“Discover the Surprising Secret: How Reading Slush Transformed My Writing Skills Overnight!”
Have you ever wondered how diving into someone else’s slush pile might flip your own writing world upside down? Honestly, while not every day brings you a wild opportunity, sometimes serendipity sneaks up when you least expect it—in my case, it was during a transitional phase of my life just after wrapping up a European adventure and starting fresh in Ireland. That’s when I discovered the intriguing role of “first reader,” or slush reader, for a short story magazine that specializes in the nuanced genre of Weird Horror. Now, while I never pictured myself as a connoisseur of this genre, I saw a fantastic chance to sharpen my literary skills and gain a healthy dose of perspective on the writing world. Little did I know, this unexpected foray would illuminate not just the landscape of slush reading but also redefine my approach to writing and seeking publication. Curious? Let’s dig deeper into what slush reading really entails and how it reshaped my creative journey. LEARN MORE
An unexpected, and fun, avenue for skill improvement
Towards the end of last year, between my whirlwind adventure through Europe and finding work in Ireland, I found myself at a bit of a loose end. So it was fortunate that was the time I stumbled across an opportunity that I would never have thought to look for. I had found a call for first readers, or slush readers. The call was put out by The Skull & Laurel (TS&L), a short story magazine specialsing in Weird Horror. While this was not a genre I ever thought I’d be able to write, I could read it. I had time and energy, so I signed up.
I wont say it changed my life, because my life is much bigger than this one passion of mine, but reading slush has done amazing things for both my writing itself and my approach to writing and submitting fiction for publication.
What, exsctly, is slush reading?
When magazines, journals and other such publications, put out calls for submissions, they can get hundreds to thousands of submissions — for potentially only five or six publication spots. This is known as the slush pile.
Being inundated with such a flood of stories creates, understandably, a huge workload for the publication’s editors as each story needs to be read, assessed for quality and fit with the publication and the specific issue or theme. For independent publications, like Tenebrous Press which publishes TS&L, it would take months and months for the editors to read through all the submissions.
This is where first/slush readers come in. We are unpaid volunteers who read stories from the slush pile and assess them for the editors. Each publication does things slightly differently, but basically the job of a first reader is to read each submission with an open mind, assessing it for quality, publication fit and general vibes. We then recommend if the story deserves a second look by the editors who make the final call on whether or not to accept or reject the story.
Reading slush made me feel both better and worse about my writing
We all know writing, especially creative writing, is subjective. Like any art, its beauty is in the eye…
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