP ONE: PREPARE A PIECE TO SUBMIT

FAQ: How do I know what to send?

One of the first workshops WWS hosted was in early 2016 on contest strategies with Tammy De La Torre. Her strategy is to choose work that is an absolute favorite, work that you as the writer want to see in the world. Contests and tier one journals are similar in that they are highly competitive. Sometimes you may write a new piece and choose to submit it to a couple of journals as a way of throwing it against the wall to see what sticks. When submitting to tier one, it’s best to pick pieces that have been tested and fine-tuned. If not that, then pieces that are personally urgent or essential.

FAQ: How do I know when it’s ready?

For most writers, it’s normal to find elements to tweak or fix even after publication. A piece may never be “perfect,” but it’s your job as a writer to send your best work. You can do this through revisions and by utilizing friends and colleagues for first and second read throughs. It’s not always easy to find someone with time or interest to read your work, so invite another writer to do an exchange. This way you’re both benefitting as well as building bonds with a peer. In general, avoid sending work before having another set of eyes on it.

STEP TWO: SELECT A JOURNAL

FAQ: How do I know where to send?

For this project, WWS encourages women and nonbinary writers to submit to tier one journals in honor of the VIDA Count and the creation of the first Submission Party in 2011. A tier one journal typically has large distribution and readership, many awards, and pays its readers. Check out the Clifford Garstang blog for annual lists of tier one journals in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

Below is a list top tier journals with current open submissions curated by Tisha Marie Reichle-Aguilera (find links and descriptions for each on our FB page):

Poetry

Kenyon Review

American Poetry Journal

Threepenny Review

New England Review

Southern Review

Gettysburg Review

Ploughshares

The Sun

One Story

Conjunctions

Paris Review

Ecotone

American Short Fiction

Georgia Review

Granta

New Letters

Agni

Almagundi

The Point

Fourth Genre

FAQ: What if I can’t buy all the magazines?

Every magazine will ask you to read past issues before submitting to ensure your work is a good fit. Reading the issue will also help with adding one specific detail about the journal in your cover letter. This is important for building communication and relationships with editors. But print journals are expensive, so pull resources with friends. Swap old copies. Share subscriptions. Or find past issues in libraries and in the creative writing departments on college campuses.

STEP THREE: WRITE A COVER LETTER

FAQ: What should I put in a cover letter?

Address the editor directly by finding specific editors’ names on the journal masthead. The easiest way to find the masthead is to Google “[journal name] masthead.” If you still can’t find the editor’s name, address the letter as “Dear [specific genre] editors.”
Name the title of your piece or pieces
Give one reason why you have chosen to send your work to this particular journal. This is where you can let the editor know you’ve done your homework by reading past issues. Make it short. Make it specific.
Write a short bio with your related credits.

For an example, check out “Your Perfect Cover Letter” at the review review.

FAQ: What if I have no credits?

If you haven’t been published, it’s ok to say so. You can also include writing classes, workshops, or memberships, but don’t make up credits, and don’t fill space with cuties details.

STEP FOUR: HIT SEND

FAQ: How important are guidelines?

The quickest way to be rejected is to not follow a journal’s guidelines. Thoroughly read the guidelines and be sure your submission is adhering to what the journal asks for. Every journal is different, so do one last check before you send.

FAQ: Can I send the same work to multiple places?

If a journal does not specify otherwise, the answer is yes. Be sure to track (see step five) where you’re sending work because if a journal accepts a piece (YAY!), it’s your job to notify the other journals and withdraw. If a journal says they don’t take “simultaneous submissions” follow the guidelines and decide if you want to submit knowing they may not respond for a long stretch of time.

FAQ: Who will help me celebrate when I hit send?

WWS will be submitting en masse to tier one journals on Saturday, September 14th from 12am-11:59pm. No matter where in the country (or world) you live, we encourage you to gather a few friends and have your own submission party. A typical WWS submission party will include shared copies of journals, wifi, computers, and plenty of snacks. And of course, don’t forget to audibly cheer anytime anyone hits send!

If you are unable to gather with others, be sure to @womenwhosubmit on Twitter or Instagram, and we’ll send you plenty of claps and cheers from afar.

If you’re in Los Angeles, you can meet us at The Faculty (707 N Heliotrope Dr, Los Angeles, California 90029) with your laptop on September 14th from 12:30pm-4pm.

STEP FIVE: TRACK SUBMISSIONS

FAQ: What do I do after I “hit send”?

Once you’ve celebrated, be sure to record the submission in your submission tracker. A tracker is a spreadsheet with columns for journal name, date submitted, title of piece submitted, etc. No two trackers are the same, but what’s most important is for you to know who has your work and for how long. This will help with building relationships with journals and self-advocating.

FAQ: How long should I wait before sending a query?

Many journals will tell you how long to wait before checking in, and what they say should be followed. Some journals may respond within two months, but for many of the larger journals a reply can take 6-12 months. If a journal doesn’t specify, I typically wait six months before querying, but it’s not uncommon to wait two or three.

January 10, 2019January 10, 2019

2018 Report and What’s to Come in 2019

A woman standing before a room of women writers speaking.

In 2018, WWS hosted five public career development workshops led by local professionals, which were livestreamed and archived on our public Facebook page. At these free, public events we orientated 66 new members into our community and granted nearly $900 to existing members to help with submission fees. In September, we hosted our 5th Annual Submission Blitz at The Faculty Bar in East Hollywood where those in attendance racked up 35 total submissions in four hours.

On our blog, we celebrated 131 publications and awards in our monthly WWS Publication Roundup edited by Laura K. Warrell, and we brought two new series: “Breathe & Push,” essays focused on the strength and space to breathe through bleak circumstances and push our creative works into the world, edited by Noriko Nakada, and “Writing on Budget” edited by Lisbeth Coiman. Nakada also published the original essay, “Why LAUSD Teachers Might Strike” on our site, and we are happy to support LA teachers. Another piece of advocacy we are proud of is, “WWS statement against the Trump Administration’s racist immigration policy,” a collective piece led by blog editor and leadership team member, Lauren Eggert-Crowe.

On our leadership team, we wished farewell to long-time team member, Ramona Pilar Gonzales who is taking a step back from WWS planning to focus on her career goals, and we welcomed two new members, Noriko Nakada and Ryane Granados.

Black and white photo of three women sitting in a lounge and in mid discussion. — Kit Reed facilitating a writing workshop at Wesleyan University.

In 2019, we have many exciting things in store starting with the announcement of The Kit Reed Travel Fund for Women-Identifying & Non-Binary Writers of Color. Two $340 grants will be awarded in 2019 to writers seeking advancement through participation in a conference, workshop or residency. Kit Reed was a prolific novelist and short story writer who advocated for her marginalized students, colleagues, and writer friends. This fund was made possible by a donation from Reed’s family in honor of her work as a writer, feminist, professor, and mentor.

Our first ever, anthology is also in the works. More details on the open call to come at AWP19 where we are hosting a WWS Happy Hour on Thursday, March 28th at Nucleus Portland from 3pm-6pm.

Lastly, be sure to join us for our WWS Workshop & New Member Orientation series beginning Saturday, February 9, 2019 at 10am with “You Need a Website! A Practical Guide to the What, Why, and How of Building (or Strategically Updating) Your Author Website” with Li Yun Alvarado.

If you would like to support our programming and help fund speaker honorariums and submission fee grants, you can now donate here.

From the WWS Leadership Team: Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, Lauren Eggert-Crowe, Ryane Granados, Ashaki M. Jackson, Noriko Nakada, Ashley Perez, Tisha Marie Reichle-Aguilera, and Rachael Warecki.

August 29, 2018August 28, 2018

Getting into the Top Tier

Illustration of a woman sitting in an orange floating tub in an overflowing bathtub.

by Désirée Zamorano

First off, you can’t get into a top-tier magazine unless you submit. You can’t submit unless you’ve got work, and you won’t have the work unless you sit down to write. Let’s talk about this.

My bookshelves are filled with texts, some popular, some academic, on how to be a better person, partner, parent, educator, writer. To help you close the gap, I’m not going to talk about all those writerly texts, as marvelous as they all can be. (Personal favorites: Making a Literary Life by Carolyn See, and Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass). I’m going to go old school here, and talk about The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

Yes, I realize Stephen Covey turned into an industry himself. But I’m going to talk about the two habits that I have carried forward once I read this classic. The first habit involves a Venn diagram with one circle labeled “Area of concern” and the other circle labeled “Area of influence.”

Concerned about your writing? (You should be)

Do you have influence over your writing? (You are the only one).

Where those two circles overlap is where you have your most powerful impact. Continue reading “Getting into the Top Tier”

April 5, 2017March 6, 2018

WWS Poetry Submission Blitz

By Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo

In honor of National Poetry Month, Women Who Submit is hosting a Poetry Submission Blitz on April 9, 2017 from 12pm-3pm at the Arts District Brewing Company. A submission blitz is a call to writers to submit their well-crafted and cared for work en masse to tier one literary journals that historically have shown gender disparities in their publications. A submission blitz is a call to action.

Continue reading “WWS Poetry Submission Blitz”

December 28, 2016March 7, 2018

2016 in Review with Encouraging Words from Sara Novic for 2017

by Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo

2016 began with the establishment of the WWS Leadership Team who worked together on debut presentations for AWP16, BinderCon Los Angeles, and MixedRemix Festival. Thanks to our WWS Chapter Director, Ashaki Jackson, we welcomed new chapters in New York City, NY, Grand Forks, ND, Seattle, WA, and Oaxaca City, MX as well as other locations across the country. In September, we celebrated our 3rd Annual WWS Submission Blitz where over 100 women participated remotely and submitted to top-tier journals with over 20 women joining the LA meet up at the Faculty Bar. We held five private submission parties hosted by LA members, and new this year, we held our bimonthly new member orientations at different art and literary centers across the city. In February we met at Libros Schmibros in Boyle Heights with guest speaker, Tammy Delatorre, who shared strategies for contest submissions, April was dA Center for the Arts in Pomona with Cati Porter talking about directing Inlandia Institute and creating Poemeleon, a journal of poetry, June was Antioch University in Culver City with Pamela Redmond Satran speaking about the road to becoming a successful professional writer, October was Beyond Baroque Literary/Arts Center in Venice Beach with Siel Ju sharing tips for finding an agent, and finally this month at Avenue 50 Studio in Highland Park, Sara Novic skyped in from Cincinnati, OH to talk about writing and activism post election. Continue reading “2016 in Review with Encouraging Words from Sara Novic for 2017”

December 7, 2016March 7, 2018

What do you do?

A small, long pub with 9 people with laptops sitting at the bar, a woman sitting at a table with her back to them, chalkboard menus in the background

by Lauren Eggert-Crowe

I’m never quite sure how to answer the question, “What do you do?” There are a few answers, depending on who’s asking. I’m an executive assistant at a Jewish anti-hunger nonprofit. This is where I spend the majority of my time and what takes up most of my brainspace. I’m also a writer, but I don’t write as often as I’d like to. My work in the literary community is often heavy on the social aspect. I support my friends at literary events. I organize readings and Women Who Submit submission parties. I forge connections and put in the effort to build community.

I started this job at the very beginning of the second Obama administration. Over the years I’ve sometimes found it difficult to marry the two halves of my life. I spend my weeks assisting the operations of a non-profit and spend my evenings and weekends trafficking in book talk, fielding 10-25 reading invites a week. I listen to author talks, I donate money to the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, I read my friends’ books and I promote their successes on social media.

Two things happened to me this year that re-aligned my perspective on both my paid career and my unpaid career. The first was personal. The second was global. Continue reading “What do you do?”

December 23, 2015

Claps and Cheers: an End of the Year Submission Celebration

In fall 2014, four of us —Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, Ashaki M. Jackson, Ramona Pilar, and Tisha Reichle— collaborated on our first WWS grant proposal for the Surdna Foundation’s “Artists Engaging in Social Change” grant. We were not awarded funding, but what resulted was a clear plan for where we saw WWS going over the next year and beyond.

Starting in January 2015, Women Who Submit began holding monthly submission parties with public WWS orientations on the even numbered months. On February 14th, we held our first orientation and submission party at Here & Now in El Sereno where we were joined by three new members.

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Désirée Zamorano leading a talk on confidence at
the December 2015 Orientation.

Over the year, we hosted five public WWS orientations and submissions parties at Here & Now. On the odd numbered months, we started traveling to members’ homes for private submission parties. In 2015, we traveled to Palos Verdes, Chinatown, and Glendale thanks to the generosity of members who invited us into their homes.

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WWS members submitting work at the November 2015 submission party.

2015 has been a big year for Women Who Submit, and we are always up for celebrating accomplishments. Besides our commitment to monthly submission parties and bimonthly public orientations, we also built this blog, commissioned a logo, activated a Twitter account, presented at Lit Crawl L.A., held panels at Antioch University and the Pasadena Playhouse, hosted a 2nd annual WWS Submission Blitz at The Little Easy in Downtown L.A., and now we are assisting the development of WWS chapters in other cities including Las Vegas and San Francisco.

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Laura Warrell reading before a packed house at Lit Crawl L.A.

But we don’t want to only celebrate the organization’s accomplishments. Individual members have been hard at work writing, submitting, tracking, and publishing and in order to celebrate their efforts, we sent a call asking members to share their submission numbers (submissions, rejections, and acceptances). 15 women responded to our request, and we now celebrate the following collective numbers based on their own records:

423 submissions
173 rejections
79 acceptances
171 pending

Thank you to the following journals, presses, conferences, residencies, and funders for accepting work from one or more of our members. We also celebrate the work you did over the year reading submissions, sending out responses, editing and publishing work in order to share exciting and new voices with the larger community.

Accentos Review
Al Jazeera America
American Poetry Review
Barbara Deming Fund
BinderCon
Cactus Heart
Cal Arts
Callaloo Workshop
Cave Canem/VSC
Cherry Tree
crazyhorse
CURA: A Literary Magazine (#BLM)
The Daily Dot
Economic Hardship Reporting Project
Finishing Line Press
Flash Flash Click
Future Tense Books
Germ Magazine
The Guardian
Hedgebrook
HelloGiggles
The Huffington Post
Hometown Pasadena
Horse Less Review
Hunger Mountain
Inch
Into the Heart of Addiction
The James Franco Review
Jezebel
KCET Departures
KCRW
LA Review of Books
The Los Angeles Times
Lumen Magazine
Lunch Ticket
The Manifest-Station
Miel and 111O Press
MUTHA Magazine
Mujeres de Maiz
The Nervous Breakdown
New Madrid
The Philadelphia Review
Pluck!
Poets & Writers
Prairie Schooner
Red Hen Press
Redux
RoleReboot
Rose City Sisters
The Rumpus
The Rusty Toque
Solo Parent Magazine
Sundress Publications
Sundress Political Punch Anthology
TAB: The Journal of Poetry & Poetics
Tahoma Literary Review
Tia Chucha Press Coiled Serpent Anthology
Thread Makes Blanket
Tucson Festival of Books
Upper Rubber Boot
Vida Web
YesYes

Please leave us a comment sharing where you’ve been accepted this year. We want to clap for you too!

September 11, 2015

Celebration Blitzes

by Ramona Pilar

Who: Women Who Submit
Where: ONLINE In the comfort of wherever you, your computer and wifi wanna be.
L.A. METRO AREA: The Little Easy – 216 W. 5th Street, DTLA, CA 90013
What: Women Who Submit’s 2nd Annual SUBMISSION BLITZ (and L.A. Meetup)
When: Saturday September 12, 2015
ONLINE: Beginning at 12:01am – 11:59pm
L.A. METRO AREA: 12:00pm – 4:00pm

Why?

The channeling of writing is done in solitude. Whether alone in the quiet before dawn – a soundtrack of scattering the only rush hour you hear – or squished into a seat on a light rail train or subway at rush hour, a veritable contortionist, angling your writing arm, wrist and fingers however you can in order to transmute those stories, verses, and images into a collection of words.

Purple Lady Metro — La Viejita Morada – 2013

But that channeling – that creativity – isn’t necessarily the whole of what it means to be a writer. As a storyteller, one is urged, pushed, cajoled or challenged by something inside of you to pluck those passing thoughts from the din of the thousands that flow through your mind on a daily basis and give them form, genre, emotion – voice. As a writer, you are further compelled to share these stories and contribute to the larger story of your community – however many you claim – tells about itself to itself.

Women Who Submit is just one of several groups of writers who have organized around supporting and amplifying the stories of people who have been bit players at best in the story contemporary literature and publishing tells about itself to itself.

WWS’s First Submission Blitz took place in a bar/restaurant at the deadest part of the day: early afternoon. As patrons trickled in and saw a group of women sitting around a table with laptops, they were curious. The more they drank, the bolder they got until they asked what we were doing. Each time we explained, the response was, “Oh, wow! That’s such a good idea!” And as each writer submitted her work, we cheered, and they cheered along with us.

1st Annual Submission Blitz - 2014 Somewhere in Northeast L.A. — 1st Annual Submission Blitz – 2014

This year’s Submission Blitz will take place at The Little Easy in Downtown Los Angeles. It’s reminiscent of a speakeasy, Parisian parlor and Disney’s Blue Bayou restaurant (without the old water smell from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride). There’s a wooden fenced mezzanine with ivy-strewn awnings and a gazebo-ed fountain in the main part of the restaurant. It’s the best kind of whimsical a restaurant/bar could be.

Writing can be serious work. Sharing that writing doesn’t have to be. At a submission party, your submission receives the amount of fanfare and hoopla your hard work deserves. At our annual Submission Blitz, we target the top five Top Tiered journals currently publishing work. Hell yeah it deserves a venue that features a 3 foot painting of the general manager dressed as Napoleon. Sharing your stories and celebrating your community(ies) sharing theirs is just as much a part of being a writer as the words on the page.

* * * * * * *

TO SUBMIT

Let’s inundate these top journals with our best work and shake up their slush piles.

Here are five tier 1 journals with current open readings. Be sure to check out their guidelines.

Agni
http://www.bu.edu/agni/submit.html

Georgia Review
http://garev.uga.edu/submissions.html

Gulf Coast
http://gulfcoastmag.org/submit/

Iowa Review
http://iowareview.org/content/writers-guidelines

Zyzzyva
http://www.zyzzyva.org/about/submissions/

TRANSPORT

TAKE METRO: to Pershing Square Station, exit 5th and Hill street side, walk one block east. Destination will be on the South side.

PARKING: There are some $5-$7 lots on Spring between 4th and 6th streets.