A List of Literary Publications That Go the Extra Mile, For Your Consideration

Literary magazines and journals that send thoughtfully written rejections and withdrawal responses

Nicola

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Published in

SYNERGY

3 min readDec 4, 2023

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I’ve submitted short stories to over 250 literary magazines and journals as of this writing. I’ve been rejected many times over, but have had my share of acceptances too — which meant I needed to withdraw simultaneous submissions from other publishers immediately.

This article won’t be focusing on the magazines and journals that have accepted my fiction pieces. I have an entire Medium publication dedicated to these published stories:

So, Long Story Short

So, Long Story Short (SLSS) is a publication that offers a behind-the-scenes look at original works of short fiction…

medium.com

For the majority of the 250+ publications that sent out rejection letters, I am happy to report that they meet the basic level of decency and kindness. Rejection stings, especially if you poured your soul into your work, so I appreciate the carefully worded messages that they choose to send out, even if almost all of them are templated responses.

However, for this article, I want to shine a spotlight on literary magazines and journals that go the extra mile when it comes to rejection letters and responses to withdrawal notices — all of which are based on my personal experience.

Acceptances are thrilling and rewarding, but given the odds, I am more likely to receive a rejection than an acceptance. Currently, I’m right at a 10:1 rejection-to-acceptance ratio.

I understand that some pubs are more popular and receive too large a volume of submissions that it would be impossible to provide personal feedback for each submission without taking an enormous amount of time. So I’m fine with the templates.

However, for those that do make an effort to include unsolicited feedback and mention something that they liked about the piece, despite the rejection, these publications hold a special place in my heart — and my publication directory.

These thoughtful rejections offer insight as to the kind of editors behind these publications. Even though they declined my piece, I am more encouraged to send more of my work to them in the future because they treated my rejected piece with care.

Publications with Thoughtful Rejection Letters

Additionally, when I do have pieces that get accepted for publication, I have to send timely withdrawal notices to all other magazines and journals that I submitted the same piece to, so that they can remove my piece from their consideration.

You’ll often see submission guidelines that read, “Simultaneous submissions are welcome and encouraged. We ask that you notify us immediately if your work is placed elsewhere so that we can withdraw the piece and congratulate you!”

When I send out withdrawal notices, most often, I do not hear back — not even a simple acknowledgment that they received my message. And that’s fine. Editors have a lot going on.

However, there are those publications that are true to their word — responding to my withdrawal notices to not only confirm the withdrawal, but also to congratulate me on my success. Most of them even encourage me to send more of my work to them in the future, and you know what, I’m more motivated to do so and prioritize them.

Kindness goes a long way in a brutal industry, so I’m grateful to editors that take the time to celebrate the writer on the other side — even if the piece ultimately did not end up with their publication.

Publications with Gracious Responses to Withdrawal Notices

I’ll be updating these lists as I continue with my writing and publishing journey.

I hope that you look around and consider them for your future fiction submissions. They’ve shown grace and respect to me and my work, and I am more than happy to pass that kindness forward.