Black Warrior Review

Prose rejections

Standard

Thank you for giving us at Black Warrior Review the opportunity to consider your work. The editors have read your submission and regret that it does not meet our present needs.

We wish you the best of luck placing your manuscript elsewhere.

Sincerely,

The Editors of Black Warrior Review

Dear ________, Thank you for your interest in Black Warrior Review, and for taking the time to send us your work. Unfortunately, after careful review, we have decided the submission isn't a good fit for us at this time.

We wish you the best of luck placing your work elsewhere.

Sincerely,

The Editors

Higher Tier

2015

Thanks for sending us "Title". Unfortunately it's not the right fit for this issue. I wish you the best placing it elsewhere and hope that you will consider sending us more work in the future. Best, Nonfiction Editor

2016

Hi Author,

Thank you for your interest in Black Warrior Review, and for taking the time to send us your work. Although we found much to admire in your work, we have decided the submission isn't a good fit for us at this time.

We wish you the best of luck placing your work elsewhere, and hope you submit to BWR again in the future.

Sincerely,

Fiction Editor

Black Warrior Review

2017

Dear _____,

Thank you for your interest in Black Warrior Review, and for taking the time to send us your work. Unfortunately, after careful review, we have decided the submission isn't a good fit for us at this time.

However, your work in particular stood out to us, and we encourage you to submit again soon.

We wish you the best of luck placing your work elsewhere.

Sincerely,

Emily Coon Black Warrior Review

bwr.ua.edu

2018

Dear _____,

Thank you for your interest in Black Warrior Review, and for taking the time to send us your work. Unfortunately, after careful review, we have decided the submission isn't a good fit for us at this time.

That said, I want to note that we read this with interest, and we encourage you to try us again in the future.

Sincerely,

Chase Burke

Black Warrior Review

2020

Dear [x],

Thank you for your interest in Black Warrior Review, and for taking the time to send us your work. We highly value the amount of trust you put in our team to read your piece. While we are unable to select this work for publication, our team was impressed by its quality.

We wish you the best of luck placing this piece elsewhere. We hope to see more of your work in the near future. Please feel free to submit again during our next submission call.

Sincerely,

Editor

2022

Thank you for your interest in Black Warrior Review, and for taking the time to send us your work. We highly value the amount of trust you put in our team to read your piece. While we are unable to select this work for publication, our team was impressed by its quality.

We wish you the best of luck placing this piece elsewhere. We hope to see more of your work in the near future. Please feel free to submit again during our next submission call.

Sincerely,

Kaush Suresh Black Warrior Review

Highest Tier/Personalized

2023

Dear WRITER,

Thank you for choosing to share your work with Black Warrior Review. We appreciate the time, effort, and creativity you invested in "TITLE," and we genuinely valued the opportunity to engage with this piece.

After rigorous review and thoughtful deliberation, we regret to inform you that "TITLE" was not selected for publication in our upcoming issue. However, we’d like to emphasize that each submission undergoes a meticulous review process, and many factors come into play when making our final decisions. This year, we were fortunate enough to receive a wealth of compelling submissions, and the selection was particularly challenging due to the sheer volume and diversity of talent.

Black Warrior Review reopens for submissions on December 1st, 2023, and I highly encourage you to consider submitting to us again. Until then, I have every confidence that “TITLE” will resonate with another publication.

We hope to see more of your work in the future, and I wish you the best of luck in your ongoing creative journey.

Sincerely,

EDITOR

Fiction Editor

Black Warrior Review

2024

Dear WRITER,

We are grateful for the opportunity to review your submission for Black Warrior Review. The team and I were genuinely invested in reviewing this piece and I particularly recognize and appreciate the work you put in crafting "TITLE."

While we regret to inform you that "TITLE" was not selected for publication in the next issue of BWR, we’d like to emphasize that each submission undergoes a rigorous review process, with many varied factors coming into play in the making of our final decisions. We received a ton of submissions, each compelling in its own right, and the sheer numbers and varieties make selection extremely difficult.

We reopen for submissions on June 1st, 2024. I encourage you to consider submitting to us again. I also have no doubt another publication will be glad to give a home to “TITLE” soon.

Best of luck in your ongoing creative journey. We can't wait to see more of your work in the future.

Sincerely,

EDITOR

Fiction Editor

Black Warrior Review

Poetry rejections

Standard

Hi Poet,

Thank you for taking the time to submit to BWR. Unfortunately, after careful review, we have decided these poems are not a good fit for us.

We wish you the best of luck placing your work elsewhere.

Sincerely,

Editor

Higher Tier

2020

Dear [Poet],

Thank you so much for your interest in Black Warrior Review, and for taking the time to send us your work. We highly value the amount of trust you put in our team to read your work AND your patience while we spent some time with it. While we are unable to select this work for publication at this time, our team was especially impressed by its quality.

We wish you the best of luck placing this piece elsewhere and do hope to see more of your work in the near future. Please feel free to submit again during our next submission call.

Sincerely,

Kelsey Nuttall

Black Warrior Review

Contest rejections

Standard

Flash (2018)

Dear _____,

Thank you for participating in the Black Warrior Review flash contest, and for trusting us with your work. After careful review, this submission was not selected as a finalist. These were tough decisions to make, and we received more good work than we could have ever imagined.

We wish you the best of luck placing your writing elsewhere. Our winners will be announced in the coming week.

Sincerely,

Black Warrior Review bwr.ua.edu

Fiction (2018)

Dear _____,

Thank you for participating in the Black Warrior Review Fiction Contest, and for trusting us with your work. After careful review, this submission was not selected as a finalist. These were tough decisions to make, and we received more good work than we could have ever imagined.

We wish you the best of luck placing your story elsewhere. Our winners will be announced in the coming weeks.

Sincerely,

The BWR Team

Higher Tier?

Flash (2024)

Dear _____,

Thank you for submitting your work to Black Warrior Review for our 2024 Flash Contest, judged by _____. It was truly a pleasure to read "_____" and we deeply appreciated the care and creativity that went into crafting this submission.

Though, after careful consideration, we regret to inform you that “_____” was not selected as a finalist for this year’s contest, we want to express how close your work came to advancing further in the process. We received a remarkable range of high-quality submissions this year, which made the final decisions especially challenging, and your piece was among those that sparked meaningful discussion within our editorial team.

I also want to emphasize that our decisions are never a reflection of the quality of any individual work, but rather are shaped by how each work fits into our editorial vision and the broader landscape of the contest. I highly encourage you to continue submitting to us and other outlets, as I am confident that "_____" will find a great home in another publication.

We sincerely hope to see more of your work in the future, and we wish you the best of luck with your creative endeavors. Thank you again for entrusting us with your writing.

Warmly,

Samantha Bolf

Editor-in-Chief

Black Warrior Review