Call for First Readers

Fireside Magazine runs its submissions periods with the support of a small, dedicated team of First Readers who work with our managing editor, Elsa Sjunneson, to sort through submitted content for our fiction editor Julia Rios to consider.

We’re looking for people who love short fiction, and read a wide range of genres, who are willing to look past “genre” and look for… well. Just good stories.

We want to ensure that we get a wide range of perspectives, so we are especially interested in seeing First Readers from marginalized backgrounds. First Readers will be paid an honorarium for their work.

We receive, on average, at least 800 submissions per submissions period, and look to have you reading with us for about 2-4 weeks directly after a submissions period opens. We’ll always tell you ahead of time when we’re going to be open and if you’re going to be tapped for the period.

In order to lessen the stress of submissions reading, we’re going to tap a certain number of First Readers in our pool every reading period. You may not always be on deck. This allows us to read pieces by some of our First Readers (if you want to submit, you don’t read for that period) and gives us a wide range of readership reflected in our reading team.

If you’re interested in being part of our First Reader team, fill out this form:

If you use a screen reader, please use this form instead.

The form will have questions like prior experience, relevant experience, who you are, and why you want to be a First Reader.

That’s it! If we think you’re a good fit for the team, Elsa will be in touch.

© 2018 Elsa Sjunneson

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