A lit mag editor told me the average slush pile story gets read for 90 seconds

Ray West · 2026-10-14T18:10:05.016306+00:00

I emailed a small journal in Boston to ask why my submission got rejected in two days, and the editor actually wrote back. She said most first readers give a story about 90 seconds before they pass on it, and that number has been stuck in my head since. So now I front load my drafts with the weird stuff instead of burying it on page 3. Does anyone else write their opening with that kind of clock in mind, or is that just me overthinking it?

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A lit mag editor told me the average slush pile story gets read for 90 seconds | Bad First Drafts - Thought Shares