How to Submit to and Navigate Literature Journal Modern
I've been reading and submitting work to various literary journals for years, and Literature Journal Modern is one that comes up enough in conversations that I should explain how it actually works rather than leave people confused. It's a contemporary literary publication focused on modern fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Not to be confused with similarly named academic journals that sit behind paywalls most people can't access anyway. The submission process is straightforward but there are a few things they don't make obvious on the front page of their site. They accept submissions through Submittable during open reading periods. The website lists those windows on their dashboard, but the links don't always refresh immediately when new windows open. I once waited three weeks thinking submissions were closed because the banner hadn't updated. The workaround was checking their social media accounts where they announce openings 24 hours early.
What You Need to Know About Literature Journal Modern Submissions
They want unpublished work only. This means previously published on your own personal website counts as published in their system. I learned this the hard way after getting a polite rejection that mentioned my piece had "previously appeared online." I'd posted a draft on my personal blog three years prior and completely forgot about it. If you've shared work anywhere publicly online, consider submitting through a different venue or take down the post first if the journal allows reprints of unpublished material submitted under new conditions. Their response time runs about four to six months. That's not slow for the literary world but it's longer than most writers expect going in. When I submitted a story last year, I sent a follow-up at five months and got a response within a week confirming it was still under review. That email itself took another two months. Don't expect anything faster unless they reach out to you first.
Pricing and Access
Reading copies are available through their online platform. The current issue runs about $15 or the annual subscription hits around $40 for four issues per year. Some libraries carry it but finding a copy in the wild is hit or miss. I get mine through a direct digital subscription because the physical copies tend to arrive damaged or late from third-party sellers. If you're looking to buy a back issue, check whether the journal offers PDF downloads directly from their storefront. I've tried ordering single issues through book retailers and waited six weeks for a physical copy that cost me more than the digital version plus shipping combined. The digital route cuts that down to immediate access for roughly half the price.
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What Actually Gets Accepted
Here's something nobody talks about much: they favor experimental approaches to modern themes over polished traditional narratives. I submitted a very conventional short story one time and it was rejected. Two years later I submitted a fragmented, multi-perspective piece tackling similar subject matter and it ran in the summer issue. The editorial team clearly prefers work that bends form. Don't dress up an experimental idea in conventional language. They see right through that. The margins are tight too. They publish maybe twelve to fifteen pieces per issue across all categories. A single poetry chapbook from an emerging writer has a better shot than a collection of safe, technically proficient stories from someone with a workshop pedigree. Quality matters less than voice in my experience with this particular journal.
A Practical Workaround I Developed
One edge case I ran into involved simultaneous submissions. Their guidelines technically prohibit them but the Submittable form doesn't have a hard block on concurrent submissions from the same account. I had a poem out with another journal and submitted to Literature Journal Modern without removing it first. I got a request for an exclusive commitment before accepting. I withdrew the other submission within an hour and they picked it up the next month. The lesson here is just be honest if asked and move fast. The rejection templates they send for simultaneous submissions don't distinguish between "we rejected you" and "you broke a rule," so timing matters more than the outcome. Format your documents cleanly. One-inch margins, standard serif font, no headers inside the text body except your name and word count in the top corner. They receive submissions in thousands and messy formatting slows their reader down. I've noticed pieces with inconsistent formatting get read faster by the first reviewer but then get deprioritized during final selection. Clean formatting signals respect for the process even if you're not aware of why it matters. Include a brief cover letter when Submittable asks for one. Keep it to three sentences max. Name, credentials if relevant, and acknowledgment that this is an original unpublished work. Nothing else. I once wrote a two-paragraph bio mentioning my MFA and writing workshops and got a follow-up email asking me to revise. They prefer minimalism even in the administrative layer.
The Downside Nobody Warns You About
The acceptance rate hovers somewhere around three to five percent based on what I've observed from submission numbers and issue sizes. That's typical for literary journals overall but the difference with Literature Journal Modern is that even accepted pieces sometimes get pulled. A few years back they ran a controversial piece and retracted it after public feedback on social media. Authors were notified but readers never knew. If your work gets rejected hard, don't read into it. If it gets an invitation to resubmit after a decline, do resubmit with significant revisions. Those invitations carry more weight than they appear to. Also worth noting: they don't pay competitive rates for poetry. Prose gets slightly better terms but anything under fifty dollars per piece is standard for a journal their size. Don't submit if financial compensation is your primary motivation. The exposure is real but modest unless you already have an established platform.
When to Skip This Journal Entirely
If your work is deeply traditional or tied closely to a specific regional literary school, Literature Journal Modern might not be the right fit. I've watched several solid, well-crafted pieces fail to land here simply because the editorial voice skews international and contemporary. The journal leans toward diaspora, global modernism, and formal risk. Conservative forms get reviewed but rarely placed in quantity. If that's your lane, target journals like The Paris Review or region-specific presses instead of burning a submission window here. For most writers though, Literature Journal Modern represents a legitimate outlet if you approach it with the right expectations and the right material. The barrier to entry is real but not insurmountable. The process is fair once you understand how the behind-the-scenes mechanics actually function.
