As It Ought To Be Magazine (AIOTB)

About

As It Ought to Be was originally founded in 2009 by Matt Gonzalez, Jim Dorenkott, and Okla Elliott as a progressive forum to encourage humane thought and action related to contemporary political and cultural matters. Their vision was to bring together writers who all value progressive democratic principles, respect different viewpoints, and seek common ground while maintaining a healthy skepticism for unnecessary compromise.
Upon co-founder Okla Elliott’s untimely passing in 2017, Chase Dimock took over as the Editor in Chief of AIOTB Magazine and continues this mission today to maintain AIOTB as a publisher of poetry, reviews, and author interviews aimed at providing a platform for diverse perspectives, innovative artistic visions, and challenging ideas.
Above all else AIOTB strives to be good citizen of the literary world and, as the great late Mike James said “a force for good.”

Country of Publication & Year Established

United States

Established in 2009

Publication Medium & Frequency

Electronic Publication Electronic Publication: Published 12 x per year

AI Policy

Unknown AI policy

48 members set this magazine as a Favorite.

Statistics Synopsis

Faster: As It Ought To Be Magazine's overall average response time is faster than most magazines.
More Approachable: As It Ought To Be Magazine's overall acceptance rate is higher than most magazines.
More Responsive: As It Ought To Be Magazine's overall rate of non-response is lower than most magazines.

Learn more about our statistics

Collapse section Nonfiction Open

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Lengths:

Interview: No specific word count limits known.
Review: No specific word count limits known.
Essay: No specific word count limits known.
Narrative Nonfiction: No specific word count limits known.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Critical, Literary, Mainstream, Personal.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics including...
Literature/Books: General, Theory/Analysis/Criticism, See guidelines.
Philosophy: General, See guidelines.
Politics/Political Science: General, See guidelines.
Society/Culture: Current events, Social issues, See guidelines.
Visual Arts: General, See guidelines.

Payment:

No monetary payment No monetary payment.

Submissions:

Method: Email.
Reprints: Reprints are NOT allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are allowed.
Media: Text.

Collapse section Poetry Open

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Genres:

General

Lengths:

Poem: No line limits known.

Poetry Forms:

Open to all/most Forms.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Literary.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics.

Payment:

No monetary payment No monetary payment.

Submissions:

Method: Email.
Reprints: Reprints are NOT allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are allowed.
Media: Text.

Always check guidelines for details and restrictions. If you aren't familiar with these terms, see our glossary.

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As It Ought To Be Magazine Submission Statistics

The statistics in this section are compiled from submission reports sent to us through our submission tracker. They are not provided by the publication's editors/staff or by Duotrope's admins. Information in this section is updated a few times per day. Learn more about the statistics.

Filter:

Group by submission

Include outliers

Accuracy

We have received 11 reports from 11 different members within the past 12 months, not including pending responses (see below). The more responses reported, the more accurate the information.

Days Reported

16 min | 38.7 mean avg | 27.0 median | 101 max days (26.6 std dev)

Responses

100.00 %

Acceptances:

72.73 % of submissions accepted (27.3 avg. days per acceptance) | 72.73 % of submitters accepted

Rejections:

27.27 % (75.0 avg. days per rejection) | 0.0 % personal, 0.0 % form, 100.0 % unspecified

Non-Responses

0.00 %

Lost/Returned:

Never Responded:

Withdrawals

Pending

3 responses are pending (33 min | 54.7 mean avg | 37.0 median | 94 max days waiting | 73.2 std dev) from 3 different members

Other Information

The editors will try to make a decision within 56 days. (27.3 % of the responses reported to us for this listing have taken longer than 56 days.)
Do not query on the status of your submission before 56 days have passed.
Most submissions are acknowledged on the same day.
Most recent response reported was received on 21 Jun 2026.
Responses have been received for submissions sent as recently as 28 Apr 2026.
Date compiled: 18 Sep 2026 01:52 UTC (29 minutes ago).

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Before Submitting

We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is correct. It is not unusual for publications to evolve or close without notice. We do our best to keep up, but it isn't always possible. Duotrope listings do not imply endorsement or recommendation of the project being listed. Before submitting, you should use your own judgment to determine whether the project meets your standards.

Always read the full guidelines provided by the publisher.
Try to read at least one previous publication to get a better idea of what the editor would like to see.
Unless the publisher's guidelines state otherwise, always use industry standard manuscript formatting.
Be professional, patient, and persistent.

Dates

Last Updated: 15 Sep 2026

We check their guidelines for changes every four weeks, and we audit the listing twice a year.