Introducing: Revise and Resubmit

CCM has an announcement: we’re piloting a Revise & Resubmit process! Previously, when we reviewed work, our options were very black-or-white. A piece could either be accepted, or rejected. But a lot of the work we come across actually falls into a gray category of “I would accept this if it was workshopped just a little more,” and thus, the R&R has been born. Issue 08 is the first issue we’re attempting this, but so far, so good.

Every so often, we find a piece that is very promising, but not quite ready for publication. It’s always a shame to reject pieces like this, and so we decided to borrow academic journals' tradition of the “revise and resubmit” outcome. Now, if enough staff members feel that a piece could be publishable if the author addressed specific concerns, we will offer that author the option to edit their piece and submit it again.

We typically vote on a scale of 1-3, 1 meaning “accept” and 3 meaning “reject.” Once everyone has voted, we average out the scores and accept anything above a certain number. However, if two or more staff members vote for an R&R in addition to their numerical vote (voting on the piece as is), we will contact the submitter to inform them of the vote and ask if they would like to proceed with the process.

If the author isn’t interested, the piece will be rejected. If the author is interested, we will collate staff feedback on their work and deliver specific, actionable critique. The author can resubmit their work, and the piece will be reviewed again. Please note there is no guarantee of publication if an author chooses to resubmit. However, at least one piece published in Issue 08 will be a work that received an R&R verdict.

We’ve experimented with staff feedback before (waaay back in the early days of Cicada), but it turned out to be more work than any of us had expected, and it was quickly abandoned. But we still think, and have always thought, that peer workshop is a good way to connect with other writers and artists. Part of why we want to refine this process is so we can introduce it in our future plans for Cicada. Keep an eye out, and while you’re at it, you should consider submitting your work or writing an anonymous email.