What I Learned from Serving as a Guest Editor of a Literary Journal

​From December 2018 through March 2019, I had the opportunity to read fiction submissions for a literary journal. As someone who has previously only been on the other side of things (submitting + praying for publication) this was an eye-opening experience. Here are a few of my takeaways.
 

1. Yes, the decision of what gets published is completely subjective. However, often it was the case that many of us readers voted similarly, whether it was to promote a fiction piece to the next level or to reject it. While we came with our specific individual tastes, we all appreciated beautiful writing, stories told in a new way, and voices we hadn’t heard before.
2. Lots of good stories don’t get accepted. Sometimes it’s because they need a little more work. Sometimes they are complete but compared to the other stories under consideration, they don’t make the cut. Sometimes it’s a great piece but the journal isn’t the perfect fit.
3. The beginning really does have to wow the reader. If I was bored on page one, it didn’t bode well for a 20-page story. Alternatively, being instantly hooked by a story meant I wanted to read it closely and follow it through to the end. There is so much written work seeking publication, that a writer does not have 50 pages to hook a reader.
4. Finding a story so good, so achingly beautiful, and like nothing I’d seen published before, was just as thrilling as hearing that a story of mine was going to be published. There were a few pieces that were unique and experimental and the buzz from reading them continues to inspire my writing.