Editor Interviews

If the first page or two aren't doing it for us, we tend not to read on. Poetry can take a little while to sink in, and we read as generously as we possibly can—but usually, if a piece is going to make it into the issue, it excites us from the first line.

Answering the other way round. I once read a first sentence and thought: We're going to publish this.

That's an impossible question to give a single answer to. It all depends on the quality of the writing, its appropriateness for our list, and so on. Writers shouldn't worry about this -- they should look at the quality of the publisher's list and trust that the publisher is dedicated, meticulous, and objective in the way they process submissions.

The whole thing. Every time. It's the least we can do. That said, the reading usually goes in a few phases. By the end of the first paragraph we know if this person can actually write. By the end of 500-1000 words we know if they seem to be setting up an interesting problem/question. And in the last 500-1000 words we know if they actually did set up an ethical problem/question for the character in a way that gives the readers some discussion points when they finish.

We read every piece to the end.

I reject it before you've even written it.

We allow submission of 3 poems on up to 5 pages total. Essays up to 1500 words (with some exceptions). Flash up to 750 words (ditto). So there is no case where we have to read far or long before we have a good idea of the quality of the work. I do not like to decline a submission without reading it all the way through.

All of it (but our early suspicions are often confirmed).

It varies. With our limited staff and short turnaround times, we can't read every single submission from start to end. Sometimes if a piece doesn't grab us by the first few pages, we have to let it go.

For audio content, the first page has an even bigger job than it does in print because listeners can't skim ahead. If the opening doesn't quickly create curiosity, emotion, tension, or a strong connection, I generally stop reading.

Even if we decide midway that a piece is not right for us, we read it to the end because we believe our final decision should be based on the entirety of a work.

YES. We have at least three rounds of review. We read the whole work before deciding

I read all of the poems. For prose, I read the first 3-5 pages or so, and if I'm not invested by then, then it's definitely not for Midwest Noir.

We look at the first page of a submission and can generally tell right away if a piece is not for us.

We read every piece till the end, because we want to give the writer the benefit of doubt. Mostly we know after a few paragraphs, but we ensure that we read the whole thing.

It depends on each submission. With some, it is apparent right away that this is not a good fit. With others, I will read every page of the submission before making a determination.

We try to read as much as possible, but sometimes we receive a bulk load of submissions and we cannot guarantee that we will always read to the last line. Our editors take turns going through new submissions; we give a rough read to determine submissions that might be interesting for us. Some pieces do not meet our basic requirements (word limit, scope, etc.) and are eliminated in the first round.

We make sure to read every submitted piece all the way through at least once before making a decision. Often we reread the entire piece multiple times.

There are very few times that a piece is super wrong for us from the jump. We generally read every submission to the end, because you never know if a later part of a piece could completely change the game. We sometimes do "Accepted On Condition of Edits" for instances like that.

The GossamerWight editorial team read every piece of prose and poetry to the very end, even when we suspect, within the first several paragraphs or stanzas, that the piece is unlikely (or categorically not) going to be a fit for the current anthology theme. It is the professional thing to do.

I try to read every submission all the way through. I do it on 75% of my subs. If a rule is broken (it's sci-fi or it's not in the genre), then I'll quit quickly. But if you submit me the correct story and it's under the max word count (12,500), I'll usually make it to the end.

All the way to the end, every time. Sometimes you can tell you love something in the first few lines but it kind of dribbles away by the end, other times it starts maybe not as strong but by the end you're enraptured. All the way through more than once. I'm always open to being surprised.

If a piece is within our word limit we typically read to the end. On rare occasions if a work is long, and it isn't working for me on any level, I may stop reading early. Work over our word limit gets rejected immediately though. Sorry!

Every piece is different. We read everything all the way through, but that said I can usually tell after the first poem or first few paragraphs if it will be a good fit. There are just sometimes a piece needs more work, or is a better fit for a commercial and genre-based publication, which I don't think we can always help as much.

I'm a sucker for reading a whole story, even if I don't like it, just to know the ending. That said, we mostly read the first page or two to decide if a story has potential on Inglenook.

I usually read every piece to the end. But if the poetry submission is longer than 61 lines, we won't accept it anyway. If the fiction or creative non-fiction is longer than 12 pages, we won't accept it. (See guidelines!)

We have a big reading team, so the answer will vary depending on the reader. Some members of our team always read to the end while others can get a strong sense of a story's fit after a few pages. Every piece is read by at least two members of our team before we make a decision, and we think carefully about every submission.

We read poems, flash, and shorter work in full and often aloud. For longer fiction and creative nonfiction, we read far enough to understand the piece’s voice, structure, stakes, and direction. Because our prose limit is 3,000 words, we do not expect long stretches of setup before the work begins to develop. The opening does not need to be loud or dramatic, but it should begin establishing the pressure, movement, attention, or relational charge that will carry the piece forward.

We can generally tell pretty quickly if we'll want to spend more time considering a piece or not, but we read everything to the end before making a decision.

My staff and I read each piece fully, but can generally tell whether the piece is right for publication within the first page. Formatting issues are usually the most integral deterrent.

We can tell whether we like it instantly. And we always give each piece our full attention, if it's authentic, genuine, real.

All of it, unless the submitted piece falls under the unpublishable genres listed in a previous answer (thriller, sci-fi, horror).

The majority of our first readers are current MFA students, so while I recommend that they finish a piece, and read poems aloud and three times before making a decision, that may not always be the case. We trust our MFA students to develop their tastes and understanding of what constitutes "good" writing with the caveat that sometimes we have to expand our own limited definitions. All the work that makes it for consideration to the final round is read multiple times by multiple readers and editors, with comments passed forward by the readers. I personally, have never trusted myself to make a decision after reading the first page alone. It took me twenty tries to love olives, and now I do.

We read nearly every story all the way through.

We read every piece.

This is entirely dependent on the manuscript itself. Some writers are great at writing query letters and not great at writing fiction. I tend to give up on those quickly. After I request a manuscript, though, I always want to have the full manuscript available because if a novel catches my attention, I want to keep reading it.

I read each piece to the end, unless there are glaring technical and grammatical issues. Everything else I read in its entirety, as it is impossible to judge a story without seeing it through.

It depends! Sometimes I can tell that the piece is a bad fit within the first few lines, especially when the subject matter does not align with our themes. (For example, we do not publish love poems unless they are tied in some way to human rights.) Other times I will read a piece twice over before making a decision. For an average poetry submission, I read to the end, but I will reject prose before reaching the end if I am confident that it's a bad fit for IHRAM Press. I believe that, sometimes, less is more in both poetry and prose -- cutting back can, at times, strengthen your work more. Therefore, work that repeats a theme or concept too much may lessen the intended meaning.

We ask for the first three chapters on initial submissions. We can generally tell in the first chapter if it's going to be worth reading the whole sub, because generally someone's first chapter is going to be their strongest. If it's not grabbing us, then we'll stop there.

We often review 50-100pg packets of submission material at a time, so if a piece isn't sitting well with us as we review it then we may move on to the next one. That said, we vote on pieces as a group and review the pieces independently, so we review the pieces at our pace and discretion which is different for everyone. We all aim to treat every submission with the same amount of patience going in, and we also will rediscuss pieces that were originally rejected if we feel that it deserves a re-vote.

It depends—sometimes we can tell within the first page that it's not a style or content fit; sometimes both of us read the whole piece and discuss it together at length before we reject it.

If a piece does not grab me within the first few pages (due to craft problems) I will not read to the end. If a piece does grab me, I will finish it, and if it feels solid all the way through, it moves up to a table discussion where the entire editorial team will vote on it. Its important to note that, while I do have my own taste, if I recognize that a story is exemplary though maybe not my cup of tea (say, if I like magical realism and I come across a very contemplative, Carver-esque story), it still moves up so the rest of the group can have a vote.

That is on a case by case basis. Some we reject instantly, looking at the first line and some we mull before a rejection. Sometimes, we discuss online if it should be rejected. It really depends. There have been times when we had to reject because the contributor refused edits. We do not publish unedited pieces.

Every submission is read in its entirety by two submissions editors. If at least one submissions editor believes the story deserves to be read by the senior editors, six or seven editors may read the submission before it's rejected.

I always read through the full piece before deciding to reject or accept it, but if there are a lot of mechanical errors, the language is bland and unvaried, or a unique voice doesn’t come through toward the beginning, I can often get a sense that I’ll most likely reject it.

We read submissions carefully, but we don’t read mechanically. If a piece isn’t right for us, that’s often clear within the opening pages-through voice, focus, or execution. That said, we don’t reject on a single line or a slow start alone; strong work tends to declare its intentions early and sustain them. Pieces that make it past the opening are read in full.

At least two judges read every single word of every single entry submitted to the Not Quite Write Prize for Flash Fiction, and we often read the stories more than once.
Each story is given due consideration. At the end of the day, MANY of the stories we receive are fantastic, so it’s a battle to rise to the top!

We read each piece at least twice.

We read every submission multiple times by multiple editors. I personally read ever submission at least twice. Once I read a submission half a dozen times before I had any idea about outcomes.

It's VERY seldom we don't read to the final punctuation mark. Even then, more than one staff member must come to that conclusion.
With any rejection, we tell the submitter why, and we try to point them in a direction that (we think) would help make them more successful.

For our first round of reading, with our flash fiction call, we read at least the first page. We can usually tell within a paragraph or two, but our team gives every story a real chance. Due to the volume of submissions that we get though, if our team isn't hooked by the first page, we may not finish reading the whole story. When we have open calls for longer short stories, we may read a few pages. Part of the process of reading submissions includes paying attention to how we feel as readers, and the difference between the desire to continue reading as opposed to feeling like reading is required. When I tell people how subjective publishing is, attending to this feeling while reading submissions is a big part of it.
Once a story has passed our first round and it comes to me, I read for adherence to our brand and mission. I'm looking for something different than our first-round readers, so I will read at least half of the story to determine if it's a good fit for our project, and most of the time during this round, I read the whole story.

We try to read as much of a piece as possible, but given that we get so many submissions and are an all-volunteer staff, we're not always able to read piece to the end. We typically decide if we want to continue reading by about a third of the way through.

It really depends on the piece. If we receive a nonfiction essay, for instance, that's just not something we publish, so it doesn't make sense to read the whole thing. But if a submission is in our wheelhouse, we'll give it a fair shot.

We read, and reread, and possible re-reread before sending rejections. We do this to keep our opinions in check and to fill out the rubric as objectively as possible. Each category is given a score which is added up at then end of the process. Only stories that score 13 points or higher are eligible for publication.

While we can generally tell if a piece is right for us pretty quickly, we read every piece to the end—unless it's so off-base, we know there isn't a place for it in our publication. This is especially true if the work isn't related to the Finger Lakes.

We read from start to finish with few exceptions.

I really put my focus on the submissions form first. I read the blurb, and get a sense of what the story is about. Other editors on the team might read the story first, and then go into the form. But to me, the form gives me a great snapshot of the overall story. I can generally tell within the first 3-4 pages if the work is of high quality, has a promising narrative, and an engaging perspective. Every editor reads the submissions, and we meet to discuss what pieces resonated with us.

I try to read every work to the end to think about its worth. Some creative nonfiction pieces are wonderful and I accept them immediately. But, sometimes, I cannot read beyond the first few paragraphs and the work is rejected.

Again, spelling and grammar make a huge difference here! If the first few paragraphs aren't very coherent, I don't read further. We've published stories from all kinds of genres and varied styles of prose, so the content is not likely to push us away. Generally, we at least read most of the story, if not all of it.

Usually we try to read the entire piece, but with long prose pieces, if I'm not feeling it in the first few pages, it's a no.

This varies by editor and experience level. For myself, sometimes I know quickly that a piece isn't ready or isn't our style, but often I have to read the whole piece and then sit with it a while.

I will always read to the end of the piece.

Since the submissions I receive are small, I read the entirety of each one. I read every piece and grade them based on a ranking system I've devised, and the best match receives the publishing contract. All others, no matter how close they are, are unfortunately rejected, but I always try to include some honest feedback to the authors and poets submitting to me.

Every piece is read in full. Pieces we're considering for publication are read multiple times. I would like Locative Magazine to stay small enough that we can keep doing things this way. I'm glad to be able to give every work my full attention.

We can tell within the first few paragraphs if we are interested in reading more.

The first two chapters, though it's usually pretty clear to us in the first few pages if it has potential. If we like the first two chapters, we request the manuscript. If we aren't grabbed within the first fifty pages, it's a pass.

We read every piece to the end. The pieces are short. We do discuss the pieces. We both have to be on board with a piece to accept it.

We truly work to read each piece with our minds open to its possibility. Many pieces are read by more than one editor. Some pieces that make it to final publication do so after debate by editors who saw them in different ways. We also receive more and more submissions every year, far more than we could publish. It is best when the beginning grabs us, and longer pieces have to do even more work to sustain that level of energy.

I can usually tell within the first few sentences or maybe first few paragraphs. Okay, I'll level with you - then I skip ahead and read the last page. If the writing is good enough for me to skip to the last page, I'm looking for how the author wraps it up. If that passes the vibe check, then I read the entire thing.

I read the entire piece. An opening line can say a lot about what may follow, but I’ve seen great openings falter and quieter ones blossom. A writer has taken time to share their work with Neon & Smoke, and it feels important to honor that by reading every word.

I read until I know a story is out of contention for publication (but, even then, I still skim through to the ending). If a story begins with a hail of bullets, rape, excessive vulgarity, a vampire, a spaceship, or a world leader giving a speech – then I know we are not the right fit and probably won’t keep reading. If a story seems promising – and the vast majority do – I read until a voice in my head says something like: “I’m bored” or “I don’t care what happens to these characters.” This frequently occurs one- or two-thousand words in.

Every submission is read by multiple readers. If a piece shows clear promise, we continue reading—often to the end. We also recognize that some work develops gradually, so we make an effort not to base decisions solely on the opening when there are indicators the piece may strengthen as it proceeds.

I read every piece though to the end. There was a story included in our second issue I thought I would pass on. The ending convinced me to accept it.

We generally make the effort to read everything fully; we're happy to work with writers to make their pieces the best they can be. However, there are occasions when it's apparent from the opening of the work that it isn't what we're looking for, and it's hard to come back from that. That's why a strong opening is so important!

This really depends on the piece. Some manuscripts are clearly wrong for us from the very first page. But we give every submission a fair shake.

For poetry, I read all the way to the end. I can sometimes tell that the poem might not be a good fit, but because the pieces are usually pretty short, I'll read through the whole submission, especially if the writer has submitted several pieces.
For fiction, I will often stop reading after the first 2-3 paragraphs and reject it because of poor writing or horrible subject matter (such as extreme violence, sexual references, or political diatribes).

I read all of it and I often read it more than once.

All depends. One of my big things is if I'm not hooked by like halfway down the first page--because I mostly aim for shorter works and that's like 1/5 of the way into the piece, at least--I don't often continue. Or, at least it becomes more a skim. Even if you've got the most perfect ending known to man, in this age of shortened attention, you gotta have that hook. Not even a hook, just something with a bit of spark. Imagery can do it, voice. Situation. Dialogue. It's not any one thing, and within those categories there's a million different options that hit the mark, but it's kind of intangible. I'd spell it out more if I could-- but you're a writer, you probably know what I mean.

We read everything. We often go back and read a submission again—sometimes weeks or months later. We pay attention to everyone who takes the time to submit work to us.

We read.
For fiction, each work averages two readers.
We encourage all our readers to read the first 50 pages extremely closely.
Readers are asked to review through to the end of every fiction finalist.
We care deeply about our manuscript selection and spend time with each work.

We read everything (unless it’s non-fiction or spam).

Every piece is read beginning to end at least twice. If I do get a sense that something isn't quite right for us within the first few paragraphs or lines, I'll typically set that piece aside and come back to it again later for another read just to be sure.

Each year, at least two dozen times, we read the whole 300-400 page manuscript even if we know on page 3 it is not for us. That's because even if it's not right for us, it might still be a nice read, and we try to make this clear to the author and what we'd want changed. Generally, we read up to about a third of the manuscript that we decline, and even less if our differences with the writer are more obvious. I mean, we don't disguise how plant forward we are so please don't send us a box of meat.

I guarantee poetry reads every word of every piece multiple times before making the decision. For fiction, I'll admit there are times where I DNF. Sometimes the work is a clear non-fit for us. We DO NOT accept hate in our mag. If I get past the midpoint and still can't find the narrative, I'll bail. Same if a story is incoherent.

If I can't hold my attention on it to read to the end, it's a no. Something that does hold my attention to the end has an extremely good chance of being accepted. Occasionally if the first few lines or paragraphs don't get me, but I'm hooked just after, I'll ask the author if they're open to edits. Sometimes I'll get all the way to the end and feel like it's still just not right, or I'll get partway through and feel like I'm into the voice but not the piece, I'll ask the author to submit again.

It depends.

I read until I can tell that the piece won't work for me. Usually that's at least a few pages. Then I jump to the end, just in case it redeems itself. I may give a rewrite request to a story with a good ending and bad beginning. I've never given one the other way around.

Generally tell within first few pages, sometimes longer.

We read each submission in full to honor the hard work and dedication our contributors put into their creations.

I can usually tell a quick no within the first five pages. The same with a quick yes. But then there are some that are a slow burn.

I read everything to the end. If it makes me think, smile, cry, or otherwise feel something, I'll read it again. Otherwise, I reject it immediately.

It depends on the book. If a submission isn’t aligned with our focus on hybrid work, or if it doesn’t feel ready for publication—it doesn’t have to be perfect, but it should be fairly polished and developed—we may determine early on that it’s not a fit. Otherwise, we read further to fully understand the work and its potential.

We read each submission with the aim of giving it a fair and thoughtful evaluation. Our focus is on understanding the work on its own terms and determining whether it aligns with our editorial vision.

I am grateful for receiving submissions and approach each one with joy and respect, but I usually know if something will be a good fit within the first few paragraphs.

I can tell if the piece isn't right pretty quickly.

With few exceptions, one of us reads every piece to the end. Depending on their score, the other co-editor will read as much as they feel is necessary to either confirm the original judgement, or provide a dissenting opinion if they do not agree. It's the best compromise we could find between reading every piece and providing quicker turnarounds on responses.

I evaluate the submissions pile in two passes. On the first pass, I only read the first page or two. If the opening looks promising, I'll escalate the piece to the next round before reading any further. If it doesn't seem right for us, I'll usually check the end of the story to get a sense of what the author is working toward, then escalate or reject depending on what I find.

For poetry, I will often read the whole manuscript. Fiction, I give it ten pages.

We read the whole piece, often more than once.

In general, we read every piece all the way through. We sometimes suggest revisions or edits that we think can help a piece with great potential. If we didn't read everything, all the way through, we might miss that opportunity.

This varies by genre.

I usually can tell within the first couple of paragraphs. If it's written poorly I'll automatically reject it. Otherwise I read everything to the end. If it's not something I feel will fit in the ezine or if it's not written well overall I'll reject it.

We read all of the work submitted from top to bottom, start to finish. We want to make sure we give the full work consideration before we make a decision!
Exceptions: work that very clearly has not been edited fully. We publish work as is, so if it still has a myriad of grammatical and spelling errors, we can't and won't publish it, even if we like the story/poem otherwise.

trampset editors are in-and-out of the queue as time permits, and each editor likely has their own process, so one can't make a blanketed statement. I can say that each editor takes each submission seriously and really wants that submission to be a good fit. Whether they are able to determine that from the first page or not until reading all the way through likely depends on the editor, and the particular piece being reviewed. I can assure you all submissions are reviewed more than once and by more than one editor.

I know Rob Spillman (from the former Tin House magazine) has talked a lot about the opening pages being the most important, and from a submissions standpoint, I agree. I can usually tell within the first few pages whether a piece is right for us or not. Saying that, we do work with writers on substantial edits when we love a submission but it’s not quite working as-is.

I usually know before the end if I know a piece isn't right for us. (Though often I'm still compelled to read to the end to see how the author has tied everything up!)

I can tell within the first few pages. If I read it all the way to the end there's something in it that caught my attention, and if the piece is rejected ultimately, it usually recieves a personalized note.

For long-form writing (e.g. long fiction), I can tell whether I enjoy a piece in the first few paragraphs. For short-form writing (e.g. most poetry, art), I form an opinion after two glances/read-throughs. Regardless, all submissions are fully read (unless there is something that I am unwilling to publish: excessively gory, sexual, or macabre pieces are extremely hard sells, which will get pieces rejected almost immediately).

Mostly we read to the end, barring a few examples where we know immediately that the piece is wrong for us.

We have a dedicated team of readers who read every piece all the way to the end before assessing and either passing on it or forwarding it to the section editor. I read all the pieces regardless of how the readers decide, and I often know within the first few lines (for poetry) or the first paragraphs (for prose) whether it will be a yes or a no. Usually, we are in agreement, but there have been times when a piece was an absolute no for one of us and an absolute yes for another. Most of the time, the yes wins.

I read every piece I receive to the end. Since I only print flash fiction, poetry, or short pieces, I have the time to look over every submission in its entirety.

Each submission is read by multiple editors. Usually we read a piece to the end before rejecting it -- indeed sometimes we each read it multiple times. Other times we can tell before we read the whole thing that it isn't right for us.

Fiction, creative non-fiction, and drama readers start judging from the first sentence; if the first paragraph/set of lines doesn’t catch the reader, readers will often move on. Likewise, if the first page doesn’t interest them, they will reject the piece. Individual readers, of course, have different philosophies, and some readers experience the whole piece before making judgments. There is discussion between readers as well, so it is not just one reader’s opinion. First feelings are vital for the process, though.
For poetry, I personally need an initial readthrough to catch the feeling of the poem; after one readthrough, I might not be able to tell you what the poem is about, but I am prepared for a second reading based on a recognition of the flow. So, I often read poems twice or three times (or more) to really understand their nature.

More often than not I know whether we publishing something from the first few paragraphs, but I always read it through to the end on first viewing. Sometimes my certainty fades when I near the end, sometimes it only becomes stronger. Maybe the story just needs a tweak. But more often than not I'll know early on.

We try to read every submission at least twice before making a final decision. However, there are times when we can tell within the first few paragraphs that a piece is not a good fit. Our advice: try to grab us in the first paragraph. Too much build-up before the story will most likely end in a rejection. Also, remember your audience. A story where the protagonist is a middle-aged man/woman with no kids working a 9 to 5 job and having trouble at work is most likely not going to resonate with kids and teens, so these kinds of stories are also clear rejections.

I read every piece submitted from beginning to end. Often numerous times.

It would have to be incoherent not to read until the end. Otherwise, I read every piece entirely, and sometimes I read pieces multiple times before making a decision. This is usually because the piece might force me to open my mind about how they are tying in the story with our themes. It isn't always so black and white.

I read every submission to the end, except those that are over the word count. And sometimes, I read pieces multiple times before making a final decision. Since the theme in the publication is very broad, I too, find myself having to keep an open mind to ascertain where the writer is coming from. Rarely do I read pieces and reject them after reading a few paragraphs. It would have to be very bad writing for me not to read it, and there aren't that many pieces that come in that are so bad I can't read further.

We know within a few lines if we're interested in reading more. Once one of us is hooked, we tend to read to the end, unless something changes our minds. For example, I've read work with an outstanding first twenty pages, but the following pages aren't as strong. If the writing is strong and the issue is structural, I'm more prone to work with them; however, if it seems like the author has lost the love for the writing along the way, I'm prone to release it back to the author so they can find another home for it. In these cases, I will offer some notes to the author and give the option to resubmit the work. If the work is designed to change, say the language matures with the subject (character or speaker), then I would like to know this in the letter (this is why letters are important).

We only publish poetry and short fiction. We read every piece to the end before deciding whether to accept or reject a submission.

If a piece violates our guidelines (too long, bigoted/hateful, ai-generated), I reject as soon as I discover that that is the case. There are some instances where I can tell by page one or two that a piece will not be suitable, and reject based on that. But if I have any interest at all, I read the whole thing.

We've written about this here: https://www.bookmarktype.com/blog/what-happens-when-you-submit

Depends on the story. If it becomes clear that it's not what we are looking for (such as fictional religions), or if the prose does not interest us, we may reject off of that basis without reading the whole story. Also being significantly outside our word count may result in rejection without reading.

Out of respect for our fellow creatives, we aim to read every submission to the end.

For longer prose submissions, we stop reading a piece the instant we know for certain right away that it is not going to be a good fit for us. Generally, we can tell within a few paragraphs. But if a piece seems like it might work at all, we certainly read it to the end, and again.
For poetry and flash, we read the entire submission. We often offer publication to one or two pieces from a poetry or flash submission.

We read until we know beyond a doubt it's a pass, and then we read a little more. This usually results in us reading the whole piece.

Every piece is read to the end by at least one of our editors, usually all of them. The only exceptions are pieces that are very obviously not what we publish.

We tend to know quite quickly. We ask for the first three chapters as part of the initial submission. If we like what we read, we will ask for a full manuscript. I can only think of one occasion where we have rejected an author based on the quality of the submission after asking for the full manuscript.

Often, what makes it to the EIC's queue are stories that have already been read by our readers and editors, so I read the whole story. If I'm wandering through the slush pile, however, I'll usually read the first paragraph or two to get an idea of the tone, style, and plot, then if it seems interesting I'll skim to the end to see if it has a resolution. Then, I'll mark it as one I want to go back to.

If the piece doesn’t fit the call for submissions or the submission guidelines, it’s apparent on the first read. If the piece follows the themes and guidelines for FEED THE HOLY, I reread it for the quality of writing. I don’t mind doing some minor edits, but if the piece is unrefined, it will be returned.

As the editor in chief, I read everything. I flag those that just aren't going to get to the first readers, those that might need a little work but have promise, and those I particularly like. I leave comments for the readers and most of the readers make notations as well. There is a dialogue that takes place between all of us, including our arts editor and sensitivity readers, usually over two rounds of reading. It's rare that we put something down after the first page, but it has happened. Usually because it's really more suitable for a different market or it's in a strange format that we can't read properly.

Sometimes more than 20 times. Yes, every piece is read till the end, but there are pieces that scream “AI generated” in the beginning, but we still read them just to eliminate the possibility of our misjudgment.

This is not a question I can answer. Our submission guidelines are very clear, and I believe that authors who we're meant to work with will understand what we're looking for.

Due to the high volume of work received, we initially screen works by reading a few paragraphs of prose within the first page, and middle section. Poetry, depending on the line count, may be read partially or in full. Those that make the first round of readings are read thoroughly prior to acceptance.

We tend to read the first three chapters / 10,000 words for fiction. If we like the writing we'll study the synopsis and we can usually base a decision on that. For nonfiction we have to like the chapter summary and the sample of writing. In both cases we need to feel excited about the woman featured.

On this call we tend to read the whole script. We're looking for the best twenty-four scripts submitted.

We tend to read the first three chapters / 10,000 words for fiction. If we like the writing we'll study the synopsis and we can usually base a decision on that. If the book is under 20,000 words we 'll generally read the whole book.

We read a story until something makes us stop. We endeavour to provide useful feedback to new authors, younger authors, and authors from marginalised backgrounds so do try to read to the end where possible. But, yes: it is generally clear quite quickly whether a story is in with a strong chance. Your work WILL be read by multiple people unless it is clearly wrong for us.

We read every piece till the end, then make a decision.

I always read the whole thing.

Unless the piece is really hard to follow, we read them through to the end. That being said, I can generally tell if the piece isn't right for us within the first few paragraphs.

We can generally tell if a piece isn’t right for us after a few paragraphs. A story needs to have a strong beginning.

Multiple editors read the manuscript in its entirety unless it is DOA right away due to not being a good fit.

As far as ergot. is concerned: if the prose and sentences aren't solid it doesn't really matter what happens in the plot. Because of this it is often clear within the first few sentences whether a piece is a good fit or not.
We do tend to read flash pieces all of the way through.
If on the other hand the prose quality is high we will generally read most or all of the submission.

Depends on the submission.

We always read through the whole submission.

The editorial staff reads each piece to the end, though we can often tell from the start if an item will be acceptable. Currently we have three readers, and we meet to discuss the merits of each submission before accepting, asking for revision, or declining the entry.

I read most pieces to the end because I love being surprised by whatever I'm reading.

We read each piece the whole way through, because often you may be working with a concept (disclosed in the process note) and we want to get a good sense of how well the piece is engaging with that concept from top to bottom. Our magazine is a digital scroll with click navigation, and we want work to be worth the two or three scrolls of the mouse it takes to get through them— plus, we don't take work long enough that we don't have time to read the whole thing. Giving it a fair shake means giving the whole thing a fair shake, but it also means reading the piece well enough that even if it's not for us, we can point a writer towards another publication that might work better for them!

Typically, we try to read every piece to at least the midway point, just to get a better feel for it.

We can usually tell by the first page or first few lines. However, writing very often proves surprising! To that end, we make sure to read each piece entirely (and at least three-times over, that is, by a minimum of three editors).

I can generally tell within the first few pages, but I like to give stories the benefit of the doubt and the courtesy of reading all the way through.

We usually read every piece to the end. Our entries are word-limited (and will probably remain that way), so it may not be as daunting for us as others, who may ask for longer compositions.

It depends. Sometimes we know very early on that a piece isn't a good match. Sometimes we suspect very early on that it is and read on to confirm that. If we don't look up or get distracted while reading a piece, that's a great sign. If the piece doesn’t immediately grab us we may come back to it later. The important thing is that we give each piece a chance. We read each submission to the end.

Due to the workload involved with submissions, editors use a simple review system with three prompts:

1. Yes/No/Maybe (mandatory)
- Yes - excellent work with minimal to no edits required (score: 5)
- Maybe - additional reviewers to see (score: 4)
- Maybe - development work required (score: 3)
- Future potential - not a suitable submission but interested to see future work (score: 2)
- No - doesn't satisfy aims of the journal in content or form (score: 1)
2. Review (optional)
3. Feedback (optional)

We’ve found that this approach allows us to give submissions a quick read and at least respond to the first prompt (Yes/No/Maybe), so we can start to see where we are with work coming through and start to respond to authors.

When editors are immediately taken with the work I encourage them to reach out to the submitter to confirm the piece for the issue. Other submissions generally need more discussion.

Again, speaking only for myself, if I get past page one, the piece usually goes to round 2 for a more thorough read. But most subs, I don't get any farther than that, and I instruct my assistant editors to be ruthless on the first pass as well. If page one is full of clichés, syntactical and usage errors (as opposed to experiments in form), or general dullness and over-familiarity, I do not assume it will magically improve on page 2. I'm also leery of online advice to start with a splash to keep me reading...that kind of showboating is often an even bigger cliché than the stuff you're trying to avoid. Be specific, surprising, and true to your own vision, however, and don't take the rejection personally...we're just one small group of people with a particular kind of taste. Your stuff may delight other editors.

Our reading team takes their role very seriously, approaching each submission with hope and attention. They're encouraged to read to the end.

Generally speaking, we read every piece to the end.

I read each piece to the end. If it's well-crafted, carries a decent plot, and fits the romance theme, even if it's not to my liking, I'll accept it. Just because I didn't like it doesn't mean my readers won't. There have been several stories/poems I didn't personally like but were extremely well-received by my audience.

This is a submission-dependent question.
If it is poetry, I will read two from the front and two from the back. I will pick a few from the middle. If that sells me, I will read the whole thing.
If it is fiction:
For short stories: I read several stories.
For novels: I read the middle. I do not care about the "hook" that everyone is so obsessed about...the first sentence of a book is not enough to tell me if your book is excellent. I want to know the guts.
If it is nonfiction:
For memoirs: I read all over...I read for craft, in particular.
For essays: I pick and choose. I think a lot of authors place what they think is their best essays in the front and back, so I always go to the middle first. If you can sell me on the middle, then I will read a bit more.

Within the first three pages, our readers make a general decision, though we typically read to the very end.

Unless it is wildly unreadable or, say, obviously a children's story, every piece is read, to the end, by myself and at least two other readers! Because even if I have a feeling it will be rejected, we still try to provide feedback, including which types of markets the piece could be better suited for.

Because our word count is short, we read the entire piece even if it's not grabbing us. We occasionally offer feedback or a request for revision.

Our prose and poetry reviewer team generally makes the initial call on whether a piece is a good fit for The Cawnpore Magazine and before making any decision they’ll read the whole piece carefully. That said, I also read every submission myself before making any final decisions. Even if the reviewer team gives initial feedback, I like to ensure that the work aligns with the vision of our magazine

If a submission is not set in the galactic empire, it is rejected as soon as that becomes apparent.

I can generally tell if something isn’t right in the first few lines or sentences.

I always read pieces to the end and mull things over for a few weeks before picking the stuff I like best.

For poetry, where we ask for 5 poems in a submission, usually we can tell if the poet will be a fit for our site by the end of the second poem. If we are engrossed with all five poems, acceptance is likely. For fiction, the first couple pages of a story will tell us if we want to keep reading/accept.

We read 98% of our submissions from beginning to end, sometimes more than once. About 2% of the submissions, we might determine about three-quarters through that the final quarter will not save it and we have to pass. Sometimes it is story; most times it is sloppy grammar, spelling or neglectful editing.

I read the entire thing and might sometimes go back to the piece to read it with fresh eyes. However, I can generally tell if a piece is a good fit for us after a few lines.

Depends on who is reading the submission. Usually a few sentences.

We start with the forst 5-10 pages. If it's intriguing we read on till the end. If it's not it gets rejected.

I read every single piece to the end, sometimes multiple times.
That being said, I usually have an idea whether or not it's a strong fit for our publication on the first read.

We can generally tell in the first few lines if a piece is for us or not, but we try to read each piece in full. We never make snap judgments, though. If we think it's not for us, we put it aside and revisit it several times over to be sure.

During our initial review, we only read a couple of chapters. If a book reaches our editorial board, then the entire manuscript or a substantial portion of it is read to make a determination.

I believe comedy is the hardest genre to write, which is why I always read every submission to the very end.

Many stories get ‘bumped’ before we finish reading the first page (that’s right, we’re a merciless bunch). A trained eye can tell the quality of a story and the ability of the storyteller from early on, so tighten that opening!

Yes, we do read every piece to the end, unless it is significantly over our word limit. Sometimes an ending can make or break a story or poem. Each piece is read by at least two slush readers and one editor. This is important to us because our editors don't have a specific type of story we look for, so this is our method to ensure we give all submissions a fair chance.

We read every piece to its finish, often multiple times, and have great discussions on the merit of each piece. The last line is as important as the first.

We generally read each piece a few times between readers/editors from its start to its end. Though I am not always reading submissions directly, when I do, I re read packets 2-3 times whilst being conscious of our 25 day response time guarantee.

It depends on the piece. I try to give everything a bare minimum of two pages. Keep in mind that that is a bare minimum, and most things get more of a read, but if I encounter deal-breakers for us in those first few pages we stop reading and reject. Generally speaking, the stories we end up taking were so good that I just couldn't put them down. If my mind starts to wander in the middle, that isn't usually a good sign.

As EIC, I read every piece in full. In respect of my staff's volunteer efforts, I've asked them to read at least five pages of each submission and note if that request becomes an obstacle. Though we can typically tell in those five pages whether a piece is right for us, reading to the end allows me to better explain our decisions when personalizing our regrets to writers who have a great deal of promise but whose pieces aren't working for us.

The submissions committee reads every submission.

Word-pairings and sentence structures are more important to us than "plot" or "characters." Thus, it's easy to tell whether a piece is a right fit or not within the span of reading the first page or even the first paragraph.

One or two pages at the beginning and one or two at the end is my standard evaluation. If the work has some promise I might spend half an hour or so checking out the general flow of the prose and story.

It usually takes one read. Yet, I often have to read the piece twice or three times to make sure I am not making a mistake either in rejecting it or accepting it.

For submissions longer than 2,000 words, we make our decision within the first two pages whether it's a Yes, Maybe or No. Submissions within the 2,000 words mark, we read the entire piece if it fits our submission guidelines and then decide. Those that go into the Maybe pile gets read by either the editor-in-chief or deputy editor for a second opinion, and this time is usually read completely before a final decision. Of course, no author will be emailed an acceptance without being read completely.

I read a piece to the end, even if I am thinking it may not be right for Centaur. I often will read several times. Sometimes I will read something aloud. I am also thinking about the other pieces I have lined up for that issue. Sometimes I will accept a piece for a future issue if I think I would like more variety in the topic or tone of the writing.

I read every piece.

Short work we will usually read all the way through. Longer novellas (submitted to Hobby Horse), we tend to stall out once we're sure it's not a fit.

We read as much of a manuscript as holds our interest. This may be a few pages or the whole manuscript. We sometimes have to reject excellent manuscripts because of our schedules or previous commitments.

We usually read every submission in its entirely. However, our M.O. is to not accept anything that would require substantial revisions—so, in such cases, we might reject something without finishing reading it. To us, it's the submitter's responsibility to send us a publishable manuscript. (If you're seeking notes, revisions, or edits, M.M. and Jim offer editing services at reasonable rates. Details can be found on their respective sites or via email inquiry.)

Typically, if we are interested in a piece, we read it thoroughly twice before even thinking about making a decision. That said, if a piece is overly cliche or relies on offensive stereotypes, we don't go past the second page.

We read all of the submission from beginning to end.
We don't believe in 'isn't right' because the focus of our publication is to create the space for the submitter's piece, not fit it into a pre-existing box.
The pieces we reject are pieces that do not follow our submission guidelines, encompassing our list of material we do not want to publish, submissions which are not sent as an Attachment but in the body of the email instead, or when the submitter ceases communication.

Depends on the submission, but roughly a third of a novel is a good rule of thumb. If there’s no discernible plot by then, or I’ve been given no reason to empathize with the main character, there’s not much that can be done. If I have been hooked in some way, though, I’ll read to the end. On the opposite end of the spectrum, in some rare cases it’s clear within a page or two that what I’m reading isn’t a good fit for Stonehewer, but even then, I like to read on a while — you never know when a cuttable opening might lead to a worthy story.
Short stories are different. If there’s one knockout piece, I’m liable to read the whole collection searching for a repeat of that feeling. But if the first two or three stories fail to grab me, I’m not likely to go on. So put your best foot forward!

Poetry is always read all the way through, and sometimes several times before we make a decision. Longer prose pieces that are accepted have been read thoroughly by multiple editors.

Sometimes the first page is enough for us to say no, if the writing just isn't good at all -- a surprisingly large fraction of the submissions we get fall into this category. If the writing is at least decent on a sentence-by-sentence level, the first few pages are usually enough for me to decide whether I'm finding a book compelling or not. If were in a bookstore and picked this book up and read the first few pages, would I want to take it home with me and read the rest? Or would I put it down and keep looking for something else? It's the same test for the unpublished books that come in to us. On a typical day we might have 2 or 3 or 5 or 7 novels arrive in our inbox, and there is no way for us to read them all, so we briefly dip into each and see which one (if any) makes us want to keep reading. A few pages is almost always enough.

All of it. I will admittedly skim fiction subs that are clearly not abiding by the guidelines (or have basic failings in grammar/syntax), and same too with poems with those damn five dollar words!

We read each piece thoroughly. Front to back. period.

If the author has followed the submission guidelines, we review the whole piece and try to provide personal feedback (if requested in a cover letter). We do not read or review the pieces at all if the author has submitted more than the maximum number of poems or prose allowed per submission.

All of it, unless i get bored, confused, nauseated, or disgusted. If the thing has unnecessary sex or violence, it's gone.

WE generally know within a page or two... but in most cases we do read to the end.

Most are read to the end. That being said, we can sometimes tell very quickly if a piece will not be accepted.

If the story was well written and holds my interest, I'll read it to the end. Sometimes it's not the right genre, and that's why I reject. Most times I read up to three pages before deciding to reject.

I will at least see the full length of each piece, but the level of engagement or certainty I have about it determines how deeply I read it.

Our editorial board members read every word ... unless it's clear from the beginning that the peace is demeaning in any way.

At Mulberry, we read whole pieces before rejecting or accepting work. We think that every piece of writing, whether fiction, nonfiction, hybrid, or poetry deserves our full and undivided attention before a decision is made.

We read each submission thoroughly several times before making a decision.

We try to read every piece to the end to make sure we aren't missing anything, but as we know many readers might stop reading if they are not interested in the first few paragraphs, we weight the beginning of your stories very heavily in our decisions.

Because every piece gets three or four readers, there is little chance that it has not gotten read all the way through by at least one SWING staff member. And even with rejections, our readers are asked to express why they made the decision they made. I am trying to carve out a space for me in the literary periodical world as the "rejection artist." What this means is that I strive to give the most constructive rejections possible; I do this with the help of very astute and sensitive readers who give great feedback, which I pass on to writers.

Anyone who says they read every word of every submission is either lying, crazy, or completely lacking in literary judgment. I can usually tell within a paragraph or two if a piece is a lost cause. I always force myself to skim through the rest, though, and carefully read the last couple paragraphs, just to make sure there isn't some indication I was too quick to judge. I use a multi-level reading process, and if a piece survives the first cut, it's subjected to more and more thorough reads. The best pieces grab my attention, though, and force me to read them all the way through the first time.

With poetry, we read the whole thing, but with prose we usually read the first few paragraphs, skim through the rest, and then read the end.
If I’m hooked after the first few paragraphs, I’ll read it all.

It is often easy to tell within the first few stanzas or paragraphs, but we never accept or reject a submission without reading it in its entirety.

All works are read in their entirety and sometimes by several people before a decision is made.

I personally will give each piece of fiction that I read at least three pages before I decide firmly whether it will make the cut.

We always read every submission to the end, but we usually know from the first couple of sentences how much we resonate with the given piece of writing. Nevertheless, we believe that every work is complete when it is read from beginning to end and that every piece of writing deserves to be read in its entirety.

We always read each piece to the end, though stories/essays/poems that start off poorly most often end without an improvement in skill. Still, we read the pieces as we'd like our own to be read: through to the end.

The majority of submissions are read to the end and, indeed, read several times more before a final decision is made. However, it's true that in quite a number of cases, the first few paragraphs indicate that a submission isn't for us. In terms of the story, it's essential for the first couple of paragraphs to grab our attention and encourage us to read on. Sometimes, the opening paragraphs tells us that the submission falls outside our target genre in which case we don't continue reading. Similarly, a typescript that's difficult to read because of the intricate typeface, for example, or too many typos will deter us from reading to the end.

We can usually guess early on if a piece is a good fit or not, but we read everything sent to us from beginning to end before making a decision.

For the Chopping Blog, I want people to pitch me their idea before they start writing it, but some content creators come knocking with ideas already hammered out. That's fine if it's a topic we're interested in sharing, but in general I'd like to see an outline before you get started. When we get to the next stage, I'm most likely going to read the entire thing unless there are significant issues with grammar or clarity.
For our contests, I sometimes only read a few sentences. For the First Page Challenge, if the first sentence doesn't hit, the submission doesn't make the shortlist. I need to be transported immediately, such that I forget that I'm reading by the middle of the page. Sink me into a scene and give me a reason to stay. For the Synopsis Skirmish, the first sentence (or any sentence) can be practical rather than (or as well as) artful, but I need to know what's going on. I tend to read the whole thing, but if I encounter any clarity issues, I will move on to the next submission. For the Clash of the Query Letters, I also tend to read the whole thing, but I might stop if there are glaring errors or clarity issues.

Until it stops gripping us.

If there are multiple pieces, I will give each one a try and will not stop reading unless its off theme or clearly unedited.

Experienced readers come to believe they know, before the first period, how a text will go. In this way, they're identical to inexperienced readers. Realistically, sure, you can sense within the first few bites of a meal whether you'll be cleaning your plate. But some stories start rough; some take a while to find their legs; and while our job is to vote, our ethic should be to understand each author's intentions as well as ability, and this often means reading to the end of a text destined for rejection.

We read to the very end!

I'll start off by saying that every submission is read by at least 3 editors before a decision is made on it. Exactly how much of each piece each editor reads depends on the individual. For me personally, I read until I'm sure that I don't want to publish the piece. Sometimes that happens in the first few pages, although it's pretty rare for me to stop reading before page 3--usually only if there are obvious, major flaws and issues. In any given submission period, I probably read 40-50% of fiction submissions the whole way through, and read to at least the halfway point for most of the rest.

Our Editorial Team goes through the entire piece (poem or article), evaluates it on the parameters mentioned above, before deciding on whether to accept it or not.
Sometimes the works are good but there are some syntactical or grammatical errors that spoil the piece. In such cases we request the contributors to revise and re-submit.

I read everything to the end.
I generally know from the first few lines if something is connecting with me.
But I give every submission equal respect.

We read each submission entirely

We receive a lot more poetry than prose, and most of these poems are pretty short. A shorter poem is easy to read through even if it starts off poorly, so, with that being said, most written submissions are read in their entirety. However, we have received some longer submissions (both poetry and prose) with red flags at the beginning that I personally have not completed reading. Red flags that could cause me to not finish reading a work include very clearly not following our theme or instances of racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. Any written submission over our word limit (2,500) will not be read.

Each piece is read thoroughly and respectfully, multiple times. As writers, we understand the heart and time that goes into the writing process. We are respectful of our submitters and treat them as such by reviewing each piece carefully before making a decision.

Every situation is different; there is no one answer to this question.

Every submission (that meets our guidelines!) is read to completion by our reader team and at least one editor.

This is different depending on each editor and reader. Personally, I will continue to read a piece for as long as I believe what I'm reading, and the language is deliberate. If images and plot and character start to fade in the writing, that usually makes the decision for me.

I read at least a few pages into the story, even when I know that it isn't right for us.

Pieces that are read to the end are generally accepted. Boredom can be instantaneous. But there are other reasons for a decline. We are striking a balance on Litbreak. Maybe we have had a piece similar to yours. In that case, we might decline. We try not to publish what we have already published.

Our editors do all entries the service of reading them completely.

Properly trained fiction editors should be able to critique a prose style in one sentence (or less); though we counsel a full page read before passing: there’s no “but if you only got to the amazing finish;” there is no finish without a perfect opening gambit.

We read every piece to the end.

It is RARE that we don't read a piece to completion before rejecting it. Usually, if this happens, it is from including a topic that we refuse to print that is in our "None of this, though" list or from it being unreadable from grammar barriers. We don't require any kind of MLA standard, dialogue especially can be vastly different between regions, it has to be readable, though.

We read all of the submission unless they are essays which we don't print.

I rely on my first readers and then I look at beginnings and endings

It's a mix of both approaches.

We believe that a literary piece must be experienced in its entirety.

For longer prose pieces, we typically read about 3-5 pages before deciding whether to reject the piece. Poetry, we read all the way through.

The entire work is read carefully and closely.

It depends--we can tell early on if the piece is appropriate (on theme, high enough quality, if it's proof-read and edited, if the submitter is aware of the type of journal we are, and has read the instructions). If it's not appropriate, we do not read to the end.
We also immediately decline anything that is filled with hate towards anyone based on religion, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, etc.
Otherwise, we read to the end.

Not applicable, as we only publish poetry or very short prose.

All of it.

I read beginning middle and end of submissions and then pretty much know if we would like to publish it or not.

It depends on the piece. Sometimes I can tell from the first page it just isn’t the right fit for the magazine. Other stories, I’ll make my decision after reading it all the way through.

We generally read pieces all the way through, but we tend to know within the first few pages if a piece is not going to be a fit.

It depends... If a piece is great from th ebeginning we read it in its entirety before accepting it. Unfortunately, less excellent material is usually apparently so rather early on, after a page or two...

All submissions are read to completion unless a submission rubs us the wrong way morally or is typed in Comic Sans.

It depends on the story. If it doesn't capture me in the first few pages, I put it away and then try reading it again the next day. If it doesn't capture me, I ask myself why. Sometimes, a story just doesn't work for me, and sometimes a story which doesn't work on one day will capture me the next day. For the most part, I try to read every piece to the end, and sometimes it might require several rereads before I make up my mind.

I try to give each poem a chance to surprise me by reading it all the way through. But I can usually tell within a few lines if a poem has potential.

We read everything, even if the piece doesn't seem right before getting to the end, since we try to work with authors to revise material that we feel isn't right.

Generally, we evaluate at least 30 pages of each manuscript. Sometimes it's a lot more than that; sometimes I can tell in the first few paragraphs that a book isn't going to be right for the house, but I read on regardless, skipping around sometimes to make sure I'm not missing anything. The only exception would be if a book is in completely the wrong genre - for example, we don't publish children's fiction, so I don't read children's fiction submissions.

We try to give every submission a solid chance, but as we're all volunteers, we aren't always able to read an entire submission if the beginning is extremely unpromising.

We can generally tell a piece isn’t right in the first 2 pages.

We read all submitted work in its entirety; this is a necessary respect shown to our submitters. (The only exception is if a submitter does not read our submission guidelines and submits, like, a hundred page photo album to nonfiction. That's an automatic no, even if we've looked at all the photos.)
Two readers are assigned to each submission during a normal non-contest submission period, and if they wildly differ in their opinions, a third reader or editor will be assigned. When we're in the later stages of building an issue, more editors and assistant editors might read a piece. Even if it's ultimately a decline, it's likely one of our readers found something to appreciate about your work.

This really depends. Sometimes we know in a sentence. We typically read at least a few pages. Oftentimes, though, the reason something isn't right for us might not have anything to do with the writing - it might be the subject, length, audience, etc.

I read the whole thing. Unless it is unintelligible because of grammar issues.

Two pages for prose. I don't read prose all the way through if I can tell it's not for us.

Usually, the first page of the manuscript tells the tale. We can get a good idea of the writer's style and the gist of the story within the first 500 words or so. The opening can make or break a story.

We read every piece we receive unless:
1. the piece contains offensive content (including bigotry, sexual discrimination, gratuitous depictions of sex or physical violence)
2. the piece is so riddled with cliche that we cannot bear to finish it. We are not masochistic. If the level of the writing we receive is poor, we will not afflict ourselves with the entire submission. We volunteer our time to carry out this project, and our time is valuable.

The obvious reject is lots of spelling errors and/or poor grammar.
We get lots of very good stories, so many are read to the end.

We typically read till the end—who knows, there may be some convincing surprise. There are times we get disconnected right from the first few lines or paragraphs, but we read it all up to fulfil all righteousness.

We generally like to be hooked in the first couple of paragraphs. If we like the beginning, we will scan the rest of the piece, and read the ending. We can normally tell if we like a piece from the first paragraph.

Every editor hopes to unwrap the perfect present found under the tree. It is no hardship to read such a submission straight through to the end, because you are so wrapped up in it that it doesn't matter how long or short it is. We have read ostensible "flash-fiction" that feels like War and Peace, or, at least, Bartleby. It should feel like unwrapping that perfect present!

Our editorial process ensures that it is read by a minimum of two or three readers before a decision is made. Unless a story is blatantly out of scope for our journal or missing all concept of grammar and punctuation, we will read to the end. Any submissions that our readers feel warrant further discussion are marked and brought before the team at our weekly meetings. Radon uniquely works off of consensus decision making, meaning we will not accept or reject a piece unless each editor concurs. This ensures each voice is equal to the next. This also produces wonderful discussions where individual editors have the ability to fight for a piece they particularly love or hate and make their case.

Because we publish flash fiction, we read every piece to the end. Doing otherwise would feel a little like an abnegation of duty considering how short these pieces are and considering how flash fiction especially should be considered as an organic, cohesive whole. The more interesting question is how long we spend on a piece before we tend to emotionally decide it's not for us. There are some piece wherein I can tell from the first few paragraphs that it's not for us, whether because it's more traditional, action-oriented genre fiction, or because the writing is just not very impressive. Even in those cases, though, I try to read the piece all the way through. Flash fiction in particular is a great place for a solid "set up/ payoff" structure, and I don't want to stop reading before I reach that payoff. More than once, I thought pieces we received weren't speculative fiction at all until I reached the final few paragraphs. Still, it's important to catch our attention in the first few paragraphs. A flash fiction piece that doesn't become interesting until 500 words in is a much bigger problem than a 10,000 word story that takes 500 words to become interesting.

I read the entirety of every submission, as even if it doesn't appear to be suitable within the first few paragraphs it may surprise me by the end. I have accepted pieces on this basis. First lines are important, but so are last lines and every line between.

I read the whole story.

I can usually tell from the first few paragraphs whether a story might be a good fit for us. I'm looking for a piece where the characters are instantly established, and if that doesn't happen within a few paragraphs, it definitely won't meet my needs.

I can tell within the first page if the submission is worth reading in depth. If the first page contains sloppy writing, incorrect punctuation or grammar, undeveloped characters, scenes, or dialogue, or anything else that indicates the writing still needs a lot of work, I don't read on.

We can tell within the first few paragraphs or pages if a submission is well written. However, unless a work is so spectacular that we accept it right away in hopes of beating other publications to it, we don't decide what will be "right" for us until we have the final crop of "possibles" at the end of the submission period. Every year a theme emerges that suggests the right fit for final acceptances and, ultimately, prizes.

It depends on the submission, sometimes it takes reading through the entire piece, sometimes you know within a paragraph or a minute or two of viewing or listening.

I can generally tell if the piece isn't right. For poetry, I can see that it's too long pretty much right away, so I mostly don't read those ones (to save myself time). Other than that, I usually read stuff to the end. As I mentioned in another question, I will work with writers whose work is almost there. I'm also a freelance editor, so I have lots of experience giving constructive and practical feedback to tweak a piece. If I think I could use it with a few revisions, then I will send it back. Mostly I think I have a compulsion to finish what I read, even when I know it's not a good fit. I love reading and I love seeing all the creative things people come up with.

Depends on the length of the piece. For poetry and flash fiction stories, we usually read the whole piece. For longer stories and hybrid works, if we're not hooked within the first few pages, our readers and editors usually vote "no."

We read all of our submissions in their entirety. We have a large team of volunteer readers and editors who work incredibly hard to ensure each piece is given the time and respect it deserves.

We attempt to read each piece through to the end. A few are simply too painful to an editor's eye to get that far. If it's not right for us, but shows promise, it's not unusual to offer some editorial advice with the rejection.

There is a proper review process where the team of reviewers give their opinion on the pieces allotted to them. If the piece is rejected by one reviewer but the editor likes it, it may go for another round of review.

It is sometimes obvious quite early on that a story won't fit but not always.

All of it. Although we can usually tell if a piece is a good fit for Split Lip from the first few pages, we prefer to give all submissions a fair chance.

Each editor would need to answer this herself. But when a piece comes to me, I do usually read the whole thing. There are occasions where I can tell right off the bat that a piece is not for us, but I'll usually read it through anyhow so I can send a kind rejection note that indicates I've given the piece time and thought.

All pieces are read all the way through, at least once. We owe that to everyone who submits.

It depends. If it catches our attention, we read the entire submission. If it does not, we may only read the first few paragraphs.

I can tell very quickly if a poem is not a good fit for our publication. As for short stories or scripts, it depends. If I don't like the style of writing, I can tell within the first page of work. However, endings are fairly important to me, so I typically read the rest all the way to the end.

N/A. Excellent or awful, we read all hundred words.

We can generally tell within the first paragraph if the story has winning potential. However, we do usually read on, in case there is a later surprise.

We instruct our readers to read at least four pages, after which they may choose to consult a checklist that prompts them to consider whether the story so far a) contains mostly narrative, b) is populated by characters who DO things, after which things HAPPEN, and c) demonstrates strong prose construction. If the answers are no, our readers may stop reading, although many chose to continue. We would love to say that a substantial majority of stories are read to the end, but that is not the case.

Every submission is different. If the first few lines wow me, of course I'll read on. If it's a poem - I'll definitely read to the end. If it continues to wow me, it gets accepted. That simple. Stories and essays are different for me as a editor/reader. If you haven't grabbed me in the first 100 words, I probably won't read till the end. I do try my best to keep my email box clean of submissions, so you should hear from me rather quick.

I can sometimes know within the first few pages if I am going to pass on it or not. Sometimes I will pass on a piece because it doesn't fit the brand I'm shooting for with Timber Ghost Press. Other times I will pass on it because it doesn't hook me, or I don't feel much for the protagonist.

There's no doubt that we do read all the submissions to the end. We believe that the most righteous way to judge our submitter's work is to completely read their work and make efforts into understanding the submitter's perception. That's the reason why sometimes we take a longer time to finish the judging process because we want to give equal opportunities to all our submitters. We expect our submitters to understand our position and respect our decisions.

It varies wildly. Sometimes, unfortunately, I can tell from the first page that something is not going to work. Other times, I read right to the end of a work before deciding it isn't for us. If a story catches my attention immediately, I'll read until it loses my interest. If I can get all the way through it and I'm still interested in it, I'll put it aside and read it again in a couple of days. Very rarely, a story thrills me so much I accept it immediately, but because we have limited space in each issue, that doesn't happen often.

We read every piece beginning. We've had some submissions where we actually cut the opening paragraph and it works better. If we see something in the piece, we are willing to work with them, if they're willing to put the work in. There have been times when we've asked for rewrites and it just didn't work and we had to pass. There have also been times where we didn't run a piece until the next issue. We feel if someone is going to take the time to write for us, we should put the same effort into their work.

We read pieces in their entirety and review every piece we receive.

Cavar: Our readers, and at least one of our editors, read a piece in full (usually several times) before rejecting or accepting. If there's any doubt as to our decision, we keep the submission around until enough eyes have been on it.

It depends on the piece. There are a few checkpoints to cross in a story. If we can get past the first sentence, then the first paragraph, we'll usually read to the end.

For poetry, we read the entire poem. For prose of fiction, we only read the first two or three pieces to get a feel for whether it's right for our publication.

It varies from book to book. We try to give every book a fair reading. Sometimes you can tell quite quickly. More often it takes time.

The staff are required to respond if a piece is rejected so the entire work must be read.

Every story is read through completely by no fewer than three judges. Those that move to the semi-finals are read by all the judges. The finalists are rank ordered by our guest judge. Previous guest judges have included NYTimes Bestselling authors including Charlaine Harris, John Grogan, Jonathan Maberry, Peter Abrahams (also writing as Spencer Quinn) and many others.

We read every single entry in it's entirety. If you send your story to us, we read the whole thing before making a determination.

This varies, but is ultimately up to the discretion of our slush readers. Some prefer to read a whole piece and some prefer to read just the first few pages. We don't require our slushers to read an entire piece. If it doesn't grab us right away, we probably won't be interested.

I can usually tell my the first page or two if I'm going to accept or reject it. If I'm not interested in a piece by then, I'm not going to keep reading because I know that readers of our site won't be interested either.

Our editor can usually tell within a couple of chapters.

All of it unless there are obvious problems (guideline violations, formatting issues, not publication-ready, etc.) within the first couple pages.

I honestly read the entire piece. I feel passionately that, if a writer pays for a submission (and phoebe charges a small submission fee, which 100% goes to our operations and publishing costs), the least I can do is read it. In the interest of full disclosure, of course, there are times late at night when I've been working for 12 hours or otherwise have looming deadlines or my dog is barking at me that wants his treats that I might go with my gut on a piece after a couple pages, but I more often than not read every piece in its entirety. All that said, we don't require all of our readers to read the entire piece, because they, too, are all volunteers. We ensure every piece sees at minimum three pairs of eyes, but how deep they each go is at their discretion.

Every piece submitted to BFF is read from start to finish.

The first paragraph or two pretty much says whether the piece is right or not for our publication. That said, every submission is read to the end.

If the piece is obviously very unsuitable in subject matter or quality, it gets rejected fairly quickly. However, the vast majority of stories are read in full.

Generally, in my work as fiction editor and Editor-in-Chief, I am able to tell what works and what does not from the earliest paragraphs. However, it is always better, and we make it a point of duty, to read till the end of pieces in most cases.

How much of a story we read varies, but we generally make it to the end unless the writing is wretched.

As the preliminary reader, I read every piece and give feedback when it's requested. We have a tiered fee system and charge extra for individualized feedback. I tell you what I like and what, if anything, trips me up. We get returning contestants because of the feedback.

All of it!

The battle is lost or won on the first page.

Every piece is read all the way through, often by more than one editor.

Every piece has multiple readers. Each reads its entirety, often more than once. Obvious knockouts can hear back fast, but most of our favorites come from split votes in early rounds. The first paragraph and page are almost always good indicators, but there are surprises in both directions: a strong start can flounder, and a slow one can gather steam. Pieces commonly see five or six sets of eyes.

We read and review every single submission in its entirety. Since submissions are short, and that we are a relatively
small publication we can do this. We often read something we like several time before deciding to take it or not.
We do not use submissions software, or any type of response form.

We try to read each submission carefully, but if it doesn't catch our attention after a few paragraphs or lines, we can usually assume it's not right for us. Luckily, every submitted piece receives at least two reads from two separate readers or editors, so there's always room for further conversation about pieces under consideration.

While we can generally tell if a piece isn't right from the first page or two, we read every piece to the end.

We go into each submission hoping for greatness, but if a piece obviously isn't right for us or ready for publication, we will stop reading.

This is a great question! Good writing pulls me into the piece, and when I realize that I'm half way through, I know it's worth a more critical read. This is a piece that will be pushed forward in the editorial process, and evaluated further by the section editors. Writers who fail to submit according to guidelines, or whose thesis or narrative thread is not obvious on the first page are likely going to be pushed to bottom of the pile. We prioritize the pieces that grab us--make us feel something--are a fresh voice we don't often hear from--and when we hit our limit for publication, other pieces just don't make the cut. Best advice for any submission: Grab the reader's heart and head in the first sentence, paragraph, page!

We read every submission all the way through (and if the piece is held for our final consideration collective, we give notes on it as well). I usually know within a page or two if I'm going to like a piece or not, but I have been surprised before.

We tend to read to the end.

Everything is read by the editors and by a group of readers enrolled in the MA program at Stockholm University who rank the submissions. The short-listed pieces are then discussed and the final selection is made.

I try to read every piece I receive right to the end. Having said that, I've often decided whether I'll accept or reject a piece after the first couple of pages.

Only on occasion have writers, who ignore our submission guidelines, sent us more material than we read (we have a maximum of 5,000 words for a story or essay and no more than 4-6 poems). We read all the poetry that sent to us and all of the short stories or essays that run under the 5,000-word limit. If a submission is squarely unpublishable we might read only several pages before making that decision.

We try to read to the end of every piece, but if it's clearly outside our stated interests or mission, we'll stop before reaching the end.

We have a rotating editorship: two editors, each serving three years, and a Gaelic editor, also serving three years. Editorial styles and preferences will change with the editors. However, they're all experienced writers themselves, and can tell if something is good, bad or indifferent within a few paragraphs. If it's bad or indifferent, then I suspect they'll stop reading right there: life is too short, and the submission piles are too tall! Good stuff, though, will be read to the end and kept aside for further consideration.

We can generally tell within the first few paragraphs (flash) or the first page or two (short stories)

Opening paragraphs are key to reading on.

Like most literary journals, we receive a lot of blanket submissions from people who don’t necessarily understand what we publish. If submissions don’t fit SAND’s aesthetic, we will reject those without reading the full submission. In general, we’re looking for subversive poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and art from an array of fresh perspectives, so those submissions always receive a full and careful evaluation.

We read each piece to the end. If a person honors us by sending his/her/their work, we feel it is our duty to give it full consideration. Typically, we get a sense of whether a piece is right for us after a few stanzas/paragraphs.

I do my best to read through it twice in case I might miss something important in the submission or if there was a piece that I might reconsider regardless if it’s publishing it to our issue or rejecting it. Just so that I don’t have to look back and kick myself for letting a fantastic poem get away. Sometimes the decision is depending on if we want the work for a main issue, or for our mini-packs or if it is something right for our publication.

It depends. Sometimes you can tell from the pitch that it's just not right for Claret Press. It's not about the writing. It's about the topic or the approach. If I do read the submission, then again, it depends. Sometimes as much as 10 pages. Sometimes the whole thing.

Mud Season aims to have at least two readers on every submission; we aim to give every submission a fair and comprehensive look.

There is not a magic page number. I read the things that we publish all the way to the end, if that helps.

If I haven't been caught within fifteen or so pages, I typically stop.

We don’t necessarily “reject” anything. Selection for our front page magazine is determined by the diverse rates of our editors. Everything submitted in the forum is managed by the content creator, so it can stay and be viewed as long as you wish.
The editors are only human, so we read when our individual schedular permit. That will determine when we get to your piece. We like to take our time and have lots of user content to choose from. That’s why we constantly seek new members to freshen our community and perspectives.

We’re looking for work with a very specific vibe, and we can usually tell if it’s not going to be for us sometimes as early as the first couple of paragraphs. The rule we follow is “read until we’re sure.” That said, there are many wonderful stories that get read right to the end even if they may not be for us. Sometimes, we’ll get a story that’s fantastic but not our “vibe,” and we’ll ask the writer to send us something else—and it hits the nail on the head.

We only take subs that are 3000 words or less, so we read every word.

All of it.

We read every piece sent to us at least three times. First, your work goes to our editors for initial reaction, then submissions are divvied up and redistributed among the staff to edit some more. After this, I, the Editor-in-Chief, go through the submissions again before sending out a full draft of the magazine for final edits.

poems are concise enough that we read the whole thing. (but even there, shorter can be better.)
with any prose, i read the first few paragraphs, & if they're great we keep reading. otherwise, after those first few paragraphs we go & look at the last page. but if the first few paragraphs aren't doing anything at all except assembling vowels & consonants, we might not bother. our second reader always reads the whole thing, & has this to say: some failures do announce themselves loudly. (& this only happens to about 25% of the time.)
& if the piece sucks, so what? every writer has a bad day, week, month, year, or even decade.
all we ever want is something short & brilliant & compelling.

I can’t speak for other editors and readers when it comes to reading a submission to the end. Some do and some don’t.
Generally, I try my best to read a submission in its entirety, even if I’m not enjoying the story. If the story is too long and not well written, I’ll scan it through, but there have been instances when I could not bear to read a story to its end. Fortunately, those are few and far between.
Sometimes, I know immediately a piece is for CRES, other times I need to get a second opinion. One of the things I love about CRES is that everyone has different tastes and ideas on what makes a great story, and if it’s well written, is well received by our readers and falls within the CRES guidelines but doesn’t personally appeal to me, I would still recommend it to our editor because everyone has different tastes in stories.

What we receive is read by a staff of associate editors who are experienced writers, editors, teachers, or published authors who are expected to read an entire piece before offering an opinion.

I try to read every piece I receive all the way to the end, but there are times when I can tell a piece is not right from the first few paragraphs (or stanzas, if it is a poem). Short stories and Nonfiction stories especially need to grab my attention within the first couple of paragraphs, or they will not get accepted. By "grab my attention," I don't mean that writers should begin their stories with a crazy action sequence. I mean that a strong voice needs to be there. If writers have command of their craft, I can usually tell right away.

Three editors read and give commentary to every piece we receive, even if rejected. (Two editor read if submission received in last month of our submission cycle).

We always read the submissions in full. Which is not to say an inclination to reject doesn't start early on. We just like to give the work a chance in case revising it becomes an option.

We have a small team of readers who read at least the first few pages of each piece, if not each piece entirely. There are some submissions that we can tell right away aren't ready or don't fit what we are looking for. Also, we have a few sets of eyes, including at least one genre editor's, hit each submission before rejecting it, understanding that judging creative work is subjective.

The pieces we publish are short (less than 1500 words) so we read them in their entirety.

We read every single piece to the end before making the decision to reject it. Our editorial team spends their time reading each piece and going back and forth with meticulous commentary before we make our final decisions.

The Director is the first reader for all submissions, and reads each story in its entirety.

Some don't feel right after the first few lines or paragraphs, and conversely some feel perfect after the first few paras.

I read the whole submission. Sometimes, really good stories get caught up on introductory throat clearing -- and just need a different starting point.

We try to read the whole thing, but often end up skimming, seeing how it ends, and then revisiting if we are inspired. It sometimes takes multiple reads over many months to complete the review process.

We have multiple people reading a story from beginning to end: at minimum 3, but at maximum around 50. Though the first few pages are often indicative of the quality of a story, we always read to the very end.

Depends on the editor, but I read to the end. I can usually tell if a piece isn't right within the first couple sentences, but I like to see where the writer is going.

We read each piece from beginning to end, though we usually have a good inkling of whether it’s right for us by the tail of the first paragraph.

It varies. Sometimes, you can tell right away whether or not a piece will be accepted. Other times, it doesn't click until the very end, or several reads later. If you're lucky, you'll just catch us on a day when we're in the mood for whatever you're writing.

I read the whole submission at least once before I make a decision.

It depends, in some ways, on the genre. With nonfiction, we can generally tell pretty quickly whether it's within our purview, usually within a page or two. Most often, when we reject nonfiction, it's not because the writing is bad but because we just don't publish work like that (for example, coming-of-age essays about summer camp). For fiction, we try to read at least halfway through--sometimes a writer takes a while to hit their stride, and we've occasionally worked with writers to cut slow or problematic beginnings (or endings). That and, as writers ourselves, we know how hard it can be to write anything ever, and we want to respect that effort, even if we ultimately feel it wasn't successful.

Nearly always, we read the entire piece. However, because of submission volume, if a piece really isn’t working halfway through, we may stop reading it.

We read all of it.

We get a feel for it quite quickly - probably in the first page for fiction, but we always keep reading until the end. For poetry, we read all of it as well, but it's great to have 2-5 poems to consider as we may like one piece more than the others.

If I'm not captured in the first few lines, it's unlikely I'll finish a piece

To be honest, as experienced poets and editors, it's true that sometimes we can tell right away that a poet isn't quite ready to be submitting their work. However, our reading process ensures that it's rare that a submission is not read in its entirety by more than one editor. We've published poems that two or three editors pass on before another editor will choose it to champion at the table. We love the flexibility of this process, and we love the feeling that this extra attention means that we find excellent work that may have been going unnoticed, even by other publications.

We read through to the end of each piece, but don't let that make you comfortable. It's best to immediately dazzle without too much of a slow build.

If a story doesn't get good until page 5, or a poem until the third stanza, our readers aren't going to stick around and wait for it to happen. At the same time, we're very selective with our pagecount, and what earns space in an issue. Send us your work when it's going to captivate us (and our readers) from the first words!

I can generally tell within the first few paragraphs, though some stories require me to read to the end to see if the author has been able to pull off an overall effect.

We go through submissions carefully because it is our duty to be answerable to our readers.

In general, all pieces get a fairly thorough reading from all or some of our staff. Because I am constantly training new readers, I don't encourage them to pass on a piece without fully reading it.

We read every piece to the end. We usually can tell whether it has potential within the first pages, but we give it the benefit of the doubt, also because for poetry and shorter pieces we like to be able to tell an author which piece spoke to us, even if the total submission was rejected.

If contributors follow our guidelines as to length, we read each piece to the end--and each piece receives more than one reading.

We use a detailed evaluation rubric to give every submission a fair and objective reading, but it's often very easy to identify unpublishable content without reading to the end. The difficult readings are those that are competently, even beautifully written but which never come to a point or which never deliver a comprehensible message.

We read everything to the end, but we generally know very early if your work is a perfect fit for us. Even if a story with a weak beginning picks up halfway through and delivers an excellent end, a reader isn't (often) going to give a story the same kind of time an editor will. Work on your beginnings! They're critical to capturing our attention, but also our readers' attention.

As our submissions are on the short side we tend to read all of each submission. If we have a long story and I'm not grabbed by it after the first scroll down I may reject it.

Neither?

I certainly try to read everything from start to finish, but if something hasn't grabbed me within the first few chapters, it's unlikely that it will keep my attention for much longer. We have so many submissions to go through that the truth is we just don't have the time to "stick with it" if we don't think it's working for us.

The weight of a submission finds me, or doesn't, quickly. I read each one to the end, but if it's a challenge to get there, that's not good. I suggest those who submit poetry to show range in subject matter and/or style. If submitting prose, look at past issues and see if there's a common thread you can weave into.

We read the whole thing unless it goes over the word limit. Even if it looks like it's not a fit in the first few paragraphs, we give it a look-see to make sure it isn't just slow in the beginning. I'm sure we'll have exceptions, but that's my answer and I'm sticking with it.

Yes, I read the piece to the end.

All of it!

If a piece shows bad craft, bad use of language, or if the piece is obviously written by someone who does not read other writers (an amazing number) I might skim through the rest to be doubly sure I'm correct in choosing not to finish reading all of it. The most difficult decisions centre around writing which is competent but just isn't as good as other submissions competing for the limited space on offer, perhaps because the subject matter isn't interesting enough, the voice not individual enough or the piece does not fit with the majority of other pieces already accepted and shaping a particular issue. I have to read those pieces all the way through, sometimes several times, before deciding if they are to be rejected.

All submitted work is read in-full (which is not to say we don't form opinions about the work much earlier on in our reading of it). Writers and artists take the time to submit their work to us, and out of respect for them and their process(es), we give their work full consideration.

We read submissions from beginning to end. As a judge, no matter how perceptive or experienced, one cannot have a full image of the work unless one reads it in full and also a judge owes this to writers who honour the competition with their submission.

Generally, all the works are read in full before a decision is arrived at. Often, the author may be requested to make some changes, if required, in terms of word length, presentation style etc.,

As a poet and seasoned reader, it's easy to tell if a submission is promising from reading the first few lines. That said, I do each submission due diligence and read each submission the way I would want my work to be read, to the end, sometimes few times over.
As an editor-in-chief and curator, I also read works in relation to the issue, considering the ways each individual piece speaks when read in relation to the other submissions.

We try to take every rejection seriously, and not dismiss quality material that might have a rocky start. We don't promise to read EVERY piece to the end, but most of them.

I try to read 25-50 pages before deciding, but a few things will make a piece easy to reject. If it's single-spaced or has typos on the first page, it's an automatic rejection.

Since I ask for stories up to 750 words,I always read the entire piece before making the decision, but it's usually obvious if a piece isn't quite right within the first couple of sentences.

I do not read every piece to the end, but usually someone on our team has before it gets to me. The senior editors make the final decisions on keep or kill, but our first and second editorial assistants or readers will usually have gone through a piece front to back and written some notes on the reading. Generally, I can get a good vibe for a piece by the end of the first page, usually by the halfway point. I've certainly been wrong, but typically a piece that starts well is going to end well.
Also, this is entirely anecdotal, but it seems like a high percentage of stories that I end up bailing by the first page either start with an alarm clock going off/the character waking up, a piece of cold-open dialogue or the character looking out a window. That's weirdly coincidental, right? And yet, it keeps being true.

This depends greatly on the particular call. We look for manuscripts that read front the back regardless of genre. Wow us early, but also make sure that your collection tells us a story.

Because of our word limit -2500 words - I generally read the whole piece. I can be derailed by badly proofread pieces. I am agnostic about the Oxford comma, but batches of misspelled words, run on sentences that don’t reflect actual dialogue or character development, meandering tangents, internal “editorializing” by the writer - these are some of the things that cause me to stop reading. I am not offended by much, but gratuitous violence wastes my time.
Sometimes, we will get a piece- like religious poetry or political tracts - which just don’t mesh with how we see our journal, but are otherwise well done. I will try to suggest other places where that work will fit better.

I have a very liberal view of publishing as a medium that connects writers with readers. I do not have any moral, religious, grammarian, or stylistic boundaries. Writers need to know libel, hate-speech and other relevant laws, so that they do not violate them in the works they are submitting for publication. Outside these censorable violations, I leave judgement of the works to readers, rather than picking out what I enjoy or dislike. Some issues are over 300 pages because too many projects came in and none of them had any major censorable problems. The only thing I dislike in the works I review is simplicity, repetition, and other variations of... lack of originality and thought. Given these parameters, I screen all incoming works very quickly and do not read all of the content. Bowker has placed Anaphora on its list of self-publishers across the past 5 years or so: it is in the top 18 top self-publishers in the US. Dickens and Scott were self-publishers: I embrace the title full-heartedly. Writers need minimum barriers in their way: it's within the rights of all writers to reach readers and to share their voice.

We read the whole piece.

Editors that receive a significant amount of submissions every day are likely not able to read every piece to the end. I think it's an editor's responsibility to continue reading the story if the story is continuing to draw you in. Being busy, stressed out or distracted isn't ever an excuse to dump a good story in the reject plate just to get it off your plate. That being said, if a story isn't working for you as an editor, it's not going to work for the market that you represent, and we all know you can sometimes tell fairly early on if a story isn't working for you. Personally, if a story is landing in that space with me and pushing against my intuition, I'll still always flip towards the end and read the last page. There have been occasional instances when the insights gained from the tone change or plot wrap up in the final pages have made me go back and reconsider the story from where I left off.

Out of respect for the writer, we read the entire piece prior to making a decision currently. Sometimes you know a piece isn’t right for our publication, but we still give it a full read at least once before making a decision to pass or take further steps.

We always read the query letter. We always read the first paragraph. If the voice is not there, we move on. If it IS there, we keep reading. Voice, unlike a hook, is something that is there and apparent right from the very first word.

We try to read the full piece before making a decision, but sometimes you can tell after the first paragraph or two that a piece isn't appropriate or the subject matter not a good fit for us.

Since we publish flash fiction (<1,000 words), we read the whole thing.

It usually becomes clear within the first few paragraphs if a piece is going to be a good fit for Blank Spaces. We have some firm topics/themes we won't touch which we spell out on our website.

We read everything to the end. I'm an insane stickler about that and it means my editors sometimes hate me, but I think every piece deserves a real chance. That said, if a piece is full of racist, sexist, or homophobic bile, I reserve the right to reject it without subjecting my editors to the hate.

Sometimes I can tell right away that a piece won't work, but f that happens, it's often technical. Something that would be difficult to record correctly for the podcast, either because of my skill or equipment, or just because I have a pretty good understanding of what makes a good audio story, and some things that work in text just don't work on a podcast. Otherwise, I almost always read to the end to see where the story goes, partly because - even if it wasn't hitting me at first - the end might surprise me and turn it around, and partly because I like reading stories, and usually want to finish after I start.

We give it about 3 pages.

I can't speak for my co-editors, but with fiction if the first line or first paragraph does not engage me, or seems hackneyed and contrived, I don't bother with the rest. With poetry I skim first to see if it feels overwritten, uses cliches or uses words that seem, to me, meant to convey "big ideas" but never follow through.

It depends on the piece. I personally select every poem or work of prose the staff reviews, and I typically read the entire work, though sometimes I can tell within the first page whether or not it will be a good fit. If there's too many grammatical errors or misspellings, to me, that shows the author didn't take care to proofread thoroughly, so why should I?

We read every piece to the end, usually twice, and if it's poetry, usually aloud.

All submissions are completely read by at least three of our editors. We are thorough.

All of it.

I usually read the whole piece, even if I know from the beginning that it probably is not going to be something I want to include. I feel an obligation to writers to have their work be given full attention, since they took the risk to submit. And once in a blue moon I get surprised and find a piece where I realize I actually love it and want to publish, because it comes together in a way I wouldn't have suspected.

I tend to read it until the end, even if I get the feeling early on that it is not quite right. I like to give the submission a second chance and also to see what I like about it even if it doesn't fully work. Understanding what does and doesn't work can help me give positive feedback even if the submission isn't accepted this time. There is always a next time.

NUNUM only accepts flash fiction, so with it being less than 500 words I read until the end. A piece of writing starts to affect me after word one. First word was banana, had one for breakfast and it was divine, this story is going to be good. Better be at least, I don't want that memory tainted. And so it goes, word after word until the end and then it is a fill in the blank situation with all the opinions, feelings, etc. I accumulated from the reading. Sure, sometimes the decision to reject a piece feels like it was coming but then again other times a piece that started 'in that direction' for me turns and twists and spins and ends up being the piece I can't live without. Vice versa pops its head up once in a while too, oh this is going to be good and then whimper, sniffle it died and prompts that letter no one likes. Best situation for me is I need five stories for the next issue but I have ten that can't be a no. That's when the team sits and begins the ugly, painful cull but I always make sure to at least let the five we couldn't take know we loved their work and it was logistics and not their writing that prompted this particular rejection.

The entire thing. We're writers, too, so we know how much time and effort goes into the writing we receive. We're also fortunate enough to have a large enough staff that we can respond to the writer's work in a timely manner, so we make sure that we read looking for a reason to accept the manuscript, rather than looking for a reason to reject a manuscript. Because of this, we read everything with care.

We can usually tell if a poet isn't right for us by reading 3 or 4 pages, but we often look other places in the ms. Best advice: put your strongest poems first. If we like what we read up front, we'll put you into the 2nd round and do an in-depth reading. From the 2nd round, we choose 4 to 8 manuscripts for the final round. Out of those, we publish the one that we all love best. Some years we more than one winner, if we have the budget.

We strive to read every piece through to the end in the hopes that even an unlikely submission might surprise us in the end. If a piece is wildly outside our interests, we try to let the contributor know as soon as possible.

Full critique submissions are read to the end. For others, I read as long as it takes to pinpoint what’s not working, if anything, and why. (This is true, by the way, of agents, book editors, consumer magazine editors, and every other editing professional. Our time is valuable, as is yours.)

We read each submission in its entirety.

We read every submission carefully and do our best to give each submission a fair shot. We're looking for the best writing we can find and sometimes this isn't evident on page 1. That being said, it really should be. Each sentence should be well-crafted and draw the reader deeper and deeper into the world.

We are generous with our submissions. We read what's sent to us.

Of course we read the whole piece!

I read every piece to the end with the exception of work that is obviously racist/violent/misogynistic etc. I believe firmly in reading every submission all the way through even when I can tell midway that it won't be right. The person took the time to create and submit that creation to us, the least that I can do to honor that is to read the entirety of their creation.

Somewhere in between. If the language does not captivate, or devolves into that which is merely expected, the reading is quicker. But most of the time, I read to the end.

The quality of the writing is evident by the end of the second paragraph--sometimes sooner--but I always try to read the entire story unless egregious or irredeemable missteps occur.

We don't read every single piece all the way through (I doubt that any contest does). How much we read depends on the individual screener and the quality of those first paragraphs. A first page with a lot of typos or cliches will usually knock you out of the running. Other times, we have to read all the way through to see if you stick the ending. Finalists will be read in full by the screener and the final judge.

We read every submission at least twice.

We have a two-cut process. For first cut, the work is read by me and our editor in chief. When I read first round submissions, I look for basics like whether the piece was properly submitted, the quality of spelling/grammar, whether a work is engaging, whether the feel is a fit with Toasted Cheese, whether we publish what's been submitted, etc. I also weigh whether or not the piece may appeal to someone on the editorial board. If a well-written piece isn't my particular taste, I'll put it through to the next round. I can usually tell by glancing or a quick read. For second round (and our Dead of Winter contest), I read in detail to the end.

If an author spends the time and money to submit a piece to us, we feel it's our responsibility to read the entire submission.

We generally read an entire piece before making a decision. Occasionally, we realize early in a piece that it is not a great fit for Sunlight (for instance, we typically do not publish openly religious or political work).

As a first reader, I would read at least a few pages before rejecting a piece. As an editor, I would read the first page. Now, as Editor-in-Chief, I look at every single sentence. If a piece gets the death line, it's usually in the first paragraph. Those sentences could be improved. More dense. Denser.

At least one of us reads every piece to the end.

I will be honest: I do not read every piece to the end. I do my absolute best to read every piece to the end, I begin reading every piece intending to read it to the end, but there often comes a point when I know that the writing is not the right fit for TSR. The converse is true—sometimes I read all the way to the end and still feel like the piece isn't a good fit. In a previous answer, I recommended that authors make sure there are no typos or grammar errors in the first three pages of their prose. This is because it's often within the first three pages I'll know whether or not something is working for me. The greater the abundance of typos and grammar errors, the sooner I'll come to that conclusion.
I want to say that I'm also a writer. I also submit. And I also receive rejections. I understand the effort it takes to craft a story or create a poem and I do my very best to honor that effort. Being on both sides of the submission process is illuminating. Of course I want to think that the editors at the journals where I submit read my stories to the end, but I know this isn't the reality and it doesn't bother me. Most journals are underfunded and understaffed. Most journals have volunteer readers. If a literary journal is rolling in dough and has a staff of hundreds, that's something else. If the editor-in-chief of that literary journal is making millions of dollars then, yes, I would expect that journal to be able to afford to pay people to read every submission to the end. Barring that, if my story isn't interesting enough for someone to make it all the way through, that's on me.

We've been reading to the end a lot more lately, which is testimony to the quality of the work coming our way. That said, if a piece doesn't grab us within the first few pages, it's not likely to get better. We usually stop reading.

We read almost every piece that we receive from beginning to end. In very rare cases—twelve typos in an opening paragraph; prose submissions that span thirty pages—we will turn a piece down without reading it in its entirety, but for the most part we read submissions multiple times before coming to a final decision.

If the writing is competent, we read the entire piece, because the element of resistance might not otherwise be recognizable.

We read submissions through to the end.

We read most pieces to the end. If the topic has nothing to do with the journal, we can usually make a decision fairly quickly. We will otherwise have a discussion about most submissions in their entirety.

Every piece is read in full and evaluated on its own merits. We might pass on the first three poems of a poetry submission, for instance, but if the fourth one resonates, then it's a go! Fiction and nonfiction is also read from start to end. However, in the space of a short story or essay, it's vital to grab the reader within the first page.

Most of what I read has passed through various stages before it arrives at my desk. I give them two, sometimes three, readings before making a decision to publish it or not. If I'm doing a first or second read, I can tell by the third page if it is worth continuing or not.

If there are glaring grammatical errors, we may only read to the end of the first page. With flash fiction, we read the entire story before deciding whether to accept or reject it. With short stories and essays, we need to see promise in the first couple of pages. If it hasn't captured our attention by the end of page two, we are unlikely to read the entire story or essay.

Unless the grammar is so bad that it interferes with comprehension, we read to the end.

We read until we get bored, then we reject. Your opening had better be a kicker.

We try to read every submission in full before deciding on the next step. If we cannot get through a piece, whether it's because of the content or the execution, it usually means the work isn't ready, or it's not right for our journal. Though we can usually tell if the submitter has some familiarity with SKR within a few paragraphs, this won't automatically mean a rejection, but the work has to be excellent in that case. It must grab us and not let go. In the end, we have read many pieces that are truly excellent that are simply not right for our journal even so. We try always to let the submitter know if that's the case and to encourage them to try again.

Assuming I'm looking at something beyond the query (which we look at up to the first 10 pages) and I've requested the full, I can usually make a call within 25-50 pages. I figure if I'm not loving everything by then, it needs work. Less frequently, I'll get to the end of the book and realize it's close, but not quite there for whatever reason. Most of the time its because the ending felt rushed, and a fantastic, satisfying ending is just as important as a well-written beginning that grabs the reader right away.

Although usually I can tell within the first couple of pages whether I'll want to revisit or reject a submission, I try to read every story through to the end. I can't always do it, though!

We read all of our submissions.

It depends. We can usually tell within the first couple of pages whether or not we want to move forward with a piece, but we often do encounter works that snag us, even if we suspect we won't publish them. We tend to read those submissions through to the end and really toil over whether or not to move forward with publication.

There's no reason to read every piece to the end, and this shouldn't be expected of editors. Writers who are doing this work seriously should understand that it's important to grab a reader's interest early on. It's a necessity whether we prefer it or not. If you spend two long paragraphs describing the town where the main character lives, I'm probably going to move on to the next submission. I need to know what the character is wants, what the character is struggling against. Also, if I find grammatical errors in the first paragraph or excessive use of adverbs or a writer showing off on the page for no other reason than to show off, I'll move on.

Each submission is read by multiple editors. Usually we read a piece to the end before rejecting it -- indeed sometimes we each read it multiple times. Other times we can tell before we read the whole thing that it isn't right for us.

We read all of our submissions.

We try to read every piece to the end. I think we are all optimists at heart--we want a story to succeed. And even if it seems like things are going badly, we all hold out hope that the author will pull it out in those last paragraphs.

Until the third error: grammar, punctuation or typo. Thr3e errors can sometimes, happens in the first sentence.

While we strive to read all of every piece out of respect for the author, we can generally recognize whether a piece will be a good fit for the journal within a few stanzas (for poetry) or a few paragraphs (for prose). So, to answer your question, we do read every piece to the end, although we tend to have a pretty good idea of our opinion about the piece before we reach the end (isn't that human, though?).

I like to read all of it, though sometimes I have only made it halfway through the first page before rejecting. This is usually down to poor punctuation or extremely poor grammar.

depends. if we get short work we read it all. if it's longer, sometimes we have to make a decision based on a couple of pages but those pages always include the first and last two.

Since the pieces are short, I am delighted to read entire pieces. The first paragraph gives me a strong hint, but unless it is too disgusting, hateful, violent, or judgmental, I will rarely reject it before I have read it completely.

At least two people read every piece that's submitted. They create short-lists of the material they are most interested in in each genre. I read everything on their short-lists.

This varies. Sometimes we can tell in the first page or two that a prose piece just hasn't got a clear direction or is so poorly written that we need go no further. But most of the time, multiple editorial assistants or manuscript screeners read each submission completely. Not every piece has to rocket out of the gates. That would preference a certain flashy type of writing, and we like that sometimes, but not all the time.

With poetry I tend to get a feeling earlier than with prose, but my motto as a reader has become, "whenever possible, handle once." This means that I try to read a piece until I am fully committed to a decision either way and am able to defend it to my co-editors.

I can often tell whether a piece is wrong for us within few paragraphs – but to determine whether a piece is right takes longer. I read nearly every submission through to the end of the sample ~10 pages, and anything that seems promising enough to request a full manuscript gets read in its entirety before an offer or rejection is made.

By the time a work is passed up to me, it has been screened by both a first reader and fiction editor Gerard Houarner, so I read it end-to-end, to confirm that I agree with their decision that it is worth publishing.

All of it. What's the point otherwise? Stopping on typos? Frustration with a type-face? Sure, sometimes we can see if a piece isn't right for us, but what if it's great? Think of all the slushpiles in the world, throughout the history of the world. How many terrific stories and novels do you think might have been lost, because the editor was...busy, and the author was too shy to persist. Damn...

We consider each submission carefully. The piece guides how far we read it—we may be interested in a rough story if there is one startling or exciting line, and will follow a piece as far as it pulls us

All pieces are read in their entirety; most manuscripts are read several times and/or by multiple judges.

Sometimes you know from the first words of a piece if you want to keep reading. Sometimes you can't put a piece of writing down. Sometimes you can. As a safeguard, multiple readers look at every piece. As long as there is a reasonable chance we will accept the piece, or if another reader liked it, I will continue reading. I read a lot of pieces to the end.

Rarely do we read it in its entirety at first. We read enough to decide if it's well-written, the story wows us, we get halfway through and already go "SOLD!" If it's not well-written, it's easy because we can tell immediately where to go with it. The better it is, the more time we take with it until it's among a number of submissions that made it to the final rounds and then the process becomes more difficult as we decide what books ultimately make it and that fit our budget to produce at the time.

This depends on the genre. Poems get several reads, fiction and non-fiction usually get several (3-4) pages.

This depends on the piece. If it's a ten page story and nothing in the few pages interests me, I'm done. Even if page 4-6 are great and then there are some nice bits on 8, I'm still unwilling to publish bad pages to get to those good ones. In something shorter, I'll generally stick it out unless it's very clearly not a fit for us. The thing about fiction is that it takes up a lot of real estate in the magazine. I'm not going to ask the editor to give me ten pages of space unless I'm confident that I'm making good use of it.

It varies. I err on the side of reading whole pieces, but sometimes I'll move on if a piece has lost my interest or actively pushed me away.

I try to read every word of every story, but my opinion is usually set after the first three paragraphs, sometimes less. Opening lines matter--Make yours memorable!

All of it. We like to tell folks what we think they did right, and what didn't work for us - just a little bit of what we hope is useful information. Of course, that's extremely personal, and high-risk. It's best if one has read all of something before reaching conclusions.

Obviously, this differs by story, but I generally give every story at least two pages and skip to the end to see what it is. (They should relate!) Of course, once in a while you love a story and read eagerly to the very end and then it falls apart.

Unless it is obvious from very very early on that the piece is not going to be accepted and yes, we can usually weed those out quickly, at least three of the editors read all of the story and if there is any doubt we debate and discuss until we reach agreement.

We have a team of ten readers. Every story gets read at least twice all the way through.

A team of readers (for example, fiction staff) completely reads every submitted work (without authors' names identified). That team then individually ranks all works numerically. They then meet to discuss and decide which works should be included for publication. Only the editor knows the names of submitters.

Our journal has grown, and while some of our editors will read a whole submission before declining, I encourage them to put a piece aside if they are not grabbed by the end of the first page. We give every piece our full attention, but can't get lost wallowing in pieces that we know are not right for our journal. So, writers, let the story evolve at the pace it needs, but grab us with your word choices, with the way you tell it. Give us a reason to keep reading.

We read them all the way through, even though we may know quickly that it won't be suitable. We generally try to respond with
a sentence or two with what we liked or didn't like, etc.

I can generally tell if I should continue reading in about 3-5 paragraphs. Those stories that make it past that point will get read to the end, but if I start skimming or get thrown out of the story I will let you know in the rejection when and why you lost me.

Into the first 6-10 pages; then if it catches me to the end.

Space Squid is predicated on the assumption that no one actually wants to read. If I get impatient with the story, then so will the readers. I typically read the first paragraph, but if that doesn't grab me I start skimming and rejection comes soon after.

We read each submission to the end for both poetry and fiction, but we know very quickly whether or not we're interested and want to accept the work.

We can usually tell within a page or so whether the story is promising. For the contests our process is:
1. All entries are placed in a shared folder. Editors read entries at random. If the story has promise within a page or so it will be moved to the longlist. Each story has at least three chance to be liked and make the longlist.
2. Each story in the longlist is read all the way through by three editors who vote yes, no, or maybe.
3. The stories with the most votes make the shortlist and are sent on to the final judge.

We have a very particular aesthetic, and if a piece isn't a good fit, we're usually able to tell right away. However, we give every submission thorough consideration, and we have at least two staff members read each story or poem.

We read every piece from start to finish. You never know when you will find a gem lurking.

It varies, if the subject matter is completely off-topic (i.e. science fiction) we will only read a paragraph or two. If there are a lot of typos very early in the piece it will also be declined quickly. The majority of work, though, that is in the right ballpark, will be read completely. If a poem has rhyming verse it will be declined immediately otherwise, typically, we will read the entire poem before making a decision. Flash fiction and personal essays, unless there are glaring problems, are read in their entirety before a decision is made.

Honestly, this depends upon the piece. If the pages are engaging, we will read every word, and pass the submission around to all our editors to read. Sometimes the pages are well-done but the synopsis shows a large plot hole or conflict issue. In those cases, we request a new synopsis from the author. We know that a good synopsis is not easy to write, and not usually an author's forte and we want to give them a chance to answer our questions. Sometimes the synopsis is not clear, but we will request a full manuscript anyway because the pages are so engaging and we want to read further. Sometimes, unfortunately, the pages are not as engaging and we will read until we are no longer interested in the story.

Since the work we typically publish is short, we read every bit of every submission, often multiple times. Some are easy to decide based on whether they hit us the right way or not. The ones we like but aren't sure about require editorial discussion, but mostly decisions aren't drawn out. Most of the time is spent simply reading.

That completely depends on the quality. If the first line is incoherent and rife with typos, I might read the second line to see if it's something the writer is "going for", if it's just bad I'll stop there. Sometimes a submission might be well written, but if I find myself getting bored halfway through, then I have to assume our readers will too. If something is well written and interesting or engaging, I'll read it all happily.

Our editors read every word.

We can generally tell if the piece isn't right within the first few paragraphs, but we'll mostly read through to the end anyway, unless the piece is clearly riddled with grammatical, spelling or typographical errors. If any of us feel a piece is a contender, it'll go to an editorial meeting with all three editors and we'll share the work and come to a joint decision.

If we're lost within the first paragraph, that's a bad sign; at least consider titling your piece so that's it's approachable when initially reviewed. Otherwise, we generally start with a little bit of the beginning, middle and end. If you have a solid grasp of putting sentences together and it sounds intriguing, we read the whole piece before making any decisions. Even if it's not quite right, we may suggest some changes that could make it more appropriate for the site.

Everything gets read, all the way through.

Two readers will look at most of the story. Before rejecting, we always read enough to give sensible feedback to the author.

I try to read every piece to the end, but I also consider the ability of a piece to pull me along a definite criteria for acceptance. If by the second page I’m looking to see how many mores pages there are, that’s a bad sign. If a piece loses me early though, I make it a point to skip to the end just to see if something big happens. And even if there’s a glimmer of hope, but I’m not quite convinced, I’ll put the piece away for a week and read it again to give it a second shot.

The whole thing--unless it's rife with horrible grammar and punctuation.

It depends. Sometimes it's possible to tell before the end of the submission, but Karl and I like to give everything its fair due.

The team's first readers like to read through the whole piece so that they can provide feed back to authors, but sometimes it becomes really obvious in the first few pages that we can't publish a piece and they may choose to stop reading it.

I read every entry in its entirety.

We read all of the work before making any decision. Sometimes it is easier to make this decision early on in the reading, but we do look at the work as one might hope we would. We are human too :-)

We read all of the work before making any decision. Sometimes it is easier to make this decission early on in the reading, but we do look at the work as one might hope we would. We are human too :-)

Any reader generally knows if the story isn’t right after the first few pages, but every submission is read by several readers. Many eyes are on the work.

I am currently not the poetry editor, as we have a guest editor Cassandra Atherton for this issue, however I will speak about how I make a decision regarding the work offered. Sometimes I will re-read a piece twice before making any decisions. I think it is fair to the writers submitting to read their work through. I am a fast reader, so I may not spend heaps of time reading one poem, since there are many works to get through. If the piece of work hasn't followed the requested theme or style I can pick that up within the first line or two and then I will send a reply message pronto.

Depends on the piece. The way the writer is using language usually argues for whether or not the piece needs to be read all the way through. Mostly the editorial staff and I read the whole piece out of respect for the time put in by writer. Here's what matters most: is there anything that makes me want to read the piece a second time?

It depends on how convincing the writing is--the more convincing the proposal, the more of it we'll read.

Usually 100%; we've been surprised often enough to give each story a fair shot.

Honestly, I can usually get a sense pretty quickly but always read each piece through to the end out of respect to the writer as I would expect the same treatment from another editor. And sometimes it pays off, sometimes the last word/line/paragraph casts everything that came before it in a new light.

Sometimes I can tell within the first paragraph, sometimes I need to read the whole thing through to make a decision.

The guest editors read and I can't say. I have edited two issues and it varies

In fiction, all of it. By two readers. Minimum. In non-fiction, all of it. By two readers. Minimum. In poetry, all of it. By two readers. Minimum. The only exception is a piece of long piece of prose that makes repeated errors in an uninteresting (accidental) way as to render the submission incomprehensible. Our staff is dedicated to the consideration of your work as a whole.

Sometimes one stanza. Sometimes I read the entire piece several times (even over the course of several days). There's no hard rule here. Some have a great voice to start and veer off and are not able to sustain the original momentum. Some start off as a limerick, and I have no desire to complete it.

I can't speak for everyone on staff at this point, but I read all of a piece because I'd like to feel that I've made an informed decision rather than an uninformed one.

As the submissions are only 850-950 words long, I do my best to read them all in their entirety. However, I will stop if I get bored, because that means the idea is bad and so is the story-telling.

We read online or on paper at a four foot chestnut table. Each time a submission trips us up, we slide the poem or story a little to the right, until, if we keep tripping, it falls to the floor.

Our goal when beginning each piece is to read it until the end. However, multiple grammatical errors (or improper tense shifts or something) will likely stop us from finishing it. If a submission is sound, we'll give it the consideration it deserves. And though one reader might not be able to get into a piece, it doesn’t mean it’s out; if another reader finds merit, it’s open for discussion. In other words, all pieces are read by multiple people before a decision is made.

It depends. I read until I know whether or not I like the story. Most rejections are obvious within the first page or first few stanzas. Works I accept keep me enthralled till the end. I've rejected stories that kept my attention until they just stopped, with no ending. I hate that.

Every piece is read in it's entirety by at least 10 women. We'll only toss it if it's outright painful to read...that's rare.

If a piece is messily written, our staff can recognize it within a few pages. A strong piece that holds our attention will be read all the way through, multiple times, by several readers, before being accepted.

We try to read every piece to the end, even if we can tell straight off that it isn't right for us. We try to give constructive feedback as time permits.

We always read the entire piece and try not to make judgments. However, one that's rife with grammar and spelling errors is going to prejudice us a bit, but if the story is otherwise strong enough, we'll work with the author to remedy it.

We try to give every submission the time and effort it deserves. Sometimes it's obvious from the opening paragraph or the first stanza that a piece isn't polished, or just isn't right for the journal. We take personal taste out of the equation as much as possible and focus on quality--I've been in lengthy debates over pieces I didn't personally enjoy, but I felt were worthy of publication. If something sticks with you and sparks conversation, that's a good sign. If no one remember what a piece is about, it will have a harder time making the cut.

I generally have to read until the end. Every once in a while there's a piece that's just transparently not ready for public consumption or written by a visitor from a distant solar system which is fairly easy to give up on guilt free, but that's pretty rare. One of the things about having so many writing programs out there today is that there are a lot of writers who know how to write competent stories, poems, and essays. I think this is a good thing--for American literature and the country as a whole--even though that doesn't mean the same number of people who know how to write a competent piece are going to set your hair on fire with the sheer awesomeness of their literary skill. But it raises the overall quality of the submission we receive because today so many people understand the mechanics and bedrock elements of their chosen genre. When I took over as editor-in-chief last year, my goal was to make sure that each piece submitted to the annual MR contest was read at least twice. So far in the two contests I've presided over each piece has been read at least three and usually four times, which I think is a good and necessary thing.

I can usually tell after the first couple of paragraphs whether a piece is going to be right or not, especially as style is more important to me than plot. Having said that, I won't rule out a more traditional plot-driven story just because it's more mainstream than Sein's usual fare. And though I may have a good feeling about a piece it doesn't mean I won't read it through to the end before coming to a decision.

We read every piece to the end.

We always read the entire piece, but a few lines or paragraphs is usually enough to tell if it's the right fit for B O D Y.

Our submission guidelines call for a synopsis and the first fifty pages, and this combined is enough to tell us whether we'd like to see more or whether it's not the right fit for us.

All entries are submitted to our panel of judges. They complete a short questionnaire about each entry and at the end of the competition we tally the results. It's surprisingly effective and consistent.

Anywhere from one sentence to the whole thing.

This varies. Some pieces are clearly unsuitable at the outset, but we'll still read a few pages, to be sure. Some get read straight through before being rejected because we have found something better.

We read the entire piece.

With poetry, usually all; with prose, enough.

It quickly becomes apparent if a submission should be screened in for serious consideration. How much reading is required really varies. With poetry the whole submission would usually be skimmed; with prose, three or four pages might have to be read before the merits of the writing become clear.

I don't read them, the chimp reads them and then indicates their acceptability with groin-area sign language, no just kidding, I read them okay! Sometimes I cry, sometimes I hate you.
This one time, at band camp, I got such an erection . . .
Assault me! Make me cry! I have no faith, make me believe! Use me as your puppet! Tell me the truth!
I want more. I need more!

All of it. I enjoy reading and believe every piece deserves its due. I know people who submit, not in the hopes of being published, but in the hopes of just being READ.

We read all of a submission. It's only fair to the writer. To determine a work's merit without reading its entirety is to base value on a formula. We don't like formulas.

We have at least three reviewers on each selection panel. The approach depends on the individuals in each panel: most will read each piece to its end.

All of it. Every time. That is, unless it automatically violates certain rules (length, it's a chapter from a book, etc). But if it fits the guidelines, we read the entire piece as many times as necessary to vote on it confidentially.

I read every line of poetry we receive. Prose, however, is a different consideration. As soon as it becomes clear that the content and/or style isn't appropriate for our journal, our readers are encouraged to stop reading in the interest of time management.

We read all but novels all the way through. Our standard procedure: Each submission is read by two different review readers, who report on it to the Coordinating Editor. If the recommendation is unanimous and the Coordinating Editor concurs, he contacts the author directly. The Managing Editor casts the deciding vote in a split decision.

Our goal is to give each submission as much attention as one of our potential readers would give it if they picked up our journal. All of our staff members and editors take great pride in being able to find a story or poem that they can recommend for publication. After all, sending out that acceptance letter is the highlight of our jobs, and we want to be able to give as many people as possible the thrill of opening that email that all writers long for. But we also know that great literature speaks to you in some way early on and encourages you to find out why. This isn’t to say that a submission has to blow us away in the opening paragraphs, but it should give us an indication of good things to come. If someone picks up our journal and reads three paragraphs, we want to make sure that we picked a story that will encourage them to want to read the fourth one.

It really depends. I teach at two different universities, so sometimes I have more time to read stories than others. I'm a writer, too, so out of respect for my peers, I do try to read stories the whole way through. That said, especially if a piece is riddled with typos or is otherwise amateurish, I can usually tell after a few paragraphs. I think any competent editor can, if I'm honest.

We can tell within the first verse or paragraph, but we read to the end. Ever read Theodore Dreiser? Hopeless prose at times, but great books.

We read every piece once and then discuss all of them at length. For us it is important to get everyone's opinion and feedback on each piece. What might not be right for one person might be right for the group and The Blue Route.

Our readers generally get through everything. However, there are pieces that show within the first page/paragraph/poem that they won't pan out, or they're just not what we're looking for. Once a piece gets passed onto an editor, though, everything is read front to back.

We read every piece to the end. In fact, we read every piece out loud, with at least both editors present, and sometimes with our two interns present as well.
We want to acknowledge the fact that it's hard not just to write, but to send out that writing, and we try to respect our submitters' time and efforts.

The amount of a piece I read before I reject it varies.If the manuscript is riddled with grammatical errors early on or shifts between point-of-view without proper structure, I will reject it without reading more. If a story doesn't capture my interest, I may reject it outright without completely reading the entire story. Most often I read through to the end. If I am on the fence about the piece, I'll select another editor to read it and we discuss whether the story's short comings are fixable and if we want to invest in those fixes or return it to the author.

I can tell in the first few pages.

Each of our editors reads a bit differently. One may give a fiction manuscript two pages, another might read a poem twice. The submitter's best bet is to grab our attention right away.

This varies, as we employ a different board of referees for each annual issue.

I couldn't ever publish anything I hadn't read to the end! I want to know what happened...
Having said that, I can generally tell in the first few lines if it's going to be good or not; but there's always the odd surprise. That's the joy of it.

I read the whole poem, usually twice. Fiction, I'll read at least three to five pages slowly. If I am bogged down then, I'll stop. I've read some stories three times before making a decision.

All of it. However, some work is so drastically poor that you can tell in the first few lines.

I personally sometimes reject a story after reading the first paragraph (though I encourage my deputy editor, who is new at this game, to read the whole work). Poems, on the other hand, need to be read to the end, and each needs to be read separately, because a good one can come in a mediocre batch. Nonfiction, like fiction, can be rejected on the basis of a single paragraph. If the opening is better than average, I sometimes flip to the ending and look at that. If the prose piece passes both these tests, I set it aside to read the whole thing carefully, later.

Short fiction we generally read all the way to the end. In truth, I can usually tell by the end of the first paragraph (if not the first line!) whether or not I’d be willing to publish a longer work. However, I do commit myself to reading the first 30 pages no matter what. There's always the chance that the writing will improve. I don’t want to dismiss someone’s work just because their beginning is shaky. A bad beginning can be fixed.

Generally, every piece can be read to the end by me or my slushers, but this is not guaranteed - sloppy initial presentation (multiple grammar/spelling mistakes early on) can make any reader feel as if the author doesn't care - and then why should the reader?

Every submission to HFR is reviewed by at least two people. Only in very rare cases do we not read to the end. Sometimes a work is very obviously not a fit (craft-wise, subject-wise), but our readers are required to give feedback on every submission, and that usually means they read it in its entirety.

Each piece is different but as a rule if the first paragraph is good, I'll read the second paragraph and if the second paragraph is good I'll keep reading. Conversely, we certainly have gotten rough diamonds that start out badly but get read all the way through. Those get sent back for rewrite and eventually get published.

The beauty of 50-word stories is that they're so short; it's easy to read them all the way through a few times before I make my mind up!

I always read every short story to the end. Even if the writing isn’t powerful or emotional or the structure is weak, I need to see if the story idea is compelling enough to develop (should the author be willing to do revisions based on my suggestions). Novels are much more time consuming, so if I’m interested in a novel’s query, I’ll request the first three chapters and a synopsis, which I’ll read in its entirety before making a decision.

Our Fiction editors will normally read at least three pages of a work – if you haven’t caught their attention by then, it’s unfair to them to make them continue reading. Poems, especially shorter poems will normally be read in their entirety. Although if you send us your version of “The Wasteland,” it had better be interesting within the first twenty lines, or you’re probably out of luck.

We tend to publish poetry and prose which is less than one thousand words. I feel that it would be discourteous to our submitters not to read every piece to the end.

We generally read everything to the end, but if it becomes apparent in a long piece that the story would require more work to be rendered publishable than we're willing to put in, we'll stop reading at that point.

I can usually tell if a story is going to work after the first few paragraphs, but I'll keep reading until at least the second page, just to be sure. If I start laughing early on, I know I've got something worth holding on to.
A good tip to take away from that is to spread the humor out. I don't want to have to read through ten pages of prose before I get to the humorous bit holding on for dear life at the end. Punchlines work for poetry and flash fiction, but longer pieces need to be funny throughout. And since all we publish is humor, it's hard to pull off a serious-sounding piece that ends in a humorous surprise ending. Our readers are going to be anticipating something funny happening before they even start reading.

It depends on the volume of submissions, but I generally feel morally bound when I reject something to be clear in my own mind that I've read enough to know it's not for us.

Generally pieces are read from start to finish, in case the unfavorable impression on first read is reversed later and all it really requires is suitable editing. We don't give up on pieces too quickly.

Often we can read the first line and know whether or not the rest of the work might interest us. The only pieces that more than one editor reads all the way to the end are the ones that are being very heavily considered.

We read the entire submission.

I don't have time to read all the way through every story. About 30% of the submissions get read all the way through, the others get rejected after 2-3 pages. The stories that get accepted have probably been read 4-5 times by three different people (me, my assistant editor, and a trusted volunteer or two).

I'm taking the 5th.

I always read every word of a submission. If I have a gut feeling within a few lines or sentences that a piece isn't right for the journal, I make sure all the more that I read it at least twice, so that when I turn it down, I'm doing it knowing I've given the writer a fair chance.

We generally read the entire manuscript before making a decision unless it is in need of too much work. Sometimes a story will reveal itself for better or worse in the first few paragraphs, but we still read them through.

The first few paragraphs often tell me that a story isn't right for my publication. Sometimes I read further than that. Many times, I skip to the end or skim through other parts of the story as well. If a story by an unfamiliar author is holding my attention I may read the entire thing or flip to the end just to see if it lives up to my expectations.

I practically always read the whole story and make notes. We have three other readers after my initial reading. If we all agree, it gets sent to our publisher.

I try to read the entire poem and sometimes I come back later if I am not sure. With poetry you can usually tell right off. It either works or it doesn't.

We generally read the entire submission. Some submissions we send back with suggested revisions.

The better the work, the more time we spend reading it.

Because I do not get a large number of submissions, I do read them all. It is generally obvious within a stanza or two that I needn't bother reading further, however. If the submission is bad enough, I read it aloud to family members, and we chuckle over its failings.

We can often tell early on if the story is too plot-driven or if the poem lacks originality. For stronger pieces we read to the end.

Not sure how Gabby and Boligard handle that since they are the two people who are on the front line of submission discrimination. I only read the goodstuff that matriculates from them (The Floor) up to the Terminal and then up to me.But you can read all about their exploits trawling the slush the first month of each quarter by getting yourself to the site's NEW FREE MARKET menu item and then clicking on THE FLOOR.

Sometimes it's only the first paragraph. Sometimes it's the whole thing, which is passed onto the next editor with reservations. Sometimes a story will "sit" because it's too good to be rejected but not good enough to be accepted. Some of these are sent back to the author with suggested revisions. Some are simply rejected after other submissions have been accepted.

We read the entire piece and sometimes we reread it. We're very into editing and sometimes give suggestions to the writer. We care about each piece submitted.

20% we reject after one to three chapters, the rest we skim-read the entire work even if rejection is anticipated.

We encourage the first reader of each submission to read the entire piece. Each submission, however, receives at least one additional reader before a decision is made.

Quality writing often shows within the first few paragraphs, if not before. We read at least the first few pages, and if the story hasn't evolved by then, we're done.

I read the whole thing. As said earlier, irrespective of rejection or acceptance, FFJ provides feedback and/or edited manuscript back as our concept is of being a community resource and not just another magazine.

Usually the first few lines, on average. May sound harsh, but it's true. We certainly reject many stories that we enjoyed and read through several times, but usually it's evident very early if the narrative voice or content are not something we would publish.

We stop reading at the point at which we would stop reading if we were browsing in a bookstore and got bored.

We can tell in the first few paragraphs. We need a hook and a writing style that works. We can't "wait till it gets good" especially in audio.

We read every last word of every story, as long as it's submitted correctly - although we can usually tell whether or not we're going to like it from the first page or two.

I would like to tell you we read everything from beginning to end, but we don't. It's not like I'm going to go back and ask the author to make changes, so it has to be good - no, great - right from the beginning. If it isn't I toss it. Let me tell you, it's depressing to spend hours reading work that's less than good.

Even if I know early on that a piece isn't right for us, I often read it right through to the end. Everyone has a story to tell, and I like to listen. However, if the first paragraph or two are riddled with typos and nonsense, there is no point in continuing.

For poetry, I can tell in the first few lines whether it is a "no." I generally know immediately if it is a "yes" or a "no." The "maybe" pile is the most difficult, and I will re-read many times to make a decision. With fiction, I can usually tell within the first paragraph whether it fits or not, though I try to read as much as I can, so I will go on reading after I think it is a "no" just to be sure.

I read the entire piece. Sometimes I like the submission, but will send it back with editing notes, and only publish it after improvements have been made.

Every single word of every single submission is read and carefully considered for publication.

We have two main reading judges. For each contest, one reading judge reads all the stories, and the other reading judge reads the 25% or so of entries that the first reading judge likes enough to pass on. Generally, both reading judges have to like a story for it to be sent to the prize judges (a set of readers who see only the very best stories from each contest). So yes, someone at OTP reads your story, but unless it makes the final round of judging, only one or two people will read it. If it makes the final round, as many as seven people might read it.

The editors personally read all submissions in full. Submissions are not screened by pre-editorial "readers", as is the practice with some journals.

We can tell within the first few pages whether a submission is a good fit for fiction. For poetry, we’ll read all of the poems, as they often vary quite a bit, though for a long poem if it’s not working over the first page or two, it may not get read all the way through.

Usually, the first few pages are sufficient for making a decision. Occasionally I am completely wrong about a piece.

If it is poetry, we know in the first 5 lines if it would be rejected. Sometimes we have to read the whole piece before deciding, but with many pieces we can tell if stylistically it does not match with cc&d.
With prose, it takes the first page for us to decide if it is rejected. If we are interested enough to read the entire piece, it has a much better chance.

It has ranged from simply the first two sentences to fully reading the piece four or five times over the course of two months. For prose, about one in ten submissions are read to completion at least one time.

We try to read everything all the way through. I mean, some of the longer ones that are obviously just a bad fit, yeah, we’ll kick them to the curb without finishing. Again, we try not to. I’ve been surprised in the past by an ending or a second half that negated my initial misgivings.

We usually read a whole piece before making any decision. Content and theme is as important to us as style and quality. A very few pieces are so badly written or obviously mis-targetted that we can stop after a few pages. After one reading, some stories can be rejected quickly. Others are read by a second editor, and anything that is going to be bought will be read by several people.