Monday, May 30, 2022

Writing Competition: Burnside Review Chapbook Competition

SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED MAY 1 TO JUNE 30, 2022

Submit 18-24 pages of poetry, including a list of acknowledgments. Your name and contact information should not appear anywhere in the manuscript.

A $15 entry fee must be paid at the time of submission.

Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let us know immediately if your manuscript has been accepted elsewhere.

The winner will receive $200, plus ten copies of the chapbook.

Results will be announced in November.

We only accept submissions through our online submission manager. Work sent by any other means will not be read.

Submit your work here.

Call for Submissions: Litbop: Art and Literature in the Groove

INFORMATION FOR CONTRIBUTORS

Litbop is published once a year both as a Kindle ebook and as a print-on-demand paperback.
There is currently no money to pay contributors. If your work is accepted, you will receive a PDF copy of the issue in which it appears.
There is no fee to submit, however tips to help with production costs are gratefully accepted through our submission manager DUOSUMA.
Our response time is currently up in the air. We’ll try to be quick, but we’re a fledgling publication, so be patient. Submissions will stay open until we’re swamped.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Now that our first issue is out and about, we’re open for general submissions. Please send us something you’re proud of.
All submissions must be blind. We don’t want to know your name until after we’ve read your work.
We do consider previously published work.
We consider simultaneous submissions, but please notify us immediately if the work is accepted elsewhere. If we accept your piece, withdraw it from consideration elsewhere.

SHORT STORIES AND SHORT-SHORTS
Literary fiction, genre fiction, experimental fiction—we look for writing that engages the reader and has a point.
Who we like—Dybek, Saunders, O’Connor
We’ll read short and long work not exceeding 7,000 words. Please, submit one piece at a time.

POETRY
We are not looking for angst. Existential dread is okay if it’s not overstated.
Extra points for poignant observations about humans’ relationship to the natural world.
Who we like—Oliver, Ferlinghetti, Brautigan.
Submit up to 5 poems with a maximum of 10 pages in one document.

ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY AND COMICS
We love art. We want to publish art. We want art that illuminates.
Submit in .jpg format.

Submission link here.

Call for Reprints from BIPOC Writers to Anthology: EastOver Press

 EastOver Press is accepting short stories for a forthcoming anthology. The anthology will focus exclusively on BIPOC writers who live in or hail from rural or semi-rural locales (in the United States) and whose short stories feature characters living and/or working in rural or semi-rural spaces. 

Submissions should be no more than 25 pages or 7500 words and may include up to three submissions per author or five submissions per editor of a literary journal.

We are only accepting previously published stories at this time, and those stories should have been published in 2020 or 2021. Our payment to authors upon publication of the anthology is $100-$300. 

Send questions to keith@eastoverpress.com

Submit your work here.

Call for Critique Group Instructors: HerStry

Deadline August 1, 2022.

HerStry is searching for writing instructors to teach four to five online critique groups from fall 2022 through spring 2023, with the option to renew their contract after that. HerStry Critique Groups take place online and run for 6 weeks and are comprised of six women at a time. Instructors facilitate weekly meetings and give line by line and developmental edits to each group member throughout the course of the workshop. HerStry does not require an MFA or English degree, but applicants must have teaching and editing experience, preferably in a roundtable workshop setting. Applicants must be familiar with Zoom.

This is a part time, paid, contract position starting in September 2022.

Interested applicants may send resume, cover letter and two references to:

 julia@herstryblg.com

While this is a paying position, we also offer free admission into the Babes Who Write plus any of our workshops, public or private.

Saturday, May 28, 2022

Call for Submissions: Heavy Feather Review

Heavy Feather Review

We're reading for the Vol. 13 Print Issue through July 1, 2022! Select "Print Issue - Vol. 13" under the Topic dropdown to be considered for the print book.

Here, you can submit writing for Heavy Feather Review online features or print issues. Online features are open year-round, and print issues are open during select reading periods. While work is regularly featured online, HFR debuts one print issue a year. At this time, we do NOT accept full-length manuscripts.

For us, “online feature” is a loose term/form, and the topics and form are open to interpretation. The final product can be a traditional essay, poem, short story, list, definition, collage, or whatever you can think up:

The Future:

Posing utopic, apocalyptic, dystopic, or superhero solutions to “The Future.” Writers depict futuristic alternative worlds in politics, environment, gender, religion, sexuality, or ethnography.

Side A

The rule: send ONE standalone poem, essay, story, comic, manifesto, anomaly to “Side A.” Published works appear alongside short-form interviews and, if possible, YouTube audio.

Flavor Town USA

Calling all gluttons, picky eaters, fry cooks, servers: get on the grill with the burnt edges for HFR. Welcome to “Flavor Town USA,” where food writing takes on a whole new spin.

Bad Survivalist

The couple that camps together gets mauled together. Never ask for directions but plead for outdoor sex? Every pool is safe for swimming. You are a bad survivalist; blaze your trail for HFR.

Haunted Passages

An ominous wind circles you in the middle of an isolated woods. Your friends wander into an empty factory, under the cover of dusk, never to be seen again. These are “Haunted Passages,” new features of unearthly delights.

#NoMorePresidents

HFR is invested in supporting and publishing art by the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, Muslim writers, writers of color, female-identifying writers, aging writers, undocumented immigrant writers, survivors of abuse or assault, disabled writers, neurodivergent writers, non-American writers, plus other marginalized groups. White supremacy and other hate is inexcusable, and we wish to counteract and stand against these prevalent attitudes. HFR has reaffirmed its mission to elevate these marginalized groups by initiating a new blog feature, #NoMorePresidents, an online space for these communities to publish new writing.
 
HFR accepts poems, short stories, flash fictions, nonfictions, hybrid works, visual art, etc. We read packets of 3-6 pieces. There are no print guidelines, but we can only print black-and-white art images in our books. JPEG and PNG image files are preferred. Save poetry and prose submissions as one document (doc, docx, pdf). Translations welcome. Questions? Review inquires go to Books Editor Jeff Chon. General correspondence is handled by Jason Teal, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief.
 
Cover letters are encouraged, but not required. Allow 30 days for a response, inquire after 60, although we pride ourselves in responding much sooner. Simultaneous submissions are allowed; notify us immediately if your submitted work has been accepted for publication elsewhere. HFR accepts original work that has not been published elsewhere. Upon acceptance, HFR takes first serial rights to the work. After publication, all rights revert back to the author. Should the accepted work appear elsewhere after its publication in HFR, kindly list HFR as its original publisher. HFR is unable to pay contributors; however, print contributors receive a copy of the issue in which they are published.
 
Check out HFR’s book catalog, publicity list, and buy merch from our Spring store. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
 
Submit your work here.

Call for Submissions: 433

433 General Submissions

We accept general submissions of non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and visual art. We also are now seeking interviews, reviews and criticism for our “Notes” channel (See further guidelines on notes below). We are particular interested in non-fiction at the moment.

The best way to see what we’re looking for is to read the work we’ve published. Our editors are simply looking for work that feels of-the-moment. We can’t tell you what that looks like, but we’ll know it when we see it.

GUIDELINES

Format: Submit all work as word documents, and include a cover letter in the body of your email with a brief 50-word or less third-person bio. Work submitted in the body of email will not be considered. Work submitted without a cover letter will not be considered.

Response Time: We will respond usually within a month, though sometimes it can take longer, and sometimes we can respond as soon as the same day. If you have not heard from us in thirty days, please feel free to nudge us. We are human, after all, and sometimes submissions can fall through the cracks.

Previously published work: We will not consider previously published work.

GENRES

Send all submissions as word documents. If you send in the body of an email, we will not consider it.

Nonfiction: 1,200-word limit, although we love a good very short piece. Submit as word document with title and name in document.

Fiction: We accept short stories up to 2,500 words. We will consider excerpts under our Notes channel (see below) if accompanied by a review or interview.

Poetry: No more than three poems per submission.

Art: Send art and photography submissions as .jpg or png attachments. Max of 10 images.

Simultaneous submissions: are welcome, but please note it in your cover letter and let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere.

Send submissions to:

fourthreethreemag@gmail.com

The 433 Prompt:

Along with out general submissions, we have the 433 prompt. We believe that this has produced work for this site that is less of a gut reaction and more introspective and considered. This is not a requirement for the site.

The Prompt is Simple: Set a timer for four minutes and thirty-three seconds, and then once the time expires, write about what you experienced. What did you hear, smell, see, think, remember, feel? Anything goes, as long as it fit into those four minutes and thirty-three seconds.

We want to hear from writers, nurses, teachers, lawyers, construction workers, mothers, people in incarceration, social workers, service workers, delivery people—everyone. If you have the time to spare, and the time to spare to write about the time you spared, we want to hear from you.

The submission guidelines are the same as for general submissions. 

“Notes” Submissions:

Notes is our new channel for reviews, interviews and criticism. We will consider consider any book, film, music, art or other reviews/criticism/interviews, but we will place a special emphasis and are particularly interested in writing that emerges from within the author’s communities.

For example, we’d love to see an Appalachian response to Hillbilly Elegy; A New Orleanian’s reconsideration of Confederacy of Dunces; A Mexican-American review of Alan Chazaro’s "PiƱata Theory.

Criticism here is seen as distinct from creative nonfiction, but we know this is a strange distinction, and if you submit as criticism or CNF, we won’t mind if it feels more like one or the other.

“Notes” submission guidelines

Please send submissions as a Word document with the title and your name in the document.

Please include a biographical note at the end of your submission (up to 50 words). We’d love to know who you are, what you do, and where you’re writing from.

Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please note it in your cover letter and let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere.

Send submissions to:

fourthreethreemag@gmail.com

Call for Submissions: 10,000 Minds on Fire

We publish previously unpublished fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, hybrid genre writing, and visual art.

Send us your unshared essays, the poems you love that don’t quite “fit”, and the visual experiments that turned your view of the world upside down. If the process of making your work set your heart on fire, we want to read it, we want to see it, and we want to give it a home.

If you’re needing an extra spark, we offer a prompt that contains themes of the upcoming issue to ignite your creativity. You can stay as close to the prompt as you like, you can ignore it completely, or you can engage with it long-distance.

Art is yours for the making.

Submit your work here.

Call for Submissions: The Four Faced Liar

Submissions are now open until June 15th! The Four Faced Liar can't wait to receive your creations, whoever you are and wherever you’re based, whatever your experience. We are looking for work that is engaging, lyrical, humorous, and inspiring. We’d love to see work from people typically under-represented in literary journals.

Previously unpublished work only. 

We accept fiction and creative non-fiction (up to 4000 words); flash fiction (up to 1000 words); poetry (up to 3 pages); visual art (1 piece). Please send as one .doc or .docx attachment using the form provided. 

Send us your work in translation in any category, with permission from the relevant publisher. Please include the original language text alongside. 

Work should be in a readable font; single spaced for poetry and double spaced for fiction. Start each poem on a new page using line breaks. 

We can only accept one submission per person, so please send us what you think is your best work. 

Strong language or content is fine by us, but we have no time for writing that we view as exploitative, abusive, or discriminatory. Please include content warnings where relevant. 

 Please don't include your name on the document as all submissions will be read blind. 

We’re all writers and we all submit simultaneously, so please feel free to do the same. Just let us know if your piece is accepted elsewhere. 

We believe writers and artists should get paid for the work they produce and we are delighted to offer payment of €200 for a short story or CNF piece, €100 for a poem or piece of flash, and €100 for visual art, as well as a copy of the magazine for each contributor.

Upon publication all rights revert to the author. Some work published in the magazine may appear on the website at a later date. You should receive a response within six weeks of the end of the submission window and we strive - where possible - to offer constructive feedback and encouragement.

Submit here.

Monday, May 23, 2022

Writing Fellowship: Rockvale Writers' Colony Language of the Land Poetry Fellowship

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Rockvale Writers' Colony Announces a Fellowship Contest for Poets

Deadline: August 31, 2022

We’ve created a new fellowship opportunity for poets to share their important landscapes and environmental heritage. We’re interested in the natural spaces that have made meaningful marks upon lives, those places from which we cannot be separated no matter how far away we are. We want to know how that land speaks, and most of all, why it matters.

One poet will win a 1-week residency at Rockvale Writers' Colony in College Grove, TN, plus a small stipend for food and travel.

Read the guidelines here: Language of the Land Fellowship.

Application fee is $30.

Writing Competition: Solstice Literary Magazine Annual Literary Contest

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Solstice Literary Magazine Annual Literary Contest

Deadline: June 6, 2022

Solstice's annual writings contests are underway! Submissions are now open, and the contests will run until June 6.

The prizes are: $1,000 Fiction; $500 Stephen Dunn Poetry Prize; $500 Michael Steinberg Nonfiction Prize; and $500 Graphic Lit.

Our judges this year are Jabari Asim (Fiction), TomƔs Q. Morƭn (Poetry), Alysia Abbott (Nonfiction), and Josh Neufeld (Graphic Lit).

The entry fee is $18. Further details are on our Contest Page.

Call for Submissions with a Spiritual Perspective: Vita Poetica Journal

Vita Poetica Journal Seeks Creative Work Explored Through a Spiritual Lens

Deadline: Year-round

The Vita Poetica Journal is an online quarterly publication of creative work explored through a spiritual lens. This may be engaging directly with religious faith or a broader inquiry into meaning and the human experience.

Submissions of fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, essays, and visual art are welcome year-round. Please see our submissions guidelines here.

Call for Submissions: After Dinner Conversation

Your writing can be any genre, and from any perspective.

However, it must spur discussions and require the reader to expand their mind. If you need an example, read “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by the amazing Ursula K. Le Guin. Another way to think of it is this, we are looking for The Trolley Problem in short story form. A great example of something we have published is “The Waiting Room.” As You Wish is a good example of the type of children’s story we publish.

If you think more in movies, think “Ex Machina,” “Blade Runner,” “Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind,” and “Looper.” For TV, think “The Good Place,” “Westworld,” and “Star Trek, TNG. Or, better yet, listen to our podcast!

The point is, we don’t care if it’s sci-fi, fantasy, romance, contemporary women, historical fiction, western, or whatever, but the short story should have a deeper point for a longer discussion. 90% of what we turn down is not because of the quality of the writing, but because it’s simply not the kind of thing we publish.

If you just want the hard stats, we have an acceptance rate around 10% and stories in the 2500-4000 word range seem to do better with our readers.

We do not accept novels, poems, or artwork.

What length are you looking for?

Children’s Stories: Under 1,500 words
Young Adult: Under 3,500 words
Adult: 1,500-7,000* words

What does this pay?

Accepted short stories from unsolicited submissions are $0.01 per word (limit $30).

Do you accept reprints and/or simultaneous submissions?

Yes. Just make sure you are not in violation of any other agreements you signed.
How long will it take to hear back?

We continue to be a victim of our own success and get more and more submissions every month. As such, read/response time is running about 2-3 months. Consider no news, good news. Rejections are easy (and fast). Potential acceptance means going to a larger committee for discussion, and that takes a bit of time. Check/report your submissions on Duotrope.

We also have a “Fast Pass” submission process that gets you priority reading for just $3 and a response in 3-5 business days.

Why are so many of the stories you publish science fiction?

We would love to publish fantasy, biography, western, horror, erotica, etc. We just don’t get many submissions in these genre that fit the “trolley problem” guidelines, but if they did, we would happily publish them.

Do you need readers?

Yes! There is no better way to improve you writing then by reading what other people wrote! We would love to have more volunteer readers! Just email us at:

info@afterdinnerconversation.com 

to learn more.

* For some reason, shorter submissions (2,500-4,500 words) tend to fare best. Anything longer than 5,000 words, and you should assume we will read just the first page or two and start skimming as it’s really rare we will publish something that long.

It’s nothing personal, it’s just that longer submissions tend not to have enough ethical question density and the length comes from being verbose and descriptive rather than adding ideas of substance to the story. That said, this is just the trend we see, it is not a requirement. We have about a 10% acceptance rate.

Email your submission to:

submissions@afterdinnerconversation.com 

with “After Dinner Conversation - Submission” in the Subject Line.  

More information here. 

Call for Submissions: The Westchester Review

We are currently open for submissions in all categories.

Our prose portal (for fiction, nonfiction and plays) will close on June 1 and reopen in the Fall. Please read guidelines below, then send us your best work!

The Westchester Review considers previously unpublished stories, creative nonfiction, poems, and ten-minute plays by established and emerging writers wherever they reside. We exclusively publish online issues now.

We welcome submissions from a diverse range of writers, including voices and perspectives that have historically been underrepresented in the literary sphere. Westchester authors are spotlighted in every issue. Past contributors are welcome to submit again.

FOR ALL SUBMISSIONS

Thank you for considering The Westchester Review as a possible home for your work. Submissions are free. We consider simultaneous submissions, but kindly notify us if a piece has been accepted elsewhere. Please include a cover letter that lists word count along with your name, address, phone number, and email address. If you have a connection to Westchester County, please note it in the applicable field in Submittable.

PROSE (FICTION AND CREATIVE NONFICTION)

Please submit only one piece at a time and wait until you have received a response regarding your submission before submitting more work to us. All fiction and nonfiction submissions must be double-spaced and should be no longer than 5,000 words. We do not publish excerpts from novels unless they are self-standing.

POETRY

We like to publish an eclectic mix of poems in each issue, and we look for carefully crafted poems that use language in unexpected ways. We publish both free verse and poems that adhere to forms. To get a good idea of what we like to publish, be sure to read our online quarterly issues.

Please submit 3-5 poems that represent your best work in one Word .doc or .docx file (please do not submit a .pdf). Use Times New Roman size 12 font and begin each poem on a new page. Do not underline titles or put them in bold.

Remember to proofread your work carefully so that it looks the way you would like it to appear. If your poem(s) require special formatting, we may not be able to accommodate them in our online issues, but we will try our best!

We look forward to reading your work!

PLAYS

We will consider only 10-minute plays. Longer works will not be read.

Submittable link.

Call for Submissions on Theme of "Ghosts & Gossip": Kaleidoscoped Magazine

Kaleidoscoped Magazine Call for Submissions

Ghosts & Gossip

​Reading period open April 1-June 15

While often perceived as unnecessary, unkind, and belittling, gossip can serve as a bonding agent between others, a comradery. Gossip is not idle talk but dendrites branching and connecting as substitute for touch during years of isolation. Commiseration alchemized to solace. Gossip is community. To gossip can provide a healing, one of levity and mirth or of health and intimacy. But gossip is a balm, not a remedy. Loneliness, mourning, and rage haunt in the background of the chatter. Like spectral beings, they re-emerge when we least expect them to. Loved ones pass. Crisis arises. Memories twist and pull in ways we don’t understand. These ghosts decide to stay whether we like it or not.

Ghosts and gossip weave together. Gossip starts as euphoric and sweet entry points for confessions massacring our insides out. Ghosts shake our shoulders for attention. Feed them sacrifices. Gossip gives rise to rumor, becoming a ghost itself.

And so we declare ghosts as genre, gossip as genre. Tell us about your hauntings, your voicemails and saved memos, your ephemera, your fortune cookies and your tarot cards. Gives us your secrets and your safe zones. We are particularly interested in experimental and hybrid works across all mediums: send the almost, the unexplainable, the confessions, the collaged. Send us your poems, your verse, your translations, your drawn, your ballads, your photographs, your tea, and your double scoops with no napkins.

​This issue's conception and call for submissions created by editor Alissa Tu

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

  • Because we encourage cross-genre and undefinable work, we offer two ways of measuring the parameters of your piece: by word count, and alternatively, by the time needed to engage with your piece. We accept submissions that (loosely) fit the parameters below or measures to about 15 minutes of reading/listening/viewing/etc.1-5 poems up to ten pages in length, and/or up to 3000 words of prose (in a single work or combined total).
  • Visual, video, sound, interactive & multi-media: up to 3 works per submission, or up to 15 minutes combined time of engagement.
  • ​Please email your submission to:

 kaleidoscopedmag@gmail.com

In the subject line, include your name and the title of your work. In the body of the email, include your submission file (pdf, doc, or jpg preferred, other formats accepted if necessary to your piece), a brief bio, and an answer to the following question: what does it mean to "be kaleidoscoped”? Please note that each of these elements is required for your submission to be considered.

If you have published in KALEIDOSCOPED MAG before, please wait two years before submitting again. We love you and we thank you for gifting us with your work, and we hope to keep adding many new writers & artists to our collective, growing and ever-shifting.

​​To keep this publication free & accessible, there is no submission fee for sending in your work. However, please consider an optional donation of $3-$10 to the local San Diego organization Native Like Water, whose aim is to "prepare Indigenous youth and adult volunteers in science, outdoor education, conservation, composition, wellness, and cultural self-exploration." Find more information about this organization at https://www.nativelikewater.org.

We are excited to announce that with the support of the UCSD Arts & Humanities Award we are able to offer each contributor selected for our second issue a payment of $20.

UC San Diego is situated on the unceded territory of the Kumeyaay nation.

Writing Competition for Older Poets: Off the Grid Poetry Prize

The Off the Grid Poetry Prize

The Off the Grid Prize continues into its tenth year, recognizing the work of older poets and highlighting important contemporary voices in American poetry. We are looking for work by poets over sixty, ripened in craft and vision, and sufficiently sprightly to promote their work through readings and networks.

Garrett Hongo will judge this year’s contest.

2023 Contest Submission Guidelines

1. The competition is open only to poets aged 60 years or older.

2. Submissions will be open from May 1 to August 31, 2022. The winner will be announced in December of 2022.

3. The winner will receive $1,000 and publication. The entry fee is $25.

4. Manuscripts must be typed, paginated, and at least 50 pages in length. Manuscripts must have a table of contents and include a list of acknowledgments for poems previously published. There should be one title page with the book title only. All contact information (name, address, phone, email) should be included in the cover letter submitted via Submittable.

5. Individual poems from the manuscript may have been previously published in magazines, anthologies, or chapbooks of less than 35 pages, but the collection as a whole must be unpublished. Previously self-published books are not eligible.

6. We are no longer accepting paper submissions. Please submit online via Submittable.

7. If, in our judgment, no submission is worthy of publication, the press reserves the right not to publish any book.

8. Send inquiries to info@grid-books.org.

 

Writing Competition: Bellevue Literary Review Prizes

The BLR Prizes award outstanding writing related to themes of health, healing, illness, the mind, and the body. Winners are published in the spring issue of BLR. For each genre, first prize is $1000 and honorable mention is $250. Submit your best poetry, fiction and nonfiction from March 1 to July 1.

Goldenberg Prize for Fiction
Felice Buckvar Prize for Nonfiction
John & Eileen Allman Prize for Poetry

Fiction: We seek character-driven fiction with original voices and strong settings. We do not publish genre fiction (romance, sci-fi, horror). We have only occasionally published flash fiction. While we are always interested in creative explorations in style, we do lean toward classic short stories.


Nonfiction: We are looking for essays that reach beyond the standard ‘illness narrative’ to develop a topic in an engaging and original manner. Incorporate engaging and creative analysis that allows anecdotes to serve a larger purpose. (Please, no academic discourses or works with footnotes.)

 
Poetry: We encourage poems that are accessible to a wide audience. Characteristics we look for are vivid writing, strong narrative, and rendering the familiar new. We encourage you to peruse back issues in our archive to get a sense of our ethos.

Guidelines

  • Submissions for the 2023 BLR Prizes will be accepted from March 1 to July 1, 2022.
  • We happily consider simultaneous submissions, but please inform us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
  • Manuscripts can only be accepted electronically via Submittable.
  • Fiction/nonfiction word max is 5,000 words (though most of our published prose is in the range of 2,000-4,000 words.) Please submit no more than three poems. Each poem should be on a separate page within a single document.
  • Do not put your name or other identifying information on the manuscript document (or in the filename) so that the submissions can be read blindly. No cover letter needed.
  • Students/friends/colleagues/relations of a judge are not permitted to enter submissions to that judge’s genre.
  • There is a $20 fee per contest submission. Contest submission qualifies you for a 50% discount on a BLR subscription. (The fee helps BLR fund the contest and the journal, but if it’s a hardship for you, please contact us.)
  • Winners from each genre (poetry, fiction, nonfiction) receive $1000. Honorable mentions from each genre receive $250.
  • All contest submissions are automatically considered for general publication as well.
  • All submissions must be of previously unpublished work.* BLR acquires First North American rights, and the right to reprint in anthologies and online. After publication, all other rights revert to the author and the work may be reprinted as long as appropriate acknowledgement to BLR is made.
  • (*For BLR, “published work” means published in print in North America, or published on the Internet in electronic journals, e-zines, academic websites, and other “public” or “official” websites. Works posted on personal blogs or websites will be considered on a case-by-case basis. We ask that authors be honest about web postings. If a work is discovered to have been posted or published elsewhere–and not openly acknowledged by the author in advance–we will remove it from consideration.)

More information and submission links here.

Monday, May 16, 2022

Call for Submissions: One Story

What kinds of stories is One Story looking for? One Story is seeking literary fiction. Because of our format, we can only accept stories between 3,000 and 8,000 words. They can be any style and on any subject as long as they are good. We are looking for stories that leave readers feeling satisfied and are strong enough to stand alone.

Does One Story pay? Yes. One Story pays $500 and 25 contributors copies for First Serial North American rights. All rights will revert to the author following publication.

Deadline: May 31, 2022

Does One Story accept previously published material? No. One Story is looking for previously unpublished material. However, if a story has been published in print outside of North America, it will be considered. Stories previously published online—on blogs, personal websites, online literary magazines, or other forums—will not be accepted.

Does One Story accept simultaneous submissions? Yes, but please withdraw your submission immediately if your submission is accepted for publication elsewhere.

What file types can I submit? We accept PDF, RTF, DOC, and DOCX files. Please include the story title and all writer contact info on the first page of the submitted file.

Will you send me comments on my story? No. One Story receives close to 200 submissions each week. Unfortunately, we do not have time to comment on individual stories.

Can I change the story I submitted with an updated draft? We strongly prefer that you only send us final drafts, but if you must upload a new version, please withdraw your submission through Submittable and resubmit.

Can I send a revision of a story that was previously rejected? No. Please send us new work. Revisions of previously rejected stories will not be considered and will be automatically declined.

Do you consider translations? Yes. Please include the name of the original author and language, as well as the name of the translator on the first page of your submission.

How soon can I expect to hear about my submission? We do our very best to respond to submissions within 3 months after they are received. If you don’t hear back from us within that time, please be patient! It is our goal to make sure that each submission gets a good read.

Can I submit the same story to One Story and One Teen Story? No. One Story and One Teen Story are looking for different kinds of stories. For more information on submitting to One Teen Story, go here.

Can I still access submissions sent in through your old system, Submission Manager? Yes. You can access your Submission Manager submissions at any time by logging into your One Story account.

Submit your work here.

Writing Competition: Prairie Schooner Nonfiction Contest

Our annual summer nonfiction contest opens May 15 to all types of creative nonfiction essays up to 5,000 words.

Deadline: Aug. 1, 2022

The winner will receive $500 and publication in our Spring 2023 issue.

This year's guest judge is Jerald Walker who is the author of The World in Flames: A Black Boyhood in a White Supremacist Doomsday Cult; Street Shadows: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion, and Redemption, recipient of the PEN/New England Award for Nonfiction; and, How to Make a Slave and Other Essays, a Finalist for the National Book Award. His work has appeared in publications such as The Harvard Review, Creative Nonfiction, The Iowa Review, and Mother Jones,and it has been widely anthologized, including five times in The Best American Essays series and in the Pushcart Prizes. A recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the James A. Michener Foundation, Walker is a Professor of Creative Writing and African American Literature at Emerson College.

Entries will consist of three parts: a cover letter, the essay manuscript, and the entry fee.

Cover Letter: In the cover letter, include the submission's title and your contact information, including e-mail address, phone number, and mailing address. Your name and contact info must not appear anywhere within the manuscript itself (double-check headers and footers!).

Essay Manuscript: The contest is open to all types of creative nonfiction essays up to 5,000 words. We're interested in reading imaginative essays of general interest. (Scholarly articles requiring footnote references should be submitted to journals of literary scholarship.) Manuscripts should be double-spaced and use a standard font, and, again, the submitter's name and contact info should not appear within the manuscript itself.

Entry Fee: Each submission must be accompanied by the $20.00 fee, which includes a copy of the Spring 2023 issue of the Schooner, in which the winning essay will appear. 

Multiple submissions are welcome and encouraged, but a separate entry fee must accompany each submission.

Submit your work here.

This contest is administered anonymously. Editorial Assistants, Assistant Nonfiction Editors, the Guest Judge, and the Editor in Chief of the Schooner are not privy to submitters' identifying information.

If you have a problem with your submission, please write to Siwar Masannat, Managing Editor, at: 

prairieschooner@unl.edu.

Writing Competition: Santa Fe Writers Project Literary Awards

The 2022 Literary Awards Program will run from December 15th, 2021-July 18th, 2022. Submissions are received via Submittable. We publish in English, but the contest is open to writers from anywhere in the world.

  • The grand prize will be $1500. Two runner ups will be selected, each receiving $500.
  • The entry fee is $30.
  • We are seeking fiction and creative nonfiction of every genre. We have global distribution and publish authors from all around the world.
  • Simultaneous submissions are accepted. Unpublished work, self-published work, and work from small or micro-presses that has not received marketing support will be eligible.
  • Due to COVID restrictions and shipping concerns, we are asking that all entries be submitted electronically. If you are unable to use Submittable, then please contact us for assistance.
  • We are offering an optional “pay it forward” program on the entry form. 100% of these funds will be used for authors who demonstrate that they cannot afford the entry fee and will be raffled off monthly in the form of refunds and free entries to randomly selected applicants.

Call for Submissions: StepAway Magazine

StepAway Magazine seeks Writing that Evokes Walking through Imaginary Worlds

Deadline: June 30, 2022

In celebration of science fiction, fantasy, and all other genres of speculative fiction, we ask writers to lead us through the landscapes of unknown planets, parallel dimensions, dystopian cityspaces, elven villages, and beyond. The guest editor for this special issue will be novelist and poet Caroline Hardaker, author of Composite Creatures, which was named as one of The Washington Post’s top science fiction novels of 2021.

Submission deadline: Thursday, 30th June 2022.

Further information can be found here.

Call for Submissions on Theme of "Dreamland": Planisphere Quarterly

Planisphere Q Seeks Flash Fiction, Vignettes, Character Sketches, and Poetry

Deadline: June 15, 2022

PQ is now open for submissions on the theme “Dreamland.” Seeking all genres but would like to see more speculative fiction and speculative poetry: weird, horror, science fiction, fantasy, or any mash-up or sub-genre.

See guidelines for full details.

Submissions close June 15, 2022 for Summer Quarter Issue Six.

Writing Competition: 2022 Marguerite McGlinn Fiction Contest

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2022 Marguerite McGlinn Fiction Contest, First Place: $2,500!

Deadline: June 15, 2022

Our contest this year will be judged by author and critic, Camille Acker. We’re looking for previously unpublished fiction of up to 8,000 words.

The deadline is June 15, 2022.

First place is $2,500 with an invitation to an awards dinner. Second place $750. Third place $500. The winning stories will be published in the Fall print issue of Philadelphia Stories, with all entrants receiving a complimentary copy. All authors currently residing in the United States are eligible, a Philadelphia connection is not necessary. We especially encourage submissions by writers from underrepresented groups and backgrounds.

There is a $15 reading fee for each story submitted.

We can’t wait to read your stories! You may submit your work on our website.

Call for Book Submissions on Theme of "Social Justice": Actual Left

Actual Left Seeks Fiction, Nonfiction Focusing on Social Justice

Deadline: Year-round

Actual Left Publications (formerly Xi Draconis Books) is seeking novels, novellas, and memoirs that focus on social justice issues. Our previous publications have dealt with apartheid in Israel, the need for political commitment in everyday life, the rise of Trump, the heinously unjust healthcare system in the United States, and the problems inherent in US criminal justice practices. So, if you feel you have a work that deals with capitalist hegemony, racism, climate change, misogyny, or any other social justice problem, consider submitting.

For more info, head here.

Writing Competition: The Francine Ringold Awards for New Writers

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The Francine Ringold Awards for New Writers: $500 Prizes

Deadline: July 15, 2022

Submissions are open for Nimrod’s Francine Ringold Awards for New Writers.

The Ringold Awards offer prizes of $500 and publication for fiction and poetry. They are open only to writers with no more than two previous publication credits in their genre. 

For poetry, submit up to five pages; for fiction, one short story, 5,000 words maximum. The contest is open internationally. All honorable mentions will also be published and paid at our normal rates.

Manuscripts may be mailed or submitted online: nimrodjournal.submittable.com/submit.

Each entry must be accompanied by a $13.70 entry fee (include Submittable fee).

Visit Nimrod's website for complete rules

Call for Submissions: Book of Matches

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Book of Matches Seeks Submissions

Deadline: August 19, 2022

In an age dominated by our worst tendencies for tribalism, it's more important than ever to celebrate the best in humanity through the very real magic of words. Book of Matches is always interested in protest—interested in protest against the unknowing alive in human existence, in protest against the knowing, too. In essence, Book of Matches celebrates what burns in the dark, and too the assurance of how little this illuminates before going out. Send your most meaningful lies, real lives, and poetry of both that we may see a bit more clearly the stormy seas around us all. 

Monday, May 9, 2022

Call for Submissions: The Bluebird Word

Thank you for your interest in publishing work with The Bluebird Word. We are a newly launched online journal that publishes poems, flash essays and flash fiction. We welcome submissions year-round. We publish monthly compilations of new writing which are featured throughout the month. New work is posted frequently, averaging three to four times a week.

We will use Submittable for submissions; however, if there is not an open call, you may send your submission to:

 thebluebirdword@gmail.com

according to our guidelines. 

We are not charging a fee for submissions during our launch phase.
 

What we are looking for:

We are especially interested in supporting and showcasing work from new and emerging writers (emerging defined as writers with fewer than five publications across all genres). That said, we seek submissions from writers across all cultural backgrounds and experience levels. 

  • Poetry – up to three (3) poems per submission
  • Flash nonfiction – up to 1,000 words
  • Flash fiction – up to 1,000 words
More information and submission link here.

Writing Competition: The Writer's Center First Novel Prize

Submissions for the 2022 Prize are OPEN! Please carefully read the details below.

Each year, The Writer’s Center awards a $3,000 check to the author of an exceptional first novel published in the previous calendar year. Conceived and funded by former board member Neal P. Gillen, the McLaughlin-Esstman-Stearns Prize honors three dedicated writers and members of The Writer’s Center faculty—the late Ann McLaughlin, Barbara Esstman, and Lynn Stearns—each of whom unselfishly nourish and inspire students and fellow writers.

Previous winners: Jasmine Darznik for Song of a Captive Bird (2019), Kayla Rae Whitaker for The Animators (2018), Sheila Martin for The Coney Island Book of the Dead (2017), Nadine Darling for It Came From Beyond! (2016), Bret Anthony Johnston for Remember Me Like This (2015), Raoul Wientzen for The Assembler of Parts (2014), Karen Thompson for Walker for The Age of Miracles (2013), Ismet Prcic for Shards (2012) Heidi Durrow for The Girl Who Fell From the Sky (2011).

Eligibility and Requirements


1) All first novels published in print in 2021 are eligible, including those published by major and independent presses. Only American authors publishing in English are eligible. Non-eligible books include: short story collections, flash fiction, memoirs, biographies, and books published solely in electronic format.
2) Publishers (or authors) must submit three copies of their published novel along with a contact cover sheet indicating name, address, phone number, and e-mail address (no cover letter required). No galley proofs will be accepted.
3) Following the judging process, books will not be returned. Writer’s Center staff, board, and workshop leaders may not enter.

Deadline

All submissions must be received at the Center by May 31, 2022.

More information and submission link here.

Call for Submissions: Aji Magazine

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Aji Submissions Open for Fall 2022 Issue

Deadline: Rolling

Silence is golden . . . unless, as Paul Simon wrote in his famous song, it destroys honest, creative expression of our deepest, most essential truths. Sometimes, silence is best; other times, it’s a deep, dry arroyo in a desert where no rain has fallen for too long, where nothing can thrive. Want to be heard?

Send us your graphic art, photography, poetry, short fiction, and essays. Work on this and any other topic will be considered for publication.

Once the Fall 2022 issue is filled, submissions will close until November 1, 2022. More information here.

Writing Competition: Baltimore Review Summer Contest--Micro Lit

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Baltimore Review Summer Contest - Micro Lit

Deadline: May 31, 2022

Baltimore Review Summer Contest – Micro Lit. Miniature. Mighty. Magical. What can you do with 400 words or less? We want to read your micro-length work. How you define your micro is up to you. Fiction, creative nonfiction, prose poem—no need to categorize your work. We're reading them all in one category—Micro Lit.

First place: $500. Second place: $300. Third place: $200. All entries considered for publication, with payment for accepted work at our regular rate.

$8 contest fee. Final judge: Beth Ann Fennelly

 Deadline: May 31. Visit our site, enjoy, and submit your work: www.baltimorereview.org.

Call for Submissions: Red Tree Review

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Red Tree Review Now Accepting Poetry Submissions

Deadline: Year-round

Red Tree Review is currently seeking poetry submissions for its second issue. All themes, topics, and forms are equally welcome, though submitters are encouraged to read the debut issue before sharing their work. RTR is especially fond of poems that surprise, harrow, and awe. Submissions are always free. 

Writing Competition: New American Fiction Prize

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2022 New American Fiction Prize

Deadline: June 15, 2022

Winner receives publication contract including $1,500, 25 copies, and promotional support. 

Final judge is WEIKE WANG, author of Joan Is Okay (Random House 2022) and Chemistry (Knopf 2017).

All full-length fiction manuscripts are welcome, including novels, novellas, collections of stories, flash fiction, short-shorts, and linked collections. Full-length fiction manuscripts tend to be at least 30,000 words. There is no maximum length. To submit, go here.

Entry fee: $25.

Call for Submissions on Theme of "Connection/Community": redrosethorns magazine

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redrosethorns magazine Seeks Writers and Artists for Magazine Submission

Deadline: June 30, 2022

redrosethorns annual magazine is seeking unpublished writing pieces and art based around our publication theme in any genre and any style. This year's theme is “Connection/Community.” Inspired by the feminist conscious raising movement, we wanted to create a platform where folks could share their stories and we could showcase the actual diversity and realities we live in. Each year we select a theme and encourage others to share their interpretation of this through art or writings. Along with our submissions, our magazine will also feature interviews, quotes and fun facts about our theme.

Call for Submmissions: L'Esprit Literary Review

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Celebrate Bloomsday by Sending Your Work to L’Esprit Literary Review

Deadline: June 16, 2022

L’Esprit Literary Review seeks submissions for Bloomsday 2022! Send us work inspired by or in the spirit of Ulysses, Joyce, and/or Modernist and experimental writing. We accept stories, CNF, critical essays, and novel excerpts. At L’Esprit we publish work celebrating and exploring the authentic rendering of consciousness in fiction, and anything written in the fearless, risk-adept spirit of the High Modernist revolutionary tradition.

We are currently open for general submissions, and all pieces will also be considered for publication in Issue One. We plan to publish a special commemorative issue on Bloomsday; send in your work today! 

Sunday, May 1, 2022

Call for Submissions: Wood Cat Review

Wood Cat Review is a literary journal featuring new and emerging writers and poets whose work captures the spirit and experience of the natural world. The journal features original work about the outdoors, the rural experience, and environmental issues from artists who offer clear views from the wild.

We are looking for artists and writers whose lives and passions begin in the mountains, forests, or along the open road. From Cascadia to Acadia, Voyageurs to Big Bend, the moorlands, the highlands, the never-never, and all the life in between, yours are voices which speak to travel and adventure, triumph and disaster, challenge and hope, love and loss. Tell us about your relationship with the natural world. Good, bad, or conflicted, we want to hear your voice.

***We are not accepting submissions for our print journal at this time. Feel free to submit your work for online publication.***

***We will be accepting submissions for our Spring 2023 issue later this year. Announced via Instagram and our Mailing List.***

General Guidelines:

​ ● We accept submissions of flash fiction, short fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and artwork.

● We accept English language submissions from anywhere in the wild world.

● All submissions must be original, unpublished works.

● We accept multiple submissions from the same author.

● We accept simultaneous submissions, but notify us if your work is selected for publication elsewhere.

More information and submittal portal here.

Call for Submissions: Sourcebooks Horror

We are actively acquiring agented and unagented Horror fiction including Own Voices, marginalized voices, inclusive and diverse stories. We’re looking for strong writers of all ethnicities, races, sexualities, gender identities, abilities and ages, whose stories have something fresh to offer in the Horror genre.​

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS 

  • completed manuscript at 80,000 to 100,000 words
  • we accept email submissions as WORD attachments
  • always include a 1-3 page synopsis (including the ending)
  • a short query letter within the body of the email
  • if you have a track record, please include your sales history
  • please allow 8-12 weeks for response


HOW TO SUBMIT
 

A full submission should be emailed to:

horror@sourcebooks.com 

and should include the following:

  • A query letter with: written within the body of the email
  • title and word count of proposed book
  • short (1-2 paragraph) overview of book
  • brief bio of author including previous books published (including pseudonyms), sales history (number of books sold to readers, not to publishers), awards and contests won. If you are a debut, please mention this


A full synopsis: attached as a WORD document

  • 1-3 pages
  • including key plot details and the ending
  • a header or footer on each page that includes: book title, page number, author or agent name, email address

A complete manuscript:

  • attached as a WORD document
  • a header or footer on each page that includes: book title, page number, author or agent name, and email address

Please send submissions by email to:

horror@sourcebooks.com

For more information, visit our website.

 

Call for Submissions: Uncanny Magazine

Uncanny Magazine is open to Novella (17,500 to 40,000 words) submissions from May 1 to May 15. We will be opening to Short Story (750-6000 words) submissions from May 16 to May 30. We are closed to all other submissions.

Please follow us on social media or sign up for our newsletter to get all submission updates.

Editors-in-Chief: Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas

Uncanny Magazine is seeking passionate, diverse SF/F fiction and poetry from writers from every conceivable background. We want intricate, experimental stories and poems with gorgeous prose, verve, and imagination that elicit strong emotions and challenge beliefs. Uncanny believes there’s still plenty of room in the genre for tales that make you feel.

Uncanny Magazine is a Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) Qualifying Professional Market.

Fiction Guidelines 

Uncanny is looking for original, unpublished speculative fiction stories between 750-6000 words. Payment is $.10 per word (including audio rights). We will reject any story that doesn’t follow our guidelines and procedures. You may not resubmit a rejected story. If you aren’t sure if your story counts as unpublished, please query us.

For more information and to submit, please go here.

Call for Submissions: Tin House Publications

Three times per year, Tin House offers a two-day submission period for writers to submit their work. Eligible writers must not currently have an agent, and must not have previously published a book (chapbooks okay). Per our schedule below, we accept works of fiction, literary nonfiction, and poetry, both originally in English and in translation (please only submit translation projects which the translator has already been granted formal permission to translate), and ask that you do not send us a project unless you have a completed draft.

In particular, we are looking to engage with work by writers from historically underrepresented communities, including—but not limited to—those who are Black, Indigenous, POC, disabled, neurodivergent, trans and LGBTQIA+, debuting after 40, and without an MFA.

SUBMIT:

From May 7th at 12:01 a.m. PT to May 8th at 11:59 p.m. PT, our Submittable link will be live for debut poetry collection, debut essay collection, and debut short story collection submissions.

 
GUIDELINES

For May’s submission period, we will be accepting debut poetry collections, debut essay collections, and debut short story collections; they can be originally in English and in translation (please only submit translation projects which the translator has already been granted formal permission to translate). As mentioned above, we ask that you do not send us a project unless you have a completed draft of the full manuscript available upon request.

Note that writers may submit only once during each submissions period, and that a schedule for other submissions periods is available above. Eligible writers must not currently have an agent, and must not have previously published a book (chapbooks okay).

For Poetry Collections

Please upload the first 20 pages of the poetry collection in a PDF or Word document. No more than one poem per page. We kindly request that you do not send any additional material beyond the first 20 pages, and we will contact you if we are interested in seeing more. You will also be asked in the submission form to provide a short bio and a one-paragraph project overview that describes your manuscript.

For Essay Collections and Short Story Collections

Please upload the first essay or short story of your collection in a PDF or Word document. If you are including graphic work, please upload as a PDF in 150 dpi. We kindly request that you do not send any additional material beyond a first essay or short story, and we will contact you if we are interested in seeing more. You will also be asked to provide a short bio and a one-paragraph project overview that describes your manuscript in the submission form.

For more information and to submit, go here.

 

Writing Competition: Concrete Wolf 2022 Chapbook Competition

2022 Chapbook Contest [Now Open!]

Submission Deadline: July 30, 2022

Prize: 100 Copies of a perfect-bound chapbook

Reading Fee: $10.

Final Judge: Lana Hechtman Ayers [Lana's web site]

Submission Guidelines

We prefer chapbooks that have a theme, either obvious (i.e. chapbook about a divorce) or understated (i.e. all the poems mention the color blue). We like a collection that feels more like a whole than a sampling of work. We have no preference as to formal or free verse.

Up to 40 pages of poetry, plus a table of contents and acknowledgements (if applicable).

Please number all your pages.

Please do not include any identifying information in the manuscript.

All entries must be submitted online via Submittable.

Writing Competition: Blue Lynx Prize for Poetry

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Submit to the 2022 Blue Lynx Prize for Poetry

Deadline: June 15, 2022

Lynx House Press seeks submissions of full-length poetry manuscripts for the annual Blue Lynx Prize for Poetry.

The winner will receive $2,000 and publication. Entries must be at least 48 pages in length.

The fee for submitting is $28.

Previous judges include James Tate, Yusef Komunyakaa, Dorianne Laux, Dara Wier, Melissa Kwasny, and Robert Wrigley.

Call for Baseball-Themed Submissions: The Twin Bill

The Twin Bill Seeks Baseball Fiction, CNF, Poetry, and Art

Deadline: July 1, 2022

Submissions are open until July 1 for the All-Star Game issue of The Twin Bill, an online literary baseball journal. We seek work that goes beyond the events in a game and tells unexpected stories using baseball as a framework. Writers of all backgrounds and experience levels are encouraged to submit.

We pay $5 for poems, $10 for essays, and $20 for short stories. If you are interested in illustrating our pieces, please let us know. There is no submission fee. For more info, go here

Call for Submissions from Writers in Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, California, and Washington: Gold Man Review

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Gold Man Review Open for Submissions

Deadline: June 2, 2022

Gold Man Review, a West Coast Journal, is currently looking for submissions in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction for Issue 12. 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: Parhelion Literary

Parhelion Literary Call for Submissions

Deadline: May 31, 2022

Parhelion is now accepting poetry, fiction, flash, and creative nonfiction submissions through May 31st for our Summer 2022 Issue. We accept features on a rolling basis throughout the year (author interviews, book reviews, and content centered around writing).