At Bacopa Literary Review, we strive to include as many voices from as many different backgrounds as possible. One way we try to achieve this is by having our Genre Editors read each submission blind: the only information they have about a piece is the title, word count, and submission itself. We do this in the interest of fairness.
How it works: the Genre Editors review each submitted piece. As they find pieces they want to accept, the Genre Editors run it by both myself and our Editor in Chief, J. N. Fishhawk. Either I or J.N. will review the piece, ensure the author hasn’t submitted to our other categories, and check whether or not they’ve contributed a piece in our past editions. Note: We only allow submitters to contribute to one out of our six categories in order to have more diversity among contributions. When we see that the potential contributor hasn’t submitted to other categories and is not a previous contributor, we tell the Genre Editor they’re all set to accept the piece!
Once the Genre Editors have accepted or declined all the pieces, we move forward with picking prize winners, copyediting, organizing contributor information, and assembling the journal. We normally receive over 1,200 submissions each contest. In an effort to keep the total number of pages to under 200, we are usually only able to accept about 50-70 contributors. So, try and keep your spirits up even if your work is declined because we often have to turn away pieces that have merit simply due to monetary and page number constraints.
Journal assembly is my and J. N.’s responsibility. We ask our Genre Editors to place works from their categories into the order in which they’d like the pieces to appear, with the acknowledgement that we might not stay totally true to it. Then, we begin the weaving process, alternating prose and poetry pieces to balance the journal. We assemble it in the manner that someone would read through it from start to finish, though of course people have their own style of reading an anthology. As a team, we also decide on the cover art after soliciting work from local artists. After journal assembly, we send it in to be printed and celebrate its yearly release at a Reading event, usually in November, at our local library. We also send out a copy of the journal to each domestic contributor (or two copies for prize winning pieces). We send a USD $10 eGift card to international contributors so that they can buy a copy through their local Amazon affiliate.
It is very fulfilling to be a part of this publication process from start to finish. Reading through each piece as we assemble the journal is my favorite part, and something I look forward to every year. Our submissions period will be open from March 3, 2025 to May 5, 2025 and I am so excited for the contributions we will receive this year.
About the editor: Managing Editor T. Walters is a writer, artist, musician, and cannabis worker living among the orange trees. Their work appears in Nymeria Publishing’s Descendants of Medusa. Tea lives to connect, create, and marvel at nature’s many wonders.
