My past efforts at keeping up with the best in fiction and nonfiction involved reading yearly anthologies. Now that I’ve decided to submit work to literary journals, it’s imperative my familiarity with various publications grows. As part of my editorial internship, I recently presented on The Missouri Review. While it’s among the most popular journals, I felt compelled to learn more because The Missouri Review is a prime example of a magazine embracing text in the digital age. Such journals are typically funded through university endowments and maintain high standards. Competition for publication is fierce. While I may have no qualms about self-publishing, another part of me respects the process of subjecting my writing to such scrutiny.
THE MISSOURI REVIEW has a “reputation for finding and publishing the very best authors first” and has been doing so since 1978. Speer Morgan has been the editor-in-chief since 1980. Over twenty graduate and undergraduate interns are mentored each semester. The publication has been through three design overhauls and is continually at the forefront of content digitization.
Issues typically include five stories, three poetry features, two essays, art feature, interview, and book reviews. Annual contest winners also appear along with special projects such as “History as Literature” and “Found Texts.”
- Print $24 / Digital $20 ( enhanced w/ audio)
- Single Issues $8.95 (print only)
- FREE t-shirt with two- or three-year subscription
- Donations accepted
- Breaking Away: Experimental Fiction (print only via website, currently SOLD OUT)
“You like me! You really like me!”
Authors in all stages of their careers have been published in The Missouri Review and their works have been anthologized over 100 times in The Best American Series, The O. Henry Prize Anthology, and The Pushcart Prize. First-time authors published in the journal have gone on to win the National Book Award, the Yale Younger Poets Award, MacArthur Foundation “Genius” awards, and the Pulitzer Prize.
Emerging writers published include Katie Chase, Nathan Hogan, Jennie Lin, Susan Ford, and Elisabeth Fairchild. A sampling of notable contributors include Joyce Carol Oates, Tobias Wolff, Joy Williams, David Foster Wallace, William Stafford, Wally Lamb, and Andrea Barrett.
Submission Guidelines
The Missouri Review currently receives 12,000 submissions a year (one percent acceptance). They do not solicit manuscripts. The staff reads year round, and writers can expect 10-12 weeks for a response. The author’s cover letter should state if the manuscript should be returned in an SASE with sufficient postage. Simultaneous submissions are okay if notification is given accepted elsewhere. The pay rate is $40 per printed page. Electronic submissions require a $3 service fee.
TMR strongly suggests readers familiarize themselves with selections from previous issues.
- Fiction: Longer pieces (9,000 to 12,000 words) and “flash fiction” (under 2,000 words) must be exceptional to be published.
- Nonfiction: General interest only, queries are welcome, excerpts must be able to stand alone.
- Poetry: 8-20 pages of unpublished poetry.
[genre] Editor or contest category
The Missouri Review
357 McReynolds Hall
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO 65211
The Missouri Review offers the following annual contests:
The Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize in Fiction, Essay and Poetry ($5,000 each category).
- October deadline; January announcement.
- Winning entries are published in the journal.
- $20 entry fee for each category. Must be submitted separately.
- 25 typed, double-spaced pages for fiction and nonfiction; 10 single-spaced pages for any number of poems.
- Previous winners and employees are not eligible, but past finalists can enter again.
The Missouri Review’s Audio Contest ($1,000 each category plus runners up)
- March deadline; October announcement.
- Winners and select runners up get featured on the website and iTunes podcast.
- You decide your entry fee (previously $20) which includes a TMR digital subscription.
- 15 minutes or less for each poetry, prose, or audio documentary submission.
- Previously published or aired submissions are welcome if you own the rights.
Prizes for Authors Published in The Missouri Review
- The Peden Prize for Short Fiction ($1,000)
- The Tom Mcafe Discovery Feature
- The Perkoff Prize in Poetry ($500)
Digital Appeal
The Missouri Review goes above and beyond to create an immersive reading experience for tech-savvy literature lovers. In the mid-1980s, it was one of the first magazine in the world to have an online site. This commercial site was originally called The Source. As with the print version, their website is refining itself for the modern age.
- Little Black Book of Fiction (a .99 cent iPad app featuring story types and audio intros)
- textBox is a free online anthology (printable pdfs are available)
- iTunes Podcast (free)
- Newsletter: announcements of contests, events, and special offers
- Blog posts on a variety of appropriate topics.
My goal with participating in NaNoWriMo this year is so I can write rough drafts of short stories and essays I can then polish and begin to send to literary journals. After making the rounds, I can then use material for upcoming eBooks since most literary journals only ask for first rights. I also plan to enter TMR’s audio contest as it is open to previously published material (such as blog posts). Here’s to becoming the type of hybrid author this day and age demands…
Has something you’ve written ever been selected for a prize or publication? Remember, no form of recognition is too small. Please share 🙂
I am there to cheer you on my friend. With your efforts drive and desire I KNOW you will achieve your goal.
That is an amazing number of submissions. I applaud anyone who has the courage to try and to submit. 🙂
Susan, thank you so much for your continued support. The odds of getting published a thin, but my own adventures into the slush pile has at least made me realize I’m capable of writing stories that can stack up with the competition.
I am always looking to get my short fiction in some where. Well, not this month though. Come December and I go back at it with full force.
Jon, once I start submitting to journals on a regular basis, I’ll be sure to let you know which ones so you can have a go at them too 😉
They certainly are a quality review and you outline the attributes beautifully. I have applied and not yet been successful but that doesn’t slow me down – with drive and positive attitude, we will succeed in our goals xx
Christy, I hear you about not letting rejection slow you down even though I’m only just getting started in all of this. What doesn’t work for one publication will eventually find a home somewhere.
It is worth remembering, for us emerging writers, that with this kind of competition for few slots (1% acceptance), rejection is not always or only because of the quality of the writing. Great pieces might not be published by a top literary journal like TMR for a variety of reasons, space availability being one of them.
Thanks for this thorough description.
Jagoda, so many stories submitted are good stories, and competent stories at that. Now that I’ve been reading submissions for a journal as well, I’m starting to pinpoint that extra-special thing that sets the merely good apart from the great. And we all want to be great…
This sounds like a great plan Jeri. And good luck with Nano. I can’t enter this year but I’ve found it to be a real hothouse for developing ideas that can later be turned into ‘proper’ stories.
A.C., NaNo really is helping me come up with some good starts on a handful of things. If it weren’t for taking the time to torture myself this month, I know the pieces would never get started, and we all know what isn’t written can’t be revised.
Thanks so much for all the info re: Missouri Review. It’s great to have things pushed at me at the moment as time is so limited. Hope NANO is going well for you. Well done on keeping up yr blog! You’re an inspiration as always.
A.K., I think we should all enter the audio contest. It would be fun to help each other and act as cheerleaders for each other.
I wish you luck with your submissions. I’m sure you will get published because of the intense work and research you put into it.
A few years back, I submitted stories and poems to literary magazines I found on Poets & Writers. Usually the contests interested me because of the prizes. I never won, but I did rank in the top 1/6 of the Summer Literary Seminar (SLS) with an offer to study writing and other cultures in another country. Even though I wasn’t published, it made me smile just knowing my poem was noticed.
Denise, isn’t it amazing how even the smallest acts of having our writing noticed can have such positives effects? Writers are such gluttons for punishment that way.
I think it’s wonderful that you continue to submit. There are so many places to submit, the harder part is determining what is worthy and what might best help you achieve your goals. My newest ms, The Accuser’s Burden was short-listed for novel for the William Faulkner Words and Music competition. Alas, it didn’t help me get an agent…but I will continue to try. The whole process can be fraught with stress…not too different from writing! Ha!
Jacquie, congrats on being short-listed 🙂 I think we all fall in love with the idea of writing, but then get the added bonus of realizing the writing really is such a small part of the process.
So far my biggest accomplishment was to get published on Yahoo Voices. But I will keep plugging away. And I am here cheering you on my friend! 🙂
Cheryl, plugging way is all we can keep going. Plus it’s always nice to know we have each other’s backs!
Thanks for the info about the Missouri Review. Always good to know about the literary journals out there.
RJ, as I uncover more journals that have a fabulous online presence, I will share those in the future as well.
Fingers crossed for you Jeri!!
Keep up the good work! We get lucky when we really make an effort and “try harder”.
Catarina, I am definitely “trying harder.” Now I just need to get more of the pieces to fall into place.
I agree with your point about self publishing versus being accepted for publication in good literary journals. This is why many of my poems were first published in literary journals before I placed them in a book which I then self published. It is difficult to get published in good literary journals because it is highly competitive but don’t give up. The Missouri Review has long been the crème de la crème of literary journals.
Michele, now that I’ve read submissions for a literary journal, I finally feel ready to throw my work into that ultra-competitive heap. My only regret is waiting so long to do, but better later than never is what I way.
I have no doubt your persistence will make the difference Jeri as well as your quality writing. be sure to tell us of your successes, even the little ones.
Susan, I surely will keep everyone posted. At the moment, it just feels good to be using NaNoWriMo to generate a heap of material.
I love that you’re doing this (and ‘this’ includes writing and submitting your work, AND imparting information about lit pubs). Thanks, Jeri, and good luck! Hope you get some diamonds in the rough in your November first drafts blitz.
Laura, I knew my internship would light the fire under me to start submitting again 🙂 Everything else related to slogging through the slush pile is just a plus… though I’m relieved the internship is drawing to an end. I’m exhausted!
I’ve had a few winners over the years. One was the super short (less than 100 words) story in response to a photo in the Alfred Hitchcock Magazine. I was thrilled when my story won! I have a couple of copies of that issue — somewhere…
I haven’t pursued literary journals in years, but I have two things to crow about on the horizon. I’ll be crowing VERY LOUD soon as one story will be featured on a nationally known website in the spring and another story will be in a collection put out by one of my favorite short story editors.
Candy, I for one certainly can’t wait to see what this upcoming piece will be that you’ll be crowing VERY LOUD about 🙂 Congrats!
Submitting work to magazines, contests and conferences is always a thrill as you contemplate success. I keep submitting plays long and short to various venues, but only a handful of these boast the number of submissions that Missouri gets. I had a short story accepted for publication in a tiny literary magazine based on Long Island, NY a while back, and have had several non-fiction articles published in “outdoors magazines”, all on the subject of the sport of orienteering. Be happy with any success you have, small as it may be.
Larry, I think it’s great that you submit on a regular basis and how you share some of the neat play contests you’ve prepared work for.
Talk about a tough selection process, it just reminds you how intense it is out there. For me that is a healthy reminder about how hard you have to try and that you have to keep trying. I think it would also make you appreciate your successes that much more. Good for you for aiming high, I know you’ll get there.
Debra, I’m pretty excited to be setting such high goals for myself. I’m sure my mindset will take a beating once I start submitting and getting a long list of rejections, but in a way such things only make me want to try harder.
Is this a place you are continuing to submit to? Go, Jeri!
I will definitely submit to the Missouri Review again when I have a story ready that hasn’t been previously self-published!