First impressions count—and they never count more than when you’re trying to impress an editor who has 1,500 submissions to read. Editors often say that they can tell within the first page whether a story will be worth accepting, so how do you make your first page really shine? Eavesdrop on our evaluation process—and vie to get your story noticed—with Recommended Reading editors Halimah Marcus and Brandon Taylor. They’ll be reading opening pages submitted just for the occasion, sharing their reactions and thought processes as they go. Submit your own first page anonymously to see if your story has what it takes to catch our editors’ eyes, or simply tune in to see how other writers fare.

Submission instructions: You can find the link to submit in the chat, on the righthand side of the event page. (Please note, you will only see the chat if you are registered for the event.) If you are unable to find the submission portal or have questions about submitting, please email preety@electricliterature.com. Please submit one page of fiction, double spaced, in 12 pt, Times New Roman font. Your submission should be the first page of a story or novel chapter that you would like to submit (to a literary magazine, agent, MFA program, etc.). Do not include any identifying information on the document. You may submit only one entry.

We will select and anonymize a dozen or so submissions to read and respond to during the salon. Prescreens will be conducted by other RR editors so Brandon and Halimah will read the work for the first time live on Crowdcast.

Submissions are optional. You are welcome to attend the salon without submitting. Please be advised that salon submissions will not be considered for publication, and that not all submissions will be read during the salon. For information on how to submit your stories for publication in Electric Literature, please visit our submissions page.

Submission Roulette