Hello ALR readers and submitters!
As we're in the thick of our reading season, and as we're working our way through submissions, I'm starting to see some trends in what's making the cut to the second round and what's not. In the spirit of transparency, I thought I'd offer some insight on the selection process (you really don't need to be chewing your nails).
I feel I should also offer a caveat - these insights are by no means the ONLY things we're looking for, nor do they reflect the tastes of Bonnie Friedman, the CNF Editor, nor Ann McCutchan, ALR's steward. You can take them or leave them.
- Reading submissions takes a LONG time.
If you've already submitted to ALR, chances are your submittable status shows you are "in progress." What does this mean? If my story is really "progressing" then why is it taking several weeks, if not longer, for it to complete this process?
The short answer is that we have several rounds of readers and your story must make it through several different levels to ultimately be accepted. Readers will often be assigned up to 5 essays (even more if it's fiction or poetry) at a time. If they take 2 weeks to read that before passing it along to an assistant editor who may take an additional week or two to read it and they pass it along to a busy professor/editor who may take a few weeks to read it.... you get the idea. It's a hot minute.
This is long process, while tedious and a bit nerve wracking I'm sure, but it is awesome for you as a writer. Every set of eyes that lands on your piece sees something different and can call attention to these merits. It allows you to build momentum inside of our office. So even if it feels like your submission is stagnant, I assure you that it's got a life of its own.
Often, a reader will become invested in something and root for it. "Hey! Have you read that essay about the comic book store? AMAZING. I just sent it along." "Check out the scene on page 5 - delicious." etc. We're all involved with ALR because we love great writing. You guys send a lot of it. Keep sending it!
2. Cover letters are important.
I should just state that this is a bit of a personal preference. I always read the cover letter an author sends along before I read their essay. Why? It shows me how seriously you take yourself as an author. Are you professional and friendly? Are you a goofball who writes a haiku? Do you have any previous publications and where were they?
Cover letters also show me whether or not you are familiar with ALR and our policies. If you've noted that your essay is a simultaneous submission, I will move it up in my reading list because I don't want to miss out. If I don't know that you've submitted it elsewhere - I can't do that.
If you send along an essay without a cover letter - of course I'll still read it and if it's awesome, I'll be blown away by it. But! If you can help yourself with a cover letter, why not just take the extra 3 minutes to write one?
3. Essays should have action AND reflection.
Creative nonfiction writers may be familiar with Vivian Gornick's ideas about the "situation" and "story." She describes nonfiction as being broken up into the plot/action (situation) - learning how to ride a bike, how you found out that you don't like cheese, shopping for a pen - and the reflection on that experience (story) which explains to readers why shopping for a pen was important in the first place.
Many of the CNF submissions to ALR are filled with well written situations, essays that read almost like short stories. Compelling characters, good description, etc. But by the end of reading these pieces, I often wonder why the author wanted to write about it. I feel as if they are a puzzle that I don't know how to solve. I've been given all the pieces but there's no picture on the box to follow. What's the story?
I, of course, don't want to suggest that you should dog your essays down with too much reflection and not enough in-scene development. There is a balance that each essay requires and a little reflection goes a long way in covering/framing action. Both of these things are necessary for CNF to work: action so your readers can share your experiences; reflection so that they can identify with and understand why those experiences resonate with you.
Some essays that you may want to check out that do this really well: "The Way We Are" by Thomas Lynch, "Street Haunting" by Virginia Woolf, and "Notes of a Native Son" by James Baldwin.
Thank you, ALR submitters, for the opportunity to read your work. I hope this blog post was helpful. Keep sending your words! We cannot wait to read them!
Best,
April Murphy
Creative Nonfiction
Assistant Editor
April Murphy is a Doctoral Candidate in UNT's Creative Writing Phd Program. April is the Assistant Nonfiction Editor at
American Literary Review. She is currently working on her first book
Shrouded: Women Who Work With the Dead.
