Lessons From the Slush Pile

Lessons From the Slush Pile: Tips from a Lit Mag Editor to Improve Your Acceptance Rate

Live at our Substack!

Date & Time: January 9th, 2027 12pm-2pm

Age Group: All Ages
Skill Level: All Levels

Description: To some extent, getting work published is a numbers game, and you can't always predict when your story will hit an editor's submission queue at the right time. But there are things you can do to increase your odds of acceptance--and common mistakes that often result in a fast rejection. This workshop will give you a peek behind the curtain at how the editors of the literary journal After Happy Hour choose work to publish from the slush pile, including what makes us immediately want to say "yes" to a story and the most common reasons we say "no." I'll also share advice from other journal editors and my own experience as a writer who has published more than 40 short stories (and amassed a sizable pile of rejections in the process).

By the end of this workshop, participants will… learn how editors of the literary journal After Happy Hour choose work to publish from the slush pile as well as what makes editors want to say "yes" to a story right away, as well as the common reasons they say "no."

NOTE: This workshop will be live at our Substack account. You can set up your account at: www.substack.com for free. When you're finished signing up, find us at: Write Pittsburgh | Substack at the time of the workshop.

About the Facilitator:
Jess Simms is a freelance writer from Pittsburgh, PA, where they're a co-founder of Scribble House and the managing editor of After Happy Hour Review. They are the author of the flash fiction chapbook Cryptid Bits (Last-Picked Books, 2024) and have published stories and essays in Mythaxis, Orca, SLAB, Atlas Obscura, Rinky Dink Press, and elsewhere. Find them online at 

https://jesssimms.com