Why We Don’t Query Journals about Submissions

We all do something like this:

• Submit a story to a wonderful journal.

• Try not to think about it (we know it’ll be a while).

• But then we think about it.

• We try again not to think about it.

• Let’s write something new!

• But then we think about it.

• What the heck are they doing with this story??? How long does it take to read one (absolutely amazing) story???

• Deep breaths.

• We try again not to think about it.

• We ask ChapGPT about this. It says: Try not to think about it.

• But clearly, since it’s been so long now, the journal must love this story! Gosh howdy, it’s been months! And no rejection!

• But, fine, yes, fine, yes, sure, yes, fine: we try not to think about it.

• But wait, what if they emailed us a glowing acceptance and we missed it?

• Etc.

I realize a point comes when it feels like the wait has gone on long enough. Let’s check in and see what’s going on. I’ll give you two reasons why we, at Submitit, don’t do this (the order below is intentional):

1. I don’t think it will make a difference.

2. We just don’t have the time.

To be clear, if I thought querying journals about submissions would make a reasonable—like, better than 1%—difference in getting our clients’ work published, I’d obviously have to find the time, raising our rates accordingly (not much, but a little). But in all the years of submitting my own work, as well as interacting with other submitters (Becky Tuch and I once did an informal poll among her many Lit Mag News readers), I’ve heard of only one writer who queried a journal and found success. (And I suspect the journal would have eventually gotten around to officially accepting this writer’s story; he just beat them to it.)

The truth is, some journals are very (very, very) slow. And, worse, some journals never reply, by design or pure negligence (either way, I find this annoying). I also know that journals will generally try more than once to reach a writer whose work it has accepted. (I know this, because some of our clients are—grrr—slow repliers after acceptances.)

I can’t promise you that a no-reply absolutely, positively means a journal is either still considering (or slush-piling) a piece or has rejected it and, for one reason or another, failed to reply. But I do believe that it is extremely likely that this is the case.

So that’s why we don’t query journals.

If you, however, would like to email a journal on your own, you are welcome to, especially if it’s been over, say, five or six months (a fair maximum time to wait, as far as I’m concerned). While I don’t recommend this, for reasons given—it’s like throwing stones into an empty well: don’t be surprised if you hear no plop—if you have the time, feel free. There is, I believe, nothing to lose (but time).

Otherwise, keep writing, keep reading, keep learning, and, well, try not to think about it.

---

Erik Harper Klass is the founder of Submitit. His work has been published (or is forthcoming) in a variety of journals, including New England Review, Ninth Letter, South Carolina Review, Yemassee (Cola Literary Review), Blood Orange Review, Slippery Elm, Summerset Review, and many others, and he has been nominated for multiple Pushcart Prizes. His novella Polish Poets in Beds with Girls is available from Buttonhook Press.

For updates, news, success stories, tips about submitting, and other miscellanea, please become a member of Submitit's blog. You can sign up here.