The Missouri Review is a literary journal that has been around for over 30 years and they publish four quality print issues a year. Digital editions are now also available. They publish short stories, poetry, and non-fiction. Work that first appeared in The Missouri Review has been anthologized in Best American Short Stories, Best American Essays, Best American Travel Writing, Best American Poetry, The O. Henry Prize Anthology, and The Pushcart Prize. The Missouri Review is based out of the University of Missouri.
They pay their authors $40 per printed page. They have very low acceptance rates because they receive an average of 12,000 submissions per year. They have published previously unpublished authors for the first time, but also Pulitzer prize winning authors.
However, their submission system is a little confusing. As many of our readers know, Authors Publish is opposed to journals charging submission fees. We also advocate for editors to come up with alternatives for charging submission fees (more about that here).
Unfortunately, the Missouri Review charges writers to submit, but only electronically. You can submit to them through the post for free as long as you include a self addressed stamped envelope. Because they have an alternative for those who do not want to pay to submit we are reluctantly reviewing them. Also, because they have published a lot of good writing, particularly in the category of literary non-fiction.
All prose manuscripts should be double-spaced. Submit previously unpublished material only. Response time is between 10 and 12 weeks. Simultaneous submissions are allowed as long as they are informed if your work is accepted elsewhere.
Because they publish multiple poems by each poet they like poetry submissions to include 8-20 pages of unpublished poetry. They have no official length restrictions for prose, although longer or shorter work has to be particularly exceptional for them to publish it. The average length of work they publish is between 2,000 and 9,000 words.
To learn more please visit their submission guidelines here.
