Call for Submissions: After Happy Hour

To limit editor and reader bias, we read all submissions blind. To this end, we ask submitters to remove their name and contact information from the document itself.

We are not opposed to sex, violence, or profanity when they are necessary to the story—we’re fans of all three, in fact. Having said that, we will not accept any work that contains hateful or discriminatory content, including racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia. Gratuitous sex and violence will probably get you rejected, too.

Use standard manuscript format (12-point Serif font, standard margins and spacing). It’s not like we’ll reject you for a bad font (probably) but it makes it easier to read, and that makes us happy. The exception is poetry that uses non-standard formatting for stylistic reasons. Prose writers have no excuse.

We accept submissions only through Submittable. Submissions sent to our e-mail will be deleted unread.

We accept and encourage simultaneous submissions. All we ask is that you be a good literary citizen and withdraw your submission through Submittable if it’s accepted elsewhere (if you’re withdrawing part of a submission, you can use the note feature or send us an e-mail). It is also expected that you’ll withdraw your submission from consideration by other journals if After Happy Hour accepts it.

Please send only one submission per category at a time. We’ll happily consider submissions in multiple categories from the same author (e.g. a poem and a story).

If you work in mixed genres (hybrid poetry/fiction, illustrated stories, etc.) submit the work in the category that seems to fit the best, and we'll figure it out.

We do not accept translations, or scholarly essays.

Our response time is generally less than 6 weeks, but we are humans (mostly) and have been known to fall behind. If you haven’t heard from us in 3 months or more, you can send an e-mail and give us a nudge. You can also check on the status of your submission at any time by logging into your Submittable account.

Accepted submissions may be edited for grammar. All changes are sent to the author for approval before publication.

We acquire first publishing rights and electronic archive rights. All rights revert to the author following the work's publication in After Happy Hour you can re-publish and anthologize your work at will. Content can be removed from the website on request, but cannot be removed from the the issue in which it was published. 

SPECIAL NOTE: STARTING WITH ISSUE 20, AFTER HAPPY HOUR WILL BE OFFERING A SMALL HONORARIUM AS PAYMENT FOR ALL OF OUR CONTRIBUTORS

WE WILL ALSO BE OFFERING A TIP-JAR OPTION FOR EXPEDITED RESPONSES

Complete guidelines and submission link here. 

Call for Submissions: Invisible City

Submit work that encourages us to see the world from new perspectives and different angles, ones that we may not have previously considered or imagined. 

We open for submissions in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art on March 16th, 2023. We look forward to reading your work then. Please acquaint yourself with our guidelines below. We are now a paying market and can offer our writers, poets, and artists a $20 honorarium per accepted work.

Our Issue 7 submission period is as follows:
Fiction - 03/16/23 to 04/16/23
Poetry - 03/16/23 to 04/16/23
Non-Fiction - 03/16/23 to 07/16/23
Visual Art - 03/16/23 to 8/16/23

General Guidelines

• We only consider previously unpublished works. No exceptions. Thank you.

• We do not accept submissions via email or postal service. You can submit your work to us through our submission manager. If you run into any technical difficulties in uploading your submission, please contact us at invisiblecity@usfca.edu.

• We do accept simultaneous submissions. However, we ask that you notify us as soon as possible if your work is accepted elsewhere.

• We read prose pieces up to 5,000 words. Flash is welcome; for regular issue submissions you may submit up to three flash pieces (less than 1,000 words each) in a single document.

• If you’re submitting poetry, please submit to us no more than three poems. The best things come in threes: Olympic medals, wishes, Cerberus heads.

• At this time we do not accept novel excerpts, unless they function as standalone stories.

• We ask that if your work is accepted to please wait three reading cycles before submitting again. For example, if your work is accepted in the Spring 2020 cycle, you will be eligible for Spring 2022 submissions. This waiting period allows us to best honor our mission of giving space to new voices.

• For visual art: at the moment, there is no waiting period for visual art. We will consider submissions from artists who were published in recent issues. Please submit your art in either a .pdf or .jpg file format. If you would like to submit multiple pieces for consideration, you may upload a .zip file or include a link to a portfolio.

• We do not accept work (other than visual art) from current students at the University of San Francisco. Alumni may submit work.

• Please include content warnings when applicable.

Submit your work here.

Writing Competition: New Millennium Awards

POETRY • FICTION • FLASH FICTION • NONFICTION

$4,000 IN AWARDS + PUBLICATION (in print and online)

Deadline: June 30, 2023

PRIZES

First Place in each category receives a $1000 cash prize, a certificate to document the success, publication online and in print, in New Millennium Writings, and two complimentary copies.
Select Finalists, and all Poetry Finalists, will be published in New Millennium Writings (online and in print) and receive two complimentary copies.

 

GUIDELINES

• No restrictions on style or subject matter.

• Entrant retains copyright ownership of work.

• Multiple and simultaneous submissions welcome.

• Previously published works accepted if: Print circulation was under 5,000, or the work was published online only.

• Fiction (all types welcome) - 7,499 words or less

• Nonfiction (all types welcome) - 7,499 words or less

• Flash Fiction (aka: Short-Short Fiction) - 1,000 words or less

• Poetry - each entry may include three poems, up to five pages total.

Anonymous Judging: Submission file should contain only the title and text of the story, essay, or poem(s). Cover letters are optional and may be uploaded separately.
For mail/postal submissions click here for instructions.

 

Submit your work (or postmark) by June 30, 2023.

ENTRY FEES AND MULTIPLE ENTRY SUPPORT

1 Entry - $20 (For multiple entries, please see the information on our website.)

Note: Poetry may include up to three poems per Entry.

 

Please visit our website for more information and to enter.

Call for Submissions: Sublunary Review

We welcome poetry, short story and art submissions from all people and places. Send us your most oneiric, moonlit work. We enjoy writing that’s dream-like but tactile—something that lets one feel the moonbeams between the fingertips.

Read our interview on the “Six Questions For…” blog to learn more about what kind of work we like to see.

General Guidelines:

To submit, email us at:

editors@sublunaryreview.com

with the subject line Fiction Submission, Poetry Submission or Art Submission.

Please include a brief third-person bio.

No graphic violence or gratuitous sex, please.

We accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify us if your work is accepted elsewhere.

We do not accept previously published fiction or poetry.

After submitting, please wait one month before submitting again.

We will get back to you within 2-3 weeks of the submission date.

We accept Russian language submissions; our editors will translate them into English for publication.

Poetry Guidelines: Please submit 1-5 poems at a time. We welcome all forms: free verse, rhymed and prose poetry.

Fiction Guidelines: Please submit one short story at a time, no more than 2,000 words. We do not accept novel excerpts, but flash fiction is welcome.

Art Guidelines: Please submit 1-10 .jpg images no smaller than 1,000 px. Please include a title for the collection.

Sublunary Review claims First Electronic Rights for fiction and poetry. After publication, all rights revert to the author. If you republish your work elsewhere, we ask that you credit us as the original publisher. Artists retain full rights to their work.

Call for Submissions: Trampset

We are looking for short fiction (short stories, flash fiction, and excerpts from longer works), nonfiction (personal essays, flash cnf, and engaging cultural criticism), and poetry. Prose should be no longer than 3,000 words. Up to three flash or micro pieces may be submitted in a single document. 

Poetry submissions should contain no more than three poems in a single document. We align all poetry to the left margin, so we’re not a good home for shape poetry. We also welcome translation submissions if the translator has obtained appropriate permission from the author. We are open to all styles of work though shorter pieces tend to get more love. 

We welcome diverse voices, including writers working outside academia. We welcome simultaneous submissions but not multiple submissions at once. We welcome all tramps.

We have a permanent free submission category we expect most writers to use. We also have a “Tip Jar” option for each genre and a “Quick Response” option for writers wanting to hear back sooner. What we make from tips and the expedited response option goes to our writers and editors.

Regular response times vary, but we try to respond within 1–3 months, if not sooner. We publish accepted pieces on a rolling basis and inform the writer when their piece will run. If your work is accepted for publication, you retain all rights. We just ask you give us the right to publish it first on our website (we consider previously published material from time to time) and the right to keep it in our archives. Also, please credit trampset if the work is republished elsewhere. We ask that contributors wait six months after publication before submitting again.

We pay $25 per accepted piece (must have PayPal). Each year we nominate select pieces for Sundress Publications’ Best of the Net Anthology as well as for other contests like Best Small Fictions. Nominees will be notified and listed on our site.

More information and submission portal here.

Call for Submissions: The Offing

Thanks so much for your interest, and we look forward to reading your work. Please be familiar with the magazine and our mission before you submit.

In your cover letter, we encourage you to include information that you would like us to know, such as whether, if we choose to publish it, this submission will be your first publication.

If a department is not listed, that means it is not currently accepting submissions.

Just a few additional things: 

• Upon publication, contributors will be paid a $25–$100 fee, depending on department and number/length of works published.

• All pieces should be original, and previously unpublished in any format in English.

• We acquire first serial rights worldwide in English and non-exclusive anthology rights.

• Simultaneous submissions are accepted; please be sure to withdraw your piece promptly if it’s accepted elsewhere.

• Please don’t send more than one submission per department; wait until your work is accepted or declined before submitting again.

• Please direct all inquiries and comments to info@theoffingmag.com.

• Our Fiction department is happy to consider excerpts from novels and short story collections, especially from small presses. If you have something you would like considered, email excerpts as a Word .doc to mary@theoffingmag.com. Please note that we currently don’t have a budget to pay for excerpts, but we do want to help bring readers to books that might otherwise get overlooked.

• We’ll do our utmost to respond within six months, but due to the volume of submissions we receive, and the careful & collaborative nature of our review process, that may not always be possible. Thank you for your patience.

More information and submission link here.

Call for Submissions: The Barcelona Review

The Barcelona Review is presently accepting submissions for previously unpublished short fiction, articles and essays. We do not accept poetry submissions. If you have any further questions after reading the following, please let us know.

Short Fiction: 

• Word length: 5,500 words max.

• Only previously unpublished work (print or online) accepted for reading.

• Submit one story at a time for consideration to the editor. Do not send a second piece until you have received a response to the first.

• Simultaneous submissions are fine but please let us know immediately if accepted elsewhere.

TBR is open to all genres and to a variety of styles and techniques. We’re after original, potent and powerful writing with a contemporary feel that is literarily sound; writing marked by a strong sense of imaginative distinction. (We do not publish tales, fables or re-worked fairy tales; nor are we after vignettes.) A familiarity with some of the review's fiction (see TBR archives) should provide a good indication of the type of literature we are looking for. We expect writers to have read a minimum of 2-3 stories before submitting work (see TBR Archives). Novel extracts will not be considered unless they are entirely self-contained pieces.

All submissions are read by the editor or a staff reader. Reply time takes eight weeks.

Articles/Essays:

• Material should be related in some way to the world of books and writing; creative non-fiction (e.g., personal essays) that fits with the review is welcome. Literary criticism and academic pieces are not what we're after. 

• Word length: preferably under 3,000 words. Submit following the ‘short fiction’ criteria above.

Please Note: We cannot offer money to contributors, but in lieu of pay we can sometimes offer an excellent Spanish translation (worth quite a bit of money in itself). Work is showcased along with two or more known authors in a high quality literary review with an international readership. Author retains all rights although for the Internet only we ask for exclusive rights for the time period agreed upon.

Send submissions and queries to:
Jill Adams:

editor @ barcelonareview.com 

More information here.

Call for Submissions: Able Muse

Able Muse publishes metrical poetry and poetry translation, along with art, fiction, and nonfiction (essays, book reviews, and interviews that focus on metrical and formal poetry).

WHEN: Able Muse accepts submissions in all genres from January 1 to July 15. We generally publish one issue per year. After making a submission, please do not send us another in the same genre (poetry, fiction, etc.) until we have responded to the first.

More details—POETRY: 

• Submit one to five metrical poems (or one long poem), rhymed or unrhymed. (A poem of more than 40 lines is considered a “long” poem.)

• All types of formal poetry are welcome, from traditional to boundary-pushing. We want well-crafted poems that use meter skillfully and imaginatively (with rhyme or not), in a contemporary idiom that reads as naturally as free verse.

• For a poetry translation, the poem in its original language must be included unless the omission is by special arrangement with our editors. Optionally, you may also include a literal translation of the original poem.

• We may very rarely publish a piece of very impressive free verse—but free verse will have a much harder time here than at other magazines.

• Able Muse also welcomes humorous or light poetry.

• For examples of what we're interested in, read the poetry of past masters like Richard Wilbur and Anthony Hecht and that of contemporary poets like Rhina P. Espaillat, Dick Davis, A. E. Stallings, Jacqueline Osherow, Aaron Poochigian, Matthew Buckley Smith, and Erica Dawson. To see what we like, read recent issues: study our online archives and/or subscribe to theprint edition at the Able Muse Press website.

• We publish new voices as well as established ones. We read everything. Send your best!

More details—FICTION: 

• We publish literary fiction.

• We do not publish fantasy, romance, horror, action-adventure, gratuitous violence, or inspirational/sentimental genres.

• Maximum 5000 words per story.

 More details—NONFICTION and ART: All prose: Maximum 5000 words.

• Interviews should concentrate on a writer's work, ideas, and creative process rather than on (auto)biography. Avoid anecdotes.

• Book reviews should generally consider poetry books, occasionally fiction and nonfiction. A review should demonstrate a clear understanding of the book’s subject matter and craft, a familiarity with relevant contexts, and a clear critical approach.

• Essays on metrical poetry should be critical interpretations or discussions of the creative or critical process, focused on understanding a text (or texts).

• Personal essays or memoirs can be autobiographical, biographical, or topical, but they should add to our literary understanding of a concept, time, place, or person, not serve as an opportunity for self-expression. Again, avoid anecdotes.

• Photography and artwork: Black and white artwork and photography are preferred, although we will also consider color work. Submit in JPG or GIF format, or as a URL with the images. When sending a URL, please indicate the specific images you are submitting, not just a link to your website or blog.

HOW—BOOKS FOR REVIEW CONSIDERATION:

Books for review may be sent:as PDFs or otherwise digital versions through our ONLINE SUBMISSION FORM. Should you have any problem with the form, email the appropriate editorial team (address at bottom of page), using the subject line SUBMISSION HELP. If your book is selected for review, we'll ask you to snail-mail the physical book to the reviewer.

OR as physical (paper) books, to:

Able Muse Review
Attn: Book Review Editor
4025 Dorchester Road, Suite 311
Niagara Falls, ON L2E 7K8
CANADA

This address should be used ONLY for this purpose.
Because we receive so many books, we will reply only if the submitted book is selected for review.

OTHER INFORMATION: Able Muse acquires first-time electronic and/or print publication rights. We also reserve the right to republish the item in a future electronic and/or print anthology. Back issues are archived indefinitely. All other rights revert to the author six months after publication. In case of republication we ask that you acknowledge Able Muse as the original place of publication.
Able Muse is a not-for-profit publication. Compensation for contributors consists of one complimentary copy of the issue in which their work appears.

More information and submission portal here.

Publication Announcement: "Before the EMP"

 I'm delighted to share the publication of my short story, "Before the EMP," in the anthology, Tales of Fear, Superstition, and Doom, available as an ebook and coming soon in paperback. You can find a copy here.