A Beginner's Guide to Submitting Short Stories to UK Literary Magazines

Finishing a short story is one job. Finding somewhere to send it is another, and it comes with its own vocabulary: reading periods, simultaneous submissions, themed issues, contributor copies. None of it is complicated, but the rules live in a dozen different places, and most of them sit on the magazine's own submissions page.

Here is the process, in the order you will actually do it.

Find the magazines that fit your story

Before you send anything, build a shortlist of ten to fifteen magazines. Not one. Fifteen. A single submission is a waiting game with no backup plan; fifteen means something is always out.

Where to look: the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook lists magazines and their requirements, as do the listings pages of writing magazines such as Mslexia. Beyond that, read the acknowledgements pages of short story collections you admire — writers usually name the magazine each story first appeared in. Browse the shelves of an independent bookshop, and look at the submissions pages of magazines you have heard of alongside magazines you have not.

Then check the fit. Read two or three pieces they have published recently; many magazines keep a selection online, free to read. A quiet, domestic story about grief will land better at a magazine that prints quiet, domestic stories than at one known for speculative fiction. Note the word counts they favour, whether they run themed issues, and whether they are print or online, paying or non-paying. Small magazines are often run by two or three volunteers who care intensely about what they publish. That is a feature, not a drawback.

Read the guidelines properly. Then read them again

Guidelines are not a formality. They are the terms of the deal, and the quickest way to be rejected without your story being read is to ignore them. Most submissions pages will tell you, somewhere, about:

• word count limits, and whether the title counts
• themes, genres or issue deadlines
• reading periods — many magazines only open for a few weeks or months a year
• whether simultaneous submissions are allowed
• whether previously published work counts (a piece on your own blog often does)
• how to send it: attachment or pasted into the email body, and which file type
• whether they want a cover letter, a short bio, or nothing but the story
• their stated response time, and whether they accept withdrawals

If a magazine says it replies within twelve weeks, wait twelve weeks before querying. Diarise the date the moment you submit. And if the guidelines contradict themselves — it happens — follow the more specific instruction and mention nothing. Nobody needs a polite note pointing out the inconsistency.

Format the manuscript simply

Editors read a great many stories on a screen in the evening, after their day job. Make yours easy to read. Double-space it, use a plain 12-point font, and keep the first page tidy: your name, email and word count in the top corner, the title centred, the story beginning below. Number the pages. Indent new paragraphs or leave a line between them, but pick one and stay consistent.

Name the file something an editor can find again in six months: Surname_Title.docx. Send a .docx or .rtf unless the guidelines ask for something else, and never send a PDF unless it is specifically requested. Read the story aloud once before sending — you will hear clumsy sentences your eyes skimmed past.

Write a cover letter of about a hundred words

Short is not the same as careless. A good cover letter does three things: it names the story, says something small and true about it, and thanks the editor for their time. If the guidelines name a fiction editor, use their name. If not, "Dear Editor" is perfectly fine.

Dear Editor,

Please consider "The Last Bus to Whitby", a 2,400-word literary short story, for publication. It follows a woman clearing her mother's flat the week after the funeral.

My work has appeared in [publication], and I live in Leeds. Thank you for your time.

Yours sincerely, [Name]

If you have no credits yet, leave that line out rather than apologising for its absence. Say nothing about what the story means, do not summarise the plot, and resist the urge to explain that this is your first submission. Editors are not hunting for reasons to say no; they are looking for a story they cannot put down.

Keep a submission log from day one

Two stories out to three magazines each becomes nine moving parts within a month. A simple spreadsheet — or a notebook, if that suits you better — keeps it manageable. Track:

1. the story title and its word count
2. the magazine, and the editor's name if you have it
3. the date you sent it
4. the date they say they will reply by
5. the status: out, withdrawn, rejected, accepted
6. any notes, including feedback worth acting on

When a story is accepted elsewhere, withdraw it from every other magazine the same day, with a one-line email thanking them. Editors remember the writers who do this politely. If a story has collected half a dozen form rejections, read it again with fresh eyes: the opening paragraph is often where the problem sits.

Expect silence, then a decision

Waiting three to six months is normal. Some magazines never reply at all, whatever their guidelines promise. Frustrating, but not personal. When the response comes it will usually be a form rejection, and that is simply the arithmetic of how many stories arrive each month. Occasionally a rejection carries a sentence of encouragement, or an invitation to send something else. Take that seriously and send something else.

Before you press send

Run through this once. It takes two minutes and can save you months of silence.

1. Have I read the guidelines in full, including the reading period dates?
2. Does the story meet the word count, theme and format requirements?
3. Is the manuscript free of typos and stray notes in the file?
4. Is the cover letter under 150 words and free of plot summary?
5. Is the submission logged, with the expected reply date noted?

Then send it, close the document, and start the next story. Submitting is a habit, not a single event. The writers who get published are rarely the ones with the best first drafts; they are the ones who keep reading guidelines, keep sending, and keep going past the tenth rejection.

Photo: Schäferle / Pixabay