ROAD
Cheaper airfare, among other factors, led to the decline of the family road trip. But Clark Griswold is our hero. His family’s zany road trip to Wally World in 1983 is indeed fiction, but this brilliant screwball comedy also might remind us of our own adventures crossing the country in a car full of people and a cooler full of snacks.
We’re looking for (true) road trip stories of up to 5,000 words for this essay collection. While Route 66 and other now desolate U.S.
highways immediately come to mind when thinking of road trips, we are interested in stories from around the globe. Maybe you were the Clark of your family. Or maybe one of your parents was. Maybe your road trip was for fun and adventure, but perhaps it was a more somber destination.
Maybe you were in a car, or maybe you were in an RV. Maybe you camped along the way or checked into roadside motels. We’d all entertain solo travel stories, with or without a car (maybe you hitchhiked to the other coast).
What we are most looking for are stories with strong characters and an arc that take place in a mobile setting.
CORNER DIVE BARS
I (Hippocampus publisher Donna) grew up in coal country in Northeast
Pennsylvania, a place where some towns and boroughs boast playfully that they have the most drinking establishments per capita. The blue-collar
region has many gems of corner and dive bars that have been open for generations. And many of them look almost the same as they did on opening day. Whenever I go back and visit and pass these places, I’m just filled with nostalgia for neighborhood gathering spots.
There’s something special about these places: maybe it’s the jar of jerky, the big canister of pickled eggs, the rack of tiny bags of potato chips behind the bar. Maybe it’s the stories you hear — or tell.
For this essay collection, we’re looking for stories that are set in or revolve around a corner bar/dive bar (or small pub or tavern). Like the ROAD collection, we’re seeking stories up to 5,000 words with strong characters and arc. We’re open to stories that explore all aspects of these establishments: we know it was not always fun and games.
DEADLINE
Submissions open Jan. 15, 2020, and the deadline is Jun 15, 2020. We will begin reviewing submissions in earnest after the deadline.
Contributors receive $50 honorarium and two contributor copies.
Submit your work here.
Saturday, May 30, 2020
Writing Competition: Bitter Oleander Press Library of Poetry Award
An award of $1000 plus book publication of the winning manuscript is open to anyone writing in the English language. It is not open to friends, employees or relatives of The Bitter Oleander Press.
Entry Fee: $28.00
Entry Fee: $28.00
- Translations are not eligible for this award.
- You may send your entry through the US Postal Service, but do not send it certified with a return-request receipt. Include a stamped self-addressed postcard for receipt notification purposes.
- Online submissions will be allowed through our SUBMITTABLE format when the competition opens on May 1st, 2020 until it ends on June 15th, 2020
Writing Competition: 2020 New American Fiction Prize
Winner receives a publication contract, including a $1,500 advance, 25 author's copies, and promotional support.
DEADLINE: JUNE 15, 2020
Entry Fee: $25.00
All full-length fiction manuscripts are welcome, including novels, novellas, collections of stories and/or novellas, novels in verse, linked collections, as well as full-length collections of flash fiction and short-shorts. Full-length fiction manuscripts tend to be at least 100 pages. There is no maximum length.
To submit, please access our convenient online submission manager, which saves paper and helps keep things organized.
This year's final judge is NICK WHITE, a Mississippi native whose books include the novel How to Survive a Summer (Blue Rider/Penguin, 2017) and the story collection Sweet and Low (Blue Rider/Penguin, 2018). Nick is an Assistant Professor of English at The Ohio State University's MFA Program in Creative Writing. His short stories, poems, and essays have appeared in The Kenyon Review, Guernica, Catapult, The Hopkins Review, Indiana Review, The Literary Review, Lit Hub, and elsewhere. You can also enjoy interviews with Nick at Rolling Stone, Kenyon Review, and the Maximum Fun and KR podcasts. He is currently at work on a new novel.
Call for Submissions: Wanderlust: A Travel Journal
We accept submissions all year and spread out different themes across the months. Please see our website for themed deadlines and guidelines for submission.
We're curious to hear from those who love to wander and write about their experiences. It's a compulsion, a restlessness that keeps many of us on edge and on the move.
Be specific. Be generous. Take us with you. We're interested in your journeys, the dark underbelly, the compulsions and the incredible moments of joy that split you open. Tell a story rooted in travelling. So please: Take us with you.
The focus is on connection across the world. Keep that in mind.
We're curious to hear from those who love to wander and write about their experiences. It's a compulsion, a restlessness that keeps many of us on edge and on the move.
Be specific. Be generous. Take us with you. We're interested in your journeys, the dark underbelly, the compulsions and the incredible moments of joy that split you open. Tell a story rooted in travelling. So please: Take us with you.
The focus is on connection across the world. Keep that in mind.
Call for Submissions to Anthology on Theme of Domestic Abuse: McFarland & Company
Writings on Domestic Verbal, Emotional, and Physical Abuse
Deadline: October 15, 2020
We are seeking work by survivors of domestic abuse. Creative nonfiction, memoir, flash nonfiction. Please note that at this time we are not accepting poetry.
The book will be published by McFarland & Company; contributors will receive a complimentary copy. Please send your submission in Word, with a brief cover letter and 50 word bio to Judith Skillman:
jskillman54ATgmailDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )
and Linera Lucas:
lineralucasATalumniDOTreedDOTedu (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )
This text is dedicated to all those who dared to break the silence.
Deadline: October 15, 2020
We are seeking work by survivors of domestic abuse. Creative nonfiction, memoir, flash nonfiction. Please note that at this time we are not accepting poetry.
The book will be published by McFarland & Company; contributors will receive a complimentary copy. Please send your submission in Word, with a brief cover letter and 50 word bio to Judith Skillman:
jskillman54ATgmailDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )
and Linera Lucas:
lineralucasATalumniDOTreedDOTedu (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )
This text is dedicated to all those who dared to break the silence.
Call for Submissions: Mental Snapback Podcast
Mental Snapback Podcast is Looking for Your Recovery Stories!
Submissions accepted year-round.
Mental Snapback Podcast is looking for your mental health recovery stories to be featured in our episodes. This podcast is for everyone and anyone who has experienced mental illness, whether it be that you have experienced acute or chronic illnesses yourself or someone you love has experienced them. We know the struggle, and we don't want to invalidate that. However, we want to hear about the other side—the recovery of your struggles—to build a foundation of hope for whoever may need it.
Currently, we only accept creative nonfiction in the form of essays.
Acceptance of manuscripts occurs on a rolling basis, and they will be read aloud on weekly podcast episodes.
Submissions accepted year-round.
Mental Snapback Podcast is looking for your mental health recovery stories to be featured in our episodes. This podcast is for everyone and anyone who has experienced mental illness, whether it be that you have experienced acute or chronic illnesses yourself or someone you love has experienced them. We know the struggle, and we don't want to invalidate that. However, we want to hear about the other side—the recovery of your struggles—to build a foundation of hope for whoever may need it.
Currently, we only accept creative nonfiction in the form of essays.
Acceptance of manuscripts occurs on a rolling basis, and they will be read aloud on weekly podcast episodes.
Writing Competition: Syntax's Sublingua Prize for Poetry
Submit to Inverted Syntax’s Sublingua Prize for Poetry: $1000 Prize
Deadline: July 1 2020
Send us your BEST FIVE pieces! Get your work in front of our judge, award-winning KHADIJAH QUEEN, author of six books, most recently, ANODYNE (Tin House, August 2020)!! Prize is open to writers who haven’t yet published a book-length collection or a chapbook.
Submission fee: $15 for five pieces
Even if you're not a winner or a finalist, you may still be published in our print issue and 2) you may be read by our judge. Past contributors include Rae Armantrout, Kiki Petrosino, Philip Metres, Kathy Fish, Andrea Rexilius, Eric Baus, J Michael Martinez and more.
Deadline: July 1 2020
Send us your BEST FIVE pieces! Get your work in front of our judge, award-winning KHADIJAH QUEEN, author of six books, most recently, ANODYNE (Tin House, August 2020)!! Prize is open to writers who haven’t yet published a book-length collection or a chapbook.
Submission fee: $15 for five pieces
Even if you're not a winner or a finalist, you may still be published in our print issue and 2) you may be read by our judge. Past contributors include Rae Armantrout, Kiki Petrosino, Philip Metres, Kathy Fish, Andrea Rexilius, Eric Baus, J Michael Martinez and more.
Call for Submissions: COVID LIT
Spread Art and Philanthropy by Submitting to COVID LIT
Deadline: Rolling
COVID LIT is a monthly online lit mag that gives the middle finger to COVID-19 by publishing, promoting, and spreading art, poetry, and prose using the disease's name.
What sets us apart from other magazines? Simple: instead of paying us a submission fee, writers must donate at least $3 to a nonprofit of their choice. Since we launched in late April 2020, our writers have donated over $3000 directly to regional, national, and international nonprofits, so send your best work and use your creative superpowers for good!
Visit our website today!
Call for Submissions: The CHILLFILTR Review
Submissions accepted year-round. No Submission fee.
The CHILLFILTR Review strives to bring the best new art to a worldwide audience by leveraging best-in-class technology to create a seamless and immersive web experience. We welcome submissions from all walks of life, and all perspectives. We are committed to inclusivity and kindly welcome work from marginalized voices.
All featured works will receive an honorarium of $20 per 1000 words and will be published online at The CHILLFILTR Review as well as on our Apple News Channel. Readers can vote for their favorites, and year-end "Best Of" winners will receive an additional $100 cash prize.
The CHILLFILTR Review strives to bring the best new art to a worldwide audience by leveraging best-in-class technology to create a seamless and immersive web experience. We welcome submissions from all walks of life, and all perspectives. We are committed to inclusivity and kindly welcome work from marginalized voices.
All featured works will receive an honorarium of $20 per 1000 words and will be published online at The CHILLFILTR Review as well as on our Apple News Channel. Readers can vote for their favorites, and year-end "Best Of" winners will receive an additional $100 cash prize.
Sunday, May 24, 2020
Writing Competition: WOW! Women On Writing
Open Topic: You can write about anything as long as it's fiction.
Style: We are open to all genres of fiction, so feel free to get creative and surprise us!
Word Count: 250 words minimum; 750 words maximum
Submission Types: Electronic submissions via e-mail only; no postal submissions; reprints/previously published are okay; simultaneous submissions are okay; multiple submissions are okay as long as they are submitted in their own individual e-mail.
Entry Fee: $10 per story; option to purchase a critique for an additional $10.
Only 300 stories accepted. We are 48% full.
1st Place: $400 cash prize; $25 Amazon Gift Certificate; Published on WOW!; Interview on The Muffin
2nd Place: $300 cash prize; $25 Amazon Gift Certificate; Published on WOW!; Interview on The Muffin
3rd Place: $200 cash prize; $25 Amazon Gift Certificate; Published on WOW!; Interview on The Muffin
7 Runners Up: $25 Amazon Gift Certificate; Published on WOW!; Interview on The Muffin
10 Honorable Mentions: $20 Amazon Gift Certificate; Name and title of story published on WOW!
Deadline: May 31, 2020
Enter here.
Call for Submissions: Red Planet Magazine
Red Planet Magazine Call for Submissions
Deadline: Rolling
Red Planet Magazine is an independent literary magazine emphasizing a theme of speculative fiction, and is open for submissions year-round on a rolling basis. Contributors receive a digital copy of the issue in which their work has been featured.
Please visit our website for additional information.
Deadline: Rolling
Red Planet Magazine is an independent literary magazine emphasizing a theme of speculative fiction, and is open for submissions year-round on a rolling basis. Contributors receive a digital copy of the issue in which their work has been featured.
Please visit our website for additional information.
Call for Submissions: The Petigru Review
Call for Submissions: The Petigru Review
Deadline: July 31, 2020
The Petigru Review is looking for surprising stories, poems, essays, and first novel chapters for our annual online literary journal. We are especially interested in supporting diverse and emerging voices.
Submissions close 7/31/20 or when we hit 500 submissions.
Deadline: July 31, 2020
The Petigru Review is looking for surprising stories, poems, essays, and first novel chapters for our annual online literary journal. We are especially interested in supporting diverse and emerging voices.
Submissions close 7/31/20 or when we hit 500 submissions.
Call for Submissions: The American Journal of Poetry
The American Journal of Poetry Volume 9 Call for Submissions
Deadline: Rolling
Now reading for Volume Nine. Please visit us to read our previous volumes filled with poems from poets the world over, from the first-published to the most acclaimed in literature. A unique voice is highly prized. Be bold, uncensored, take risks.
Our hallmark is "STRONG Rx MEDICINE." We are the home of the long poem! No restrictions as to subject matter, style, or length. Published biannually online.
Submissions accepted through our online submission manager, Submittable; a submission fee is charged.
Call for Submissions: borrowed solace
borrowed solace is open for fall submissions
Deadline: July 31, 2020
borrowed solace is looking for “Mystical” works for the fall-themed 2020 literary journal. We accept nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and art.
You can review our guidelines, what the editors are looking for, and submit here at our website. We want to read what mystifies you!
Deadline: July 31, 2020
borrowed solace is looking for “Mystical” works for the fall-themed 2020 literary journal. We accept nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and art.
You can review our guidelines, what the editors are looking for, and submit here at our website. We want to read what mystifies you!
Writing Competition: Black River Chapbook Competition
Twice each year Black Lawrence Press will run the Black River Chapbook Competition for an unpublished chapbook of poems or prose between 16-36 pages in length. The contest is open to new, emerging, and established writers. The winner will receive book publication, a $500 cash award, and ten copies of the book. Prizes are awarded on publication.
All entries are read without identifying information by our panel of editors. All manuscripts should include a title page (listing only the title of the work), table of contents (if applicable), and when appropriate, an acknowledgments page. Manuscripts should be paginated and formatted in an easy-to-read font such as Garamond or Times New Roman. Manuscripts should be 16-36 pages in length (double-spaced for fiction), not including front and back matter (table of contents, title page, etc.). Identifying information for the author should not be included anywhere on the manuscript itself, including in the name of your file or in the "title" field in Submittable. You are welcome to include a brief bio or something about yourself in your cover note on Submittable, which will only be made accessible to the editorial panel after the group of Semi-Finalist and Finalist manuscripts has been chosen.
A note regarding previously published work: Chapbooks containing individual stories or poems that have been previously published online or in print are absolutely eligible for the BRCC–please simply note previously published work on an acknowledgments page. On the other hand, if your chapbook–or a significant portion of the work included in your chapbook–has been previously published as a book or chapbook-length collection (including publication with a press, self-publication, online/digital publication, and publication in a small, limited-edition print run), then the manuscript is not eligible for the BRCC.
Note: There are separate categories for prose and poetry submissions.
Entry Fee: $15.00
Deadline: May 31, 2020
All entries are read without identifying information by our panel of editors. All manuscripts should include a title page (listing only the title of the work), table of contents (if applicable), and when appropriate, an acknowledgments page. Manuscripts should be paginated and formatted in an easy-to-read font such as Garamond or Times New Roman. Manuscripts should be 16-36 pages in length (double-spaced for fiction), not including front and back matter (table of contents, title page, etc.). Identifying information for the author should not be included anywhere on the manuscript itself, including in the name of your file or in the "title" field in Submittable. You are welcome to include a brief bio or something about yourself in your cover note on Submittable, which will only be made accessible to the editorial panel after the group of Semi-Finalist and Finalist manuscripts has been chosen.
A note regarding previously published work: Chapbooks containing individual stories or poems that have been previously published online or in print are absolutely eligible for the BRCC–please simply note previously published work on an acknowledgments page. On the other hand, if your chapbook–or a significant portion of the work included in your chapbook–has been previously published as a book or chapbook-length collection (including publication with a press, self-publication, online/digital publication, and publication in a small, limited-edition print run), then the manuscript is not eligible for the BRCC.
Note: There are separate categories for prose and poetry submissions.
Entry Fee: $15.00
Deadline: May 31, 2020
Call for Submissions: The Wisconsin Review
The Wisconsin Review publishes both new and established authors of outstanding poetry, fiction, and non-fiction as well as practitioners of the graphic arts. Our staff comes from diverse aesthetic backgrounds, so send us works of overwhelming excellence.
The Wisconsin Review retains First North American Serial Rights of published work. Electronic submissions require a $2.00 reading fee. Current subscribers can submit without paying the fee. We also consider postal submissions without reading fees.
Open to submissions year-round.
The Wisconsin Review retains First North American Serial Rights of published work. Electronic submissions require a $2.00 reading fee. Current subscribers can submit without paying the fee. We also consider postal submissions without reading fees.
Open to submissions year-round.
Call for Submissions: The Centifictionist
The Centifictionist is an online literary magazine that publishes powerful, compelling, and memorable international microfiction in 100 words or less.
The Centifictionist publishes two online issues per year, a Spring/Summer issue and a Fall/Winter issue. All issues of The Centifictionist will include thirty pieces of microfiction in each issue, with each individual piece being 100 words or less.
The first issue of The Centifictionist, (Vol. 1, Issue 1, Spring/Summer 2020), will be published sometime in/around the month of April 2020. The second issue of The Centifictionist, (Vol. 1, Issue 2, Fall/Winter 2020), will be published sometime in/around the month of October 2020. These two publication dates are tentative and may (or may not) be changed depending on various factors.
The deadline for submissions to be considered for the first issue of The Centifictionist is March 1st, 2020. All submissions arriving after March 1st, 2020 will be considered for the second issue of The Centifictionist. The deadline for submissions to be considered for the second issue of The Centifictionist is September 1st, 2020.
The Centifictionist will also publish short interviews with each of the authors whose work will be included in upcoming issues (unless an individual author chooses not to be interviewed), and occasionally other tidbits as well.
Submission guidelines and submission link here.
The Centifictionist publishes two online issues per year, a Spring/Summer issue and a Fall/Winter issue. All issues of The Centifictionist will include thirty pieces of microfiction in each issue, with each individual piece being 100 words or less.
The first issue of The Centifictionist, (Vol. 1, Issue 1, Spring/Summer 2020), will be published sometime in/around the month of April 2020. The second issue of The Centifictionist, (Vol. 1, Issue 2, Fall/Winter 2020), will be published sometime in/around the month of October 2020. These two publication dates are tentative and may (or may not) be changed depending on various factors.
The deadline for submissions to be considered for the first issue of The Centifictionist is March 1st, 2020. All submissions arriving after March 1st, 2020 will be considered for the second issue of The Centifictionist. The deadline for submissions to be considered for the second issue of The Centifictionist is September 1st, 2020.
The Centifictionist will also publish short interviews with each of the authors whose work will be included in upcoming issues (unless an individual author chooses not to be interviewed), and occasionally other tidbits as well.
Submission guidelines and submission link here.
Sunday, May 17, 2020
Writer-in-Residence for Emerging Children's Writer: Associates of the Boston Public Library
Associates of the Boston Public Libary is seeking a Writer-in-Residence
What do fellowship recipients get?
What do fellowship recipients get?
- $20,000 stipend
- Private office space at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square.
- Completed manuscript is added to the BPL’s collection.
- Opportunity to publicly present your manuscript at a fall reading.
- Eligible projects may be fiction, non-fiction, a graphic novel, script, or poetry intended for children or young adults.
- Since this program is intended for emerging authors, applicants should not have already published any books.
- The recipient must work for a minimum of 19 hours per week during the nine-month residency, which runs from October through June.
- Applicants must be able to legally work in the US.
Call for Humorous Essays to Anthology on Surviving Coronavirus Lockdown: The Syndrome Mag
The Syndrome Mag is a non-profit that uses comedy online and in-person to enlighten and educate about gender equality issues such as reproductive rights, pay inequality, and the impact living in a patriarchy has on women’s everyday lives. Last year, we debuted our successful first book, Random Female Syndromes, and we are currently seeking writers to contribute to our second.
What we’re looking for:
Funny Women Surviving Coronavirus Lockdown by Laughing Through It
You’ve laughed. You’ve cried. You’ve stopped wearing a bra and started day-drinking. Now’s the time to start writing.
The Syndrome Mag is curating a book of funny essays about how women across the world are coping with quarantine, social distancing, teleworking, and all the other changes we face because of the COVID-19 crisis. We are looking for hysterical first-person stories and lists on specific issues from a women’s perspective.
What we’re looking for:
- Funny
- A strong viewpoint
- Diversity of women’s voices and perspectives
- Did we mention funny?
Funny Women Surviving Coronavirus Lockdown by Laughing Through It
You’ve laughed. You’ve cried. You’ve stopped wearing a bra and started day-drinking. Now’s the time to start writing.
The Syndrome Mag is curating a book of funny essays about how women across the world are coping with quarantine, social distancing, teleworking, and all the other changes we face because of the COVID-19 crisis. We are looking for hysterical first-person stories and lists on specific issues from a women’s perspective.
We will pay $20 for each essay (800-1200 words) accepted into the book.
Here are some topics to choose from:
Here are some topics to choose from:
- Fashion tips/make-up to go with masks and no pants
- Women on the front lines battling the pandemic
- People of color who are most susceptible to this crisis due to systemic racism
- Lessons in intersectionality from the lockdown
- How women leaders have kicked COVID worldwide
- Pets and/or puppets (non human companionship)
- An older woman’s view in the while "let grandma die” movement
- Politics - where to go from here
- Reproductive rights and access
- Pregnancy and Abortion: To birth or not to birth
Call for Submissions to Anthology on Theme of Spirituality: Mizmor Annual Poetry Anthology
Mizmor Annual Poetry Anthology - Spirituality
Deadline: August 15, 2020
“Spirituality is a broad concept with room for many perspectives. In general, it includes a sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves, and it typically involves a search for meaning in life. As such, it is a universal human experience-something that touches us all…"
No reading fee.
Contributors will receive one free copy mailed to U.S. address, only. Please visit the website for the complete guidelines.
Deadline: August 15, 2020
“Spirituality is a broad concept with room for many perspectives. In general, it includes a sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves, and it typically involves a search for meaning in life. As such, it is a universal human experience-something that touches us all…"
No reading fee.
Contributors will receive one free copy mailed to U.S. address, only. Please visit the website for the complete guidelines.
Call for Submissions: Parhelion
Parhelion Accepting Summer Submissions
Parhelion is always accepting features, including: book reviews, author interviews, articles on writing, literary events, and other related topics. We also run CNF, fiction, flash, and poetry as features—although we typically pull those from the specific category calls.
For more detailed information, please check out our call on Submittable.
Parhelion is always accepting features, including: book reviews, author interviews, articles on writing, literary events, and other related topics. We also run CNF, fiction, flash, and poetry as features—although we typically pull those from the specific category calls.
For more detailed information, please check out our call on Submittable.
Call for Submissions on Theme of Bridges: Aji Magazine
Call for Submissions for Aji Magazine
Deadline: July 15, 2020
Are you building one, burning one, or have you found or forged one over troubled water? Maybe the one you’d always trusted suddenly collapsed like the ancient Inca rope bridge of San Luis Rey; maybe fate was to blame. The theme of Aji’s Fall 2020 issue is bridges. Please send graphic art, photography, poetry, short fiction, and essays on this or any other topic to be considered for publication.
Once the Fall 2020 issue is filled, submissions will close until November 1, 2020.
Deadline: July 15, 2020
Are you building one, burning one, or have you found or forged one over troubled water? Maybe the one you’d always trusted suddenly collapsed like the ancient Inca rope bridge of San Luis Rey; maybe fate was to blame. The theme of Aji’s Fall 2020 issue is bridges. Please send graphic art, photography, poetry, short fiction, and essays on this or any other topic to be considered for publication.
Once the Fall 2020 issue is filled, submissions will close until November 1, 2020.
Call for Submissions on Theme of Mental Illness: The Awakenings Review
Awakenings Review Seeks Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction, Photography, and Art
Established in 2000, The Awakenings Review is an annual lit mag committed to publishing poetry, short story, nonfiction, photography, and art by writers, poets and artists who have a relationship with mental illness: either self, family member, or friend. Our striking hardcopy publication is one of the nation's leading journals of this genre.
Creative endeavors and mental illness have long had a close association. The Awakenings Review publishes works derived from artists', writers’, and poets’ experiences with mental illness, though mental illness need not be the subject of your work.
Visit our website for submission guidelines.
Established in 2000, The Awakenings Review is an annual lit mag committed to publishing poetry, short story, nonfiction, photography, and art by writers, poets and artists who have a relationship with mental illness: either self, family member, or friend. Our striking hardcopy publication is one of the nation's leading journals of this genre.
Creative endeavors and mental illness have long had a close association. The Awakenings Review publishes works derived from artists', writers’, and poets’ experiences with mental illness, though mental illness need not be the subject of your work.
Visit our website for submission guidelines.
Writing Competition: 2020 Rattle Poetry Prize
2020 Rattle Poetry Prize
Deadline: July 15, 2020
The 15th annual Rattle Poetry Prize has grown to $15,000 for a single poem. Ten finalists also receive $200 and publication, and are eligible for the $5,000 Readers' Choice Award.
With an entry fee that is simply a one-year subscription to the magazine ($25.00)—and a runner-up Readers' Choice Award to be chosen by the writers themselves—the Rattle Poetry Prize aims to be one of the most writer-friendly and popular poetry contests around.
Visit our website for the complete guidelines and to read all of the past winners.
Writing Competition: Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize 2020
Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize 2020
Deadline: August 15, 2020
Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize 2020: Judged by Dorianne Laux and Joseph Millar. $1,000 for first place and a letterpress broadside, $500 for second, $250 for third. Top five published in Red Wheelbarrow Literary Magazine. Submit up to 3 original unpublished poems.
$15 entry fee.
Deadline: August 15.
For complete guidelines, go here.
Call for Submissions: Chestnut Review
Chestnut Review Seeks Stubborn Artists of All Types
Submissions accepted year-round.
Chestnut Review (“for stubborn artists”) invites submissions of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, art, and photography. We offer free submissions for poetry (3 poems), flash fiction (less than 1000 words), and art/photography (5 images)
$5 submissions for fiction/nonfiction (less than 4k words), 4-6 poems, or 10 images.
Published artists receive $100 and a copy of the annual anthology of four issues (released each summer).
Notification in less than 30 days or submission fee refunded. We appreciate stories in every genre we publish. All issues free online which illustrates what we have liked, but we are always ready to be surprised by the new!
Submissions accepted year-round.
Chestnut Review (“for stubborn artists”) invites submissions of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, art, and photography. We offer free submissions for poetry (3 poems), flash fiction (less than 1000 words), and art/photography (5 images)
$5 submissions for fiction/nonfiction (less than 4k words), 4-6 poems, or 10 images.
Published artists receive $100 and a copy of the annual anthology of four issues (released each summer).
Notification in less than 30 days or submission fee refunded. We appreciate stories in every genre we publish. All issues free online which illustrates what we have liked, but we are always ready to be surprised by the new!
Saturday, May 9, 2020
Zoom Fiction Workshop: ZYZZYVA
Fiction Workshop with Ingrid Rojas Contreras: July 18th, 2020
Submission deadline: May 22nd, 2020
About this workshop:
As we all adhere to social distancing and sheltering in place in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, ZYZZYVA will continue to offer our Writer's Workshops, in a slightly altered format. These three-hour courses will be conducted over Zoom's conferencing service, and will be limited to five students. Courses will include a craft discussion from the instructor, as well as traditional workshop-style group discussion of the attendees’ submitted work. Following the Workshop, attendees will also be sent a page of feedback on the submitted work from the instructor.
Ingrid Rojas Contreras was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. Her first novel Fruit of the Drunken Tree (Doubleday) is an Indie Next selection, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, and a New York Times editor's choice. Her essays and short stories have appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Buzzfeed, Nylon, and Guernica, among others. Rojas Contreras has received numerous awards and fellowships from Bread Loaf Writer's Conference, VONA, Hedgebrook, The Camargo Foundation, and the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture. She is the book columnist for KQED, the Bay Area's NPR affiliate. She teaches writing at the University of San Francisco, and works with immigrant high school students as part of a San Francisco Arts Commission initiative bringing writers into public schools.
Submission Guidelines: Please submit a fiction manuscript (short story, flash, or novel excerpt) of no more than 2,500 words (roughly 10 pages double-spaced). Make sure it is a manuscript you wish to discuss in the Workshop itself.
The non-refundable application fee is $15. Accepted applicants will be informed by June 5th. If accepted, the fee to attend is $150.
Apply today!
Apply today!
Writing Competition: The Gournay Prize
EXTENDED TO MAY 22ND. The Gournay Prize will select one book length collection of essays each year to receive a cash prize of $1000 and publication in the 21st Century Essays series on Mad Creek Books, an imprint of The Ohio State University Press.
Submission window: March 15-May 22. Please note that all manuscripts submitted to the prize will also be considered for the 21st Century Essays series.
For more information and to submit, visit our website.
Submission window: March 15-May 22. Please note that all manuscripts submitted to the prize will also be considered for the 21st Century Essays series.
- The award is open to all writers for first books of essays. Writers may have published books previously in other genres.
- The award is open to writers in English, whether or not they are citizens of the United States. Translations are not eligible.
- Prior publication of your manuscript as a whole in any format (including electronic or self-published) makes it ineligible. Individual essays that have been previously published may be included in the manuscript. Each submission must include a list of acknowledgments of previously published work (title and magazine/journal/anthology) included in the manuscript.
- Manuscripts may also be under consideration by other publishers, but if a manuscript is accepted for publication elsewhere, the submission should be promptly withdrawn from consideration.
- Authors may submit more than one manuscript to the competition as long as one manuscript or a portion thereof does not duplicate material submitted in another manuscript.
For more information and to submit, visit our website.
Call for Fiction Chapbook Submissions: Wordrunner eChapbooks
Wordrunner eChapbooks Seeks Mini-Fiction Collections
Deadline: June 30, 2020
Two fiction collections will be selected for our fall 2020 e-chapbook series, to be published in August and December, online and as epubs.
Stories may be flash or longer, from 500 up to 5,000 words each. We’d like at least five stories, but no more than 15 (if flash fiction). We will also consider novel excerpts. No genre fiction, please.
Stories by authors who receive Honorable Mentions will be considered for our 2021 themed anthology. See our website for detailed guidelines and Submittable link.
Payment: $100 plus royalties.
Submission fee: $6.
Deadline: June 30, 2020
Two fiction collections will be selected for our fall 2020 e-chapbook series, to be published in August and December, online and as epubs.
Stories may be flash or longer, from 500 up to 5,000 words each. We’d like at least five stories, but no more than 15 (if flash fiction). We will also consider novel excerpts. No genre fiction, please.
Stories by authors who receive Honorable Mentions will be considered for our 2021 themed anthology. See our website for detailed guidelines and Submittable link.
Payment: $100 plus royalties.
Submission fee: $6.
Call for Submissions on Theme of "(Re)new": The Conium Review
The Conium Review Themed Submissions: "(Re)new"
Deadline: June 1, 2020
The Conium Review seeks flash fiction in response to the "(Re)new" theme from May 15th through June 1st, 2020. This theme will be edited by James R. Gapinski, author of the Edge of the Known Bus Line, Messiah Tortoise, and the forthcoming Fruit Rot. If your piece is accepted, it will be published on our website.
Published authors also receive $20, a copy of our latest print issue, and a signed copy of the editor’s latest book.
Send a single unpublished piece up to 1,000 words.
No reading fee.
Full guidelines here.
Deadline: June 1, 2020
The Conium Review seeks flash fiction in response to the "(Re)new" theme from May 15th through June 1st, 2020. This theme will be edited by James R. Gapinski, author of the Edge of the Known Bus Line, Messiah Tortoise, and the forthcoming Fruit Rot. If your piece is accepted, it will be published on our website.
Published authors also receive $20, a copy of our latest print issue, and a signed copy of the editor’s latest book.
Send a single unpublished piece up to 1,000 words.
No reading fee.
Full guidelines here.
Writing Competition: Bacopa Literary Review
Bacopa Literary Review Is Open For Submissions to Their Contest
Deadline: May 31, 2020
Bacopa Literary Review’s 2020 contest is open until midnight May 31, with a $300 First Prize and $100 Second Prize in each of five categories: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry, Humor, Short-Short Fiction.
No Entry Fee.
Specific guidelines on our Submittable page.
Call for Submissions from Writers in Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, California, and Washington: Gold Man Review
Gold Man Review Open for Submissions
Deadline: June 1, 2020
Gold Man Review, a West Coast Journal, is currently looking for submissions in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction for Issue 10. We are open to all topics and themes and love writing that pushes boundaries. If your work is on the unusual side, then we’re probably the journal for you.
If you’re interested in submitting to Gold Man Review, please see our website for full submission guidelines. Please also note that we only accept submissions from writers in Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, California, and Washington.
Deadline: June 1, 2020
Gold Man Review, a West Coast Journal, is currently looking for submissions in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction for Issue 10. We are open to all topics and themes and love writing that pushes boundaries. If your work is on the unusual side, then we’re probably the journal for you.
If you’re interested in submitting to Gold Man Review, please see our website for full submission guidelines. Please also note that we only accept submissions from writers in Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, California, and Washington.
Call for Submissions: little somethings press
little somethings press issue three call for submissions
Deadline: June 15
little somethings press is open for submissions for issue three. We want work that breathes in the space of a page, even as the world falters.
Send your flash memoir and fiction of up to 300 words, your poetry of up to 12 lines, and your visual art to:
littlesomethingspressATgmailDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )
by June 15th. Up to three pieces per submission are welcome. Contributors will receive compensation through a contributor copy. All rights revert back to the author/contributor upon publication.
Call for Submissions: Volney Road Review
Volney Road Review Paying for Prose, Poetry, Art, and Comics
Deadline: August 1, 2020
Volney Road Review is paying $10 per accepted piece. Send us your best prose, poetry, art, photography, and comics for issue 3.1. We will publish digitally on September 1st, 2020.
Deadline: August 1, 2020
Volney Road Review is paying $10 per accepted piece. Send us your best prose, poetry, art, photography, and comics for issue 3.1. We will publish digitally on September 1st, 2020.
Sunday, May 3, 2020
Call for Submissions: Orca
Orca publishes three times a year: the March and November issues are dedicated to literary fiction, and the July issue contains literary speculative work. See the Literary issue guidelines here, and the Lit-Spec guidelines here.
Literary Fiction Deadline: June 1, 2020
Spec Fiction Deadline: October 1, 2020
We are open to all writers, without prejudice or preference. The language of a story is very important to us—we like it to be intelligent and erudite. We prefer work that is high concept: imaginative, thoughtful, even speculative, open to possibilities. Give us deep, diverse characters. Blend genres. Connect seemingly disparate ideas. Keep it entertaining, but make us think.
Orca is fee free for the first 100 submissions each month. After that, Submittable charges us, so we have to charge. If we make a little profit from that, we’ll return it to our published writers as a stipend (currently $25 per published piece).
Call for Book-Length Submissions: Whiskey Tit
Whiskey Tit attempts to restore degradation and degeneracy to the literary arts. We are unwilling to sacrifice intellectual rigour, unrelenting playfulness, and visual beauty, often leading to texts that would otherwise be abandoned in a homogenised literary landscape. In a world gone mad, our refusal to make this sacrifice is an act of civil service and civil disobedience alike, and our work reflects this. We welcome like-minded readers and writers.
Let me elaborate…
I came to publishing in a peculiar way, reading a book serialized straight from the author in email, Jon Frankel’s The Man Who Can’t Die. The gist is, and continues to be, me being absolutely floored by a book, only to discover it won’t get picked up by traditional publishers. This is usually because the works don’t fit neatly into genre/length/media packages. We proudly publish books that are too long or too short, books in which the authors insist upon no back cover blurbs, books whose best genre descriptions might be “comedy of terror,” “memnoir,” “randy seafaring misadventure,” or “low-tech noir.”
We want to hear from you, honestly. If you have a wonderful book in need of a literary wet nurse, please contact us via our website.
Whiskey Tit welcomes submissions of varying length and types, with the understanding that we are a very small team with a wayward focus. We prefer experimental, sui generis, impossible to categorize texts. While our current catalog comprises fiction and memoir, we have art books and poetry in the pipeline and welcome submissions of any medium in line with our mission.
Please review our catalogue and let us know if you think we’re a good fit.
We can not return submissions unless we arrange it with you beforehand.
Our window for submission is open year-round, though we spend January reading things that are not submissions.
Send us your best, via Submittable.
Let me elaborate…
I came to publishing in a peculiar way, reading a book serialized straight from the author in email, Jon Frankel’s The Man Who Can’t Die. The gist is, and continues to be, me being absolutely floored by a book, only to discover it won’t get picked up by traditional publishers. This is usually because the works don’t fit neatly into genre/length/media packages. We proudly publish books that are too long or too short, books in which the authors insist upon no back cover blurbs, books whose best genre descriptions might be “comedy of terror,” “memnoir,” “randy seafaring misadventure,” or “low-tech noir.”
We want to hear from you, honestly. If you have a wonderful book in need of a literary wet nurse, please contact us via our website.
Whiskey Tit welcomes submissions of varying length and types, with the understanding that we are a very small team with a wayward focus. We prefer experimental, sui generis, impossible to categorize texts. While our current catalog comprises fiction and memoir, we have art books and poetry in the pipeline and welcome submissions of any medium in line with our mission.
Please review our catalogue and let us know if you think we’re a good fit.
We can not return submissions unless we arrange it with you beforehand.
Our window for submission is open year-round, though we spend January reading things that are not submissions.
Send us your best, via Submittable.
Call for Submissions to Anthology on Theme of "Essential": The Underground Writers Association of Portland, Maine
UWA Seeks all that is Essential for Anthology
Deadline: Rolling
The Underground Writers Association of Portland Maine seeks poetry, micro fiction, and visual art submissions for Essential, the press' fourth annual anthology. Submitted works should be inspired by one or more of the themes: isolation, disruption, abandon, and what is essential. It is up to the author to define and make the argument for what is essential in times like these. All are welcome to submit; emerging writers are encouraged.
No fee to submit.
Simultaneous submissions and previously published work OK. An optional charity-based reading fee is available for an expedited response.
Full submissions guidelines here.
Deadline: Rolling
The Underground Writers Association of Portland Maine seeks poetry, micro fiction, and visual art submissions for Essential, the press' fourth annual anthology. Submitted works should be inspired by one or more of the themes: isolation, disruption, abandon, and what is essential. It is up to the author to define and make the argument for what is essential in times like these. All are welcome to submit; emerging writers are encouraged.
No fee to submit.
Simultaneous submissions and previously published work OK. An optional charity-based reading fee is available for an expedited response.
Full submissions guidelines here.
Call for Submissions: The Revolution (Relaunch)
The Revolution (Relaunch) Wants Your Creative Activism
Deadline: Rolling
Founded in July of 2019, The Revolution (Relaunch) is a creative resurgence of Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s 1868 publication, The Revolution, which was the official newspaper of the National Women’s Suffrage Association. Like any good 19th century newspaper (or any good 21st century zine), we publish a range of styles—memoir, poetry, cultural criticism, interviews, and profiles featuring activists and grassroots organizations. Our focus is feminism in the broadest sense—in other words, we’re interested in “creative activism” that voices the marginalized and/or criticizes corrupt authority.
Submit one piece of prose under 750 words, three poems, or 5 images to:
therevolutionrelaunchATgmailDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )
Deadline: Rolling
Founded in July of 2019, The Revolution (Relaunch) is a creative resurgence of Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s 1868 publication, The Revolution, which was the official newspaper of the National Women’s Suffrage Association. Like any good 19th century newspaper (or any good 21st century zine), we publish a range of styles—memoir, poetry, cultural criticism, interviews, and profiles featuring activists and grassroots organizations. Our focus is feminism in the broadest sense—in other words, we’re interested in “creative activism” that voices the marginalized and/or criticizes corrupt authority.
Submit one piece of prose under 750 words, three poems, or 5 images to:
therevolutionrelaunchATgmailDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )
Writing Competition: North Street Book Prize for Self-Published Books
North Street Book Prize for Self-Published Books
Deadline: June 30, 2020
6th year. Grand prize of $5,000. Top winner in each category will win $1,000.
Co-sponsored by BookBaby and Carolyn Howard-Johnson. Categories: Mainstream/Literary Fiction, Genre Fiction, Creative Nonfiction & Memoir, Poetry, Children's Picture Book, and Graphic Novel & Memoir. $12,500 in total cash prizes.
Fee: $65 per book.
Final judges: Jendi Reiter and Ellen LaFleche. Submit online or by mail. Winning Writers is one of the "101 Best Websites for Writers" (Writer's Digest). Guidelines here.
Call for Submissions: Mom Egg Review
Mom Egg Review Submissions Open
Mom Egg Review is opening May 1, 2020 for literary submissions on motherhood for our annual print issue. We publish poetry, flash and short fiction, creative prose, and hybrid works (up to 850 words). We also seek mother-themed art. We seek literary works that reflect or focus on any aspect or phase of mothering, from pre-inception to later life.
Early Bird Submissions from May 1 to May 7 (free, up to the Submittable limit). Regular Submissions May 1 to July 15 ($3 fee).
Mom Egg Review is opening May 1, 2020 for literary submissions on motherhood for our annual print issue. We publish poetry, flash and short fiction, creative prose, and hybrid works (up to 850 words). We also seek mother-themed art. We seek literary works that reflect or focus on any aspect or phase of mothering, from pre-inception to later life.
Early Bird Submissions from May 1 to May 7 (free, up to the Submittable limit). Regular Submissions May 1 to July 15 ($3 fee).
Call for Poetry Submissions by Children Under 15: Rattle's Young Poets Anthology
RATTLE SEEKS SUBMISSIONS BY CHILDREN for our annual Young Poets Anthology—poets must be age 15 or younger.
Deadline: November 15.
Children, parents, or teachers may send up to 4 poems using our online submission manager. Visit our website for more details.
Deadline: November 15.
Children, parents, or teachers may send up to 4 poems using our online submission manager. Visit our website for more details.
Writing Competition: American Short Fiction: Halifax Ranch Fiction Prize
Halifax Ranch Fiction Prize
Deadline: June 1, 2020
Entry Fee: $20
Cash Prize: $2,500
A prize of $2,500 and publication in American Short Fiction is given annually for a short story. Using only the online submission system, submit a story of 2,000 to 6,500 words with a $20 entry fee by June 1.
All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Deadline: June 1, 2020
Entry Fee: $20
Cash Prize: $2,500
A prize of $2,500 and publication in American Short Fiction is given annually for a short story. Using only the online submission system, submit a story of 2,000 to 6,500 words with a $20 entry fee by June 1.
All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Writing Competition: Ruminate: Janet B. McCabe Poetry Prize
Janet B. McCabe Poetry Prize
Deadline: May 15, 2020
Entry Fee: $20
Cash Prize: $1,500
A prize of $1,500 and publication in Ruminate is given annually for a single poem.
Katie Peterson will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit up to two poems of no more than 40 lines each with a $20 entry fee, which includes a copy of Ruminate, by May 15. Rachel King, Managing Editor
Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Ruminate, Janet B. McCabe Poetry Prize
1041 North Taft Hill Road
Fort Collins, CO 80521
Deadline: May 15, 2020
Entry Fee: $20
Cash Prize: $1,500
A prize of $1,500 and publication in Ruminate is given annually for a single poem.
Katie Peterson will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit up to two poems of no more than 40 lines each with a $20 entry fee, which includes a copy of Ruminate, by May 15. Rachel King, Managing Editor
Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Ruminate, Janet B. McCabe Poetry Prize
1041 North Taft Hill Road
Fort Collins, CO 80521
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