Submission Guidelines For Jane Austen’s Wastebasket
By: Kyrie Gray
Tags: Comedy, Satire, Submission Guidelines

Submission Guidelines For Jane Austen’s Wastebasket

If you want your humor in this publication then you’re on the right page

Image licensed from Canva

(Updated 10/8)

Hi!

I’m excited to announce that Jane Austen’s Wastebasket is now accepting submissions! If you’d like to send me your draft then please continue to read the general guidelines and information below:

Email instructions

When you send your message please write, “Submission for JAW” into the subject line. This helps me sort my email so you don’t end up in my spam folder. Somewhere in the body of your message make sure you include a link to your draft.

The email address is at the end of this post, but I suggest you read through the rest of these guidelines first, just in case.

Time frame

Depending on the volume of submissions it could take anywhere from 1 day to 3 days to get a response. It’s usually within 24 hours though. Also please only send in one draft link at a time.

If for some reason you don’t hear back after 3 days and haven’t published your piece, send me an email, as submissions on very rare occasions get jumbled or lost in my inbox.

If your work is accepted

Congratulations! You’ll get a note on your draft telling you the scheduled publication date and how to proceed.

Reasons I might say, “Maybe”

I love the general premise but not the execution. If you want I will offer suggestions that would make your post a better fit for Jane Austen’s Wastebasket.

Another issue could be your work is good but not as tight as I’d like it to be. Most stuff here is 1–4 minutes. I might work with you to decrease any fluff that doesn’t add to the jokes.

Some reasons I might pass on your submission

(Update: Please no covid or quarantine related pieces. I’m publishing those far less since I had so many in March and April.)

It doesn’t fit with the voice of the publication

-If you’ve read other posts here you are aware that I love anything literature, history, or culture related. Take a look at the tabs on the main page to see what kind of humor I’m looking for.

-I tend to avoid most political/candidate stuff since I’m not as good at writing it and thus not good at editing that genre.

It’s a good idea to avoid sending me anything where the humor lies purely dirty talk, dick jokes, or a cliché. I love wink, nudge sex humor here but avoid more graphic content.

Except for “History” I am not taking lists or nonfiction

-IT’S TOO LONG

Please try to keep it between 300–800 words.

Sometimes lists just don’t work for me

I have nothing against lists but I’ll generally pass on them unless they make me laugh on first go. You have a better chance at getting a list published here if it is unique, tells a story, or has illustrations to add visual interests.

(Update) Illustrated lists will be welcome in the history section. However there still needs to be content and jokes written about each entry.

It punches down.

Don’t be a jerk. If you’re not sure what punching down means, then take two minutes to google the phrase.

There are more than 10 grammatical/spelling errors.

I’m no professional when it comes to my writing, I get it. Errors happen. A lot. I make them all the time. However, I do try to make my writing as clean as possible and expect the same from people who submit here.

As I go through your draft I’ll fix up to 10 errors, but if I find a 11th I will send your draft back to you and ask you revise it if you want to resubmit it for consideration.

It’s too similar to something else that’s been published.

There’s nothing truly new under the sun but if I’ve seen the same premise before, with almost the same delivery, I will have to pass.

It’s nonfiction

Please don’t send personal essays.

It’s a short story

While all the posts here are fictional, I’m not looking for short literary fiction (even if it’s funny).

It’s not the poetry I’m looking for

There are better publications out there dedicated to funny poetry. Unless you’re using a famous dead poet’s style and themes for satire, I generally don’t want your poetry.

Formatting

Every post should have a clear header image. Please don’t steal stock photos. Use Unsplash or Pixabay. Make you own! Credit any images you use.

You should have a clear title (big T) and a subtitle (that smaller T).

New how to end your story

In the past I allowed people to post links and long bios. I’m doing away with that for a moment, as an experiment.

Though I reserve the right to add, “Follow Jane Austen’s Wastebasket on Medium and Twitter for more humor.”

Paywall:

The majority of posts will be put behind the paywall so they have a chance at curation and thus a chance at being shared more widely. If you are opposed to the paywall let me know, and I will save your post for a day of the week designated for non-paywall posts.

Once published I ask you to leave your work in Jane Austen’s Wastebasket for at least 6 months. I understand the platform and desire to rewrite something. But please wait 6 months, or reach out, before you withdraw your post.

If I’ve stopped posting or responding or updating Jane Austen’s Wastebasket then something terrible has happened. Feel free to remove your work and give it to a publication that is still active.

If all of this makes sense and you still wish to go forward with your submission please send your work to the email address below:

Email: kyriegraywrites@gmail.com

If you are interested in some step-by-step humor writing tips feel free to sign up for my newsletter which will include that and other goodies.