Limelight Review publishes prose pieces/short stories to 1,500 words and poetry to 1,000 words. “While their main mission is to reach disabled and neurodivergent writers, Limelight is proud to uplift marginalized authors of any gender, sexuality, race, or identity.” Read the complete guidelines here.
SQF: Why did you start this magazine?
Suzanne Lavallee: When my co-founder Aleena and I were looking at the expanse of online literary magazines to send our writing to, we saw that there were plenty for all sorts of groups and categories. We saw publications for women, BIPOC creators, queer creators, etc... But noticed there was an overwhelming emptiness in spaces for neurodivergent and disabled creators. (That being said, there are a handful of magazines for disabled and neurodivergent writers amidst the community. We wouldn't want to take away their merit, accomplishments, and support they've shown for the community. We've simply noticed that these sorts of publications dedicated to people like us are sparse and hard to come by.) Being neurodivergent and disabled ourselves, Aleena and I decided to take matters into our own hands. It was a quick decision, made on a whim. We had the idea one night and by the next day we were purchasing the online domain and weebly software. Thus a literary magazine was born! We named it Limelight to commemorate our goal of shining the limelight on creators who have been and are historically oppressed within the literary community.
SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission?
SL: Since we've received so many submissions, the first thing we look into is if they followed our guidelines. If we notice that their submission is obviously over our word count, out of genre, or without trigger warnings, it's a fast and easy rejection. We've taken a lot of personal time and funding to create this magazine to help other writers in their careers and it can be glaringly obvious that they did not even offer enough time to show respect and read our guidelines. If you've followed our guidelines, written a nice cover letter addressing both the executives, and attached your work in our preferred method you're already off to a great and fantastic start! We're going to give you and your writing the time and consideration that you gave us!
The second thing we look for when we start reading is opening sentences. When reading a submission usually by the first few lines I can tell if I'm going to accept or reject it. We like work that captures our attention and has a lyrical sense to it. Did you lead with a grasping sentence? Are you telling us why we should read your story/poem/etc and demanding us to finish it?
We're also looking at skills. If we see that your work is not well thought out and doesn't make sense, it typically shows that it wasn't created with effort. Once again, we put time and energy into reading and rereading submissions. If you didn't even proofread your own work, why should we care enough? Another easy way to end in a rejection.
The third thing we look for in a submission is meaning. Is your work meaningful? If you're writing about your trip to a waterpark, we're sure someone will be interested... just maybe not us. But if you're writing about a childhood memory, veiled within metaphors of your favorite waterpark, we're going to be a little more invested. Emotions and imagery are important. They are your tools, use them to allude to greater concepts and topics.
SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?
SL: Work that is formatted strangely (large texts and colorful titles and script) we're usually less prone to picking it up. Seeing a simple font, black and white, with the title clearly displayed, helps us glide smoothly into the writing. Without it, we're hesitant to read it and it does not display professionalism. We're also turned off by submissions that are overtly sexual/graphic/etc, when we've specified that this is a youth-run magazine.
SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?
SL: We look for work that has a heavy or gripping first sentence. If you can grab our attention and hold us off the seat, then we're going to be captivated. We like work that begins with asking or proposing a question that we need the answer to, as well as vibrant imagery. If we can imagine your poem, prose, short story, etc., as something that has really happened, then we are going to be reading your work until the end.
SQF: You recently published your first issue. What did you learn from this experience?
SL: I think we learned a lot about time management and management in general. It's difficult running a literary magazine and takes a lot of dedication, especially as two teenage girls who work and have school starting in the Autumn. We're also trying to grow our own literary careers in between all of this. We spent a lot of time this summer reading submissions. I was on vacation entering submissions into our tracker and making sure that they were read or going to be read. It certainly was more than we were initially expecting, I think. We also learned that no matter how hard we try, not everything is going to be perfect the first time around. We're looking forward to improving in our future issues and learning more about how to manage.
SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?
SL: What's the secret to getting accepted by literary magazines?
The answer: There is no real secret or way to make or break it into getting accepted by a literary magazine. I'll be honest, we don't look too deeply into bios our first time reading your submission, so we don't go into it thinking about your previous accomplishments. We're judging you solely on what you've written and presented to us. Following the theme and guidelines, perfecting your craft, and being polite and respectful can only help! I think the real secret to being accepted is never giving up. It may sound ridiculous, but that is the truth. You're going to get rejected plenty of times, but if you stop submitting and writing then you're never going to make it. For every ten works of art you submit, there's bound to be an editor, executive, etc who is at least a little interested. If you give up before you find the person who is going to believe in you, you'll never make it as a creative person in any space. So try again and again—even if you're rejected—because I promise one of these days you'll find yourself reading an email that leads with Congratulations! Getting accepted in part, also has to do with luck. You may not know it if you don't try, but there's an editor who really wants to read a poem about fireflies on a camping trip just like the one you wrote. You may never find this editor and they may never find you...but as long as you keep shuffling through all of these—never giving up—you'll be lucky enough to find that one editor.
Thank you, Suzanne and Aleena. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.
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