Today in History + Withdrawing a Submission

On May 20, 1932, Amelia Earhart flew her first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. She took off from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland and, although originally intending to land in Paris, after 14 hours and 56 minutes of strong, icy winds and mechanical problems, she landed in Culmore, Ireland. Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic (yay Amelia!). Five years later, she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared during their round-the-world flight.

Here at IR, we know a thing or two about disappearances. As writers ourselves, we are no stranger to how it feels to submit work--either through snail mail or online systems--and no matter how often I do it, once that envelope/Word file leaves my hands, I feel like I'm facing something like a great unknown. Who knows if my submission will even make it to intended destination!

All this is to say, we feel your pain. We know that we're a little behind in our response time to your submission, but we promise that we are doing our utmost to get back to you as soon as we can. One pitfall to not being able to read a submission as soon as it hits our mailbox is that the story/essay/poem might get picked up by another journal. If that happens, congratulations! We always knew that you were awesome! Also, please send us an email as soon as you know. The email should look something like this:

Dear IR,
The poem/story/essay that I sent to you on [date] by [snail mail/your online submissions mangaer] has been [taken by another journal/beamed up into space/eaten by my dog] and I would like to withdraw it.

Love,
Writer

The information that you send us (genre, date submitted, and snail mail vs online) helps us locate your submission quickly so that we are not searching for you in all the wrong places.

If you submitted online, you can withdraw your fiction or nonfiction piece yourself. For poetry, we still ask you send us a version of the email above. And don't worry about withdrawing just one poem from your submission--the rest of your work will still be considered.

Love,
Nina