The Summer issue marks our first anniversary here at The Citron Review, and things are going quite well. We owe it all to you, our readers, submitters, and contributors. While not everyone who submits is accepted, we pride ourselves on reading each submission thoroughly and giving it the time it deserves. Many of you have submitted multiple times, only to be turned away each quarter. We take no joy in rejection letters. Truth be told, they’re just as hard to write as they are to get (this hurts us more than it hurts you, and so on). In these cases, it is often simply a difference of vision. Submitters often ask, “What do you look for?” Aside from the vague “read our publication” and “something well-written” responses, we don’t have very strict guidelines.

Here’s an opportunity to say exactly what we’re looking for. In the Fall 2010 issue, we’d like to see you try your hand writing in second person imperative. If we’ve already lost you, don’t be discouraged. Think of these as “How To” stories. A good example is Megan Jones’s “How to Hate Your Life.” You can do this in either poetry or prose. it is still important for the submission to exemplify a meaningful conflict and tangible characters.

We will still accept submissions that do not fall into this theme, but those that do will earn an even closer read.

Until next time, good writing.

The Citron Review