Just a quick note to express our astonishment at the sheer volume of manuscripts — 350! — we received through The Fabulist’s Fall 2021 open call for short fantastical fiction.
That’s more than twice as many as the 172 submissions we received last year.
Working through the “slush pile,” as it’s known as, is a difficult process; the levels of skill, craft and accomplishment vary greatly, and yet, we want to honor every submission, and are humbled by the fact that folks would consider our publication a potential home for their creative work.
It’s difficult to provide personal feedback on each piece we decline — though we try. It may be more difficult this year due to the very large number of manuscripts we received.
Our goal is to complete the review process by the end of January 2022 — which would be the fasted we’ve ever done it.
To that end, we’ll be opening applications for slush readers in the coming weeks; watch our website, social media and newsletter for a link to the application form.
Read on!
