Common Submission Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)
ABOUT THE EVENT ✏︎
Editors see a lot of the same mistakes pop up over and over in slush piles, and reject a lot of submissions for very similar reasons.
While few mistakes are insta-rejects (and editors will ignore or fix many if work catches us in other ways), it's hard enough to get your work accepted without putting more hurdles in your path with avoidable errors.
In this workshop, After Happy Hour's Managing Editor will share the most common mistakes submitters make, based on their experience reading submissions as well as conversations and interviews with other editors. You'll also learn how each mistake impacts editors' decisions and get tips and strategies to avoid making similar ones when sending out your work.
We'll end with a Q&A where you can get answers to your submission questions.
INSTRUCTOR BIO ✏︎
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 the micro-chap Shapeshifter Diaries (Rinky Dink Press, 2023), and have published stories and essays in Mythaxis, Orca, SLAB, Atlas Obscura, and elsewhere.