Submission Sunday REDUX: Submitting to Anthologies

Kind of like a litmag, kind of like a book

Happy Sunday, writers! I’m traveling this week, so I’m resharing a previous post for paid subscribers in case you missed or want to revisit it. This post was originally sent out on Sunday, September 3, 2023, but I’ve updated the upcoming deadlines at the end.

I first discovered the joy of submitting to anthologies when I was working on my Ph.D. in New York. I wanted to publish something—academic, literary, it didn’t matter—but the prevailing notion seemed to be that I should focus on finishing my dissertation and then publish that.

I am not a patient person. I wish I could remember exactly how I came upon the anthology call that led to my first publication—a university listserv or email somewhere, I’d guess—but I submitted a pitch and, much to my surprise, it was accepted! The book had already been contracted by a reputable publishing company and my acceptance led to a bunch of firsts—the publication, of course, but also the first time working with a professional editor, first time holding printed pages of my work in my hands, first mention in a blurb, first mention in a review, first quote in a different publication (credited to —Chris Daley, American writer 😲).

An all-around excellent experience and one I thought I’d recommend here with some tips and suggestions for where to find anthologies to submit to.