written by David Steffen
Hello! I am here to announce the original stories that were chosen from the general submission window that ran in July 2025.
First, some stats:
# of Stories Submitted: 1797
# Rejected (First Round): 1676
# Rejected (Final Round): 55
# Withdrawn: 30
# Disqualified: 7
# Rewrite Requests: 4
# Accepted: 25
Note that the overall numbers might include some authors twice in some circumstances. This can happen if an author withdraws before any of the first readers read it, they are allowed to submit another story in its place. Also, if a submission becomes a rewrite request, if the author submits the rewrite while the window is still open then the rewrite would become a second submission to the window. Or a combination of these could make several submissions for a single author.
This is not quite the highest number of submissions we have recorded in a single window, that honor goes to to the January 2021 window with 1938 submissions. But in that previous window we allowed two submissions per author, so there were only 1397 distinct writers who submitted. So this window is a new record for number of authors submitting.
For the previous submission window we added language to the guidelines and submission form to ask writers to declare that they did not use generative AI to write the stories. This year we added to the guidelines and submission form a commitment from the publisher to likewise not use generative AI for any part of our processes: slushreading, editing, translating, audio narration, correspondence, or anything else. We have no interest in using generative AI for any part of our publication work anyway, so it just made sense to commit to it in so many words.
Although The Submission Grinder is generally a distinct effort from Diabolical Plots magazine for all but promotion, this year we did roll out a new joint feature between the two. All the other publication listings on The Submission Grinder have statistics and graphs that are based on self-reported data entered by users. The Diabolical Plots listing has that and now also has a similarly formatted section of data reported directly from the Diabolical Plots submission system, so that you can compare the user-reported data with the market reported-data. This is very interesting to me as a data geek! The overall shape of the graphs looks very similar which seems to suggest that the self-reported segment is fairly representative as a whole even though it appears to capture only about 1/3 of the overall dataset.
We would not still be here reading submissions if it weren’t for our amazing team of First Readers who help give initial opinions on first round submissions, and our team of Editors without whom I would never be able to keep up. Check out our staff page for a partial list of our first readers if you want to learn more about them!
If you have any comments or questions feel free to comment here or to send us a message through our contact form.
Since the last lineup announcement we made on September 30, 2024, we made one additional acceptance that came in from a rewrite request, that was finalized after the announcement. We didn’t make a separate announcement post for it, so we wanted to announce that one here as well, that I’ll list first.
Bonus Acceptance From July 2024 Window
This Is Not a Space Kidnapping Fantasy
by Priya Sridhar
Acceptances From July 2025 Window
The House Knows
by Meghan Arcuri
The Sharp Cry of the Winterlarks
by Arden Baker
Everyone Wants to Be a Part of Sasha
by J.N. Bilse
One Heart
by Annika Browne
The Last Optician
by Ann Calandro
9 Truths About the Yrsul
by Imogen Crowe
Under the Lights
by E.N. Dauvin
Five Accounts of the Story-Woman
by Diana Dima
Well Tester
by E.M. Faulds
The History of Coming Out To Your Parents Any% Speedrunning
by Jubilee Finnigan
Jefferson Dines Alone
by S.L. Harris
What Haunts the Plant
by Jeff Hewitt
Euthanasia Influx
by Rowan Hill
Njiran Folk Beliefs, Volume II
by Claire Jia-Wen
The Book of Fading Gods
by E.M. Linden
Who Can Hold a Princess
by Vivian M. Liu
Davy Jones, Lobsterman
by Daire McNally
We Burst Across the Theoretical Gore
by Sara S. Messenger and Simo Srinivas
The Peace Found in the Balloon Hole
by Lyra Meurer
The Time Keeper
by Ali Faye Miller
The Monster’s Wife
by Stewart Moore
We Grow in the Light
by Riley Neither
She Buries You on Tuesday
by AM Sutter
Dourglamis
by Derek Wagner
Afterimage
by Anna Zumbro