Call for Submissions: Naked Cat Lit Mag

General Submission Guidelines:

Here at Naked Cat Lit Mag, we’re all about pushing boundaries. So for this call, we’re saying fuck it to genre. Give us your filth and your unfettered desires. Give us sex that would make your grandmother drive you straight to church and demand an exorcism. Give us your stories that push a finger into a throbbing, gaping wound cause it’s just so juicy. That is all to say that this issue will be genre-fluid, pro-kink, pro-sex work, and hopefully very, very gay. Your work doesn’t even have to feature erotica elements, but it should challenge norms and push our readers to consider new perspectives. While anyone is welcome to submit, Naked Cat Lit Mag is committed to giving opportunities to historically marginalized and underrepresented populations, as well as featuring first time authors.

​ Please upload all submissions to the following submission portal . If you have any questions, please direct them to our guest editor at:

taboonakedcat@gmail.com

Do’s:

· Do play with genre, structure, POV, and style. If you’ve ever thought “maybe this is too big of a swing”, I am here to tell you that you are wrong.

· Do get a little dirty with it! Naked Cat Lit Mag has a history of publishing the sexy and erotic, and this volume will continue in this trend although erotica elements are no means required.

· Do push against what is deemed taboo! While pieces that challenge general norms are great, we would love to feature authors and pieces that push up against specific cultural norms. The hope is that this issue will feature diverse perspectives and authors of unique backgrounds.

· Do be considerate! If you’re tackling sensitive topics, do your research and try to avoid harmful stereotypes.

· Do fuck the institutions! Authors are encouraged to not only push up against sex norms, but also those that we deal with while trapped in a hypercapitalist, content-spewing hellscape. Be anti-capitalist, anti-fascist, anti-military, political, etc.

Don’t’s:

Don’t be shocking purely to be shocking! We’re looking for well-conceptualized, well-written works and simply shocking us won’t guarantee we’ll publish your piece.

· Don’t be racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, etc. If your characters exhibit these traits, then so be it, but be aware of the message your piece conveys to your reader.

· Don’t think you’re the first person to think: “Wow, cannibalism is kind of hot.”. While our guest editor is a fan of sexy cannibals, they’re already anticipating a large number of sexy cannibalism stories. If you choose to go this route, try to take it in a new and tantalizing angle!

· Don’t self-reject! We want to read your work, so send it our way.

General Requirements:

· All submissions should be in a .docx format file. Submissions not submitted in this format will unfortunately be form rejected.

· Submissions should be double-spaced and in 12 point Times New Roman font; however, if your piece deviates from this intentionally, submit it anyway with a brief note that the formatting is intentional in your cover letter. We will work our hardest to accommodate unique pieces that rely on visual formatting within reason.

· All submissions should be originals, meaning that if your piece has been published elsewhere including on a personal blog or website, this call is unfortunately not quite a fit for you.

· Simultaneous submissions are fine! Being an author is hard and by no means financially lucrative, so please submit your pieces elsewhere, but notify us if you decide

· A short cover letter should accompany your submission. This doesn’t have to be fancy, but please introduce yourself and include a short author’s bio under 100 words, introduce your pieces, and include a short list of trigger warnings per piece. A trigger warning reference index will be included at the back of the issue for anyone who wants to use it, so we won’t be spoiling your pieces.

· Feel free to submit for our fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry categories. Our editor wears many hats too, but please, submit a new Google form entry for each category.

· All authors will be notified of selection by approximately Dec. 1st. If you need to withdraw your piece or haven’t heard from us by then, please query us at:

taboonakedcat@gmail.com

· All authors will receive a digital copy of the issue upon publication. We ask for 6 month exclusivity on print rights for published pieces, with the exception that we will release you from this for “Best Of” anthologies cause your work deserves to be praised!

All selected authors will receive a portion of fundraised funds (ideally a $20-25 honorarium) upon successful Indiegogo funding.

Fiction & Non-Fiction Requirements:

· Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction submissions should be under 1500 words. We know that’s not a lot of words, but we know that you can tantalize, disturb, and turn us on regardless of word count.

· Please adhere to Modern Shunn Format, except for pieces that are intentionally playing with how they appear on the page. Once again, if this is the case, please give us a heads up in your cover letter.

· You can submit one piece of fiction and/or one piece of creative non-fiction per author.

Poetry:

· Each poem should be under 25 lines.

· Please adhere to Modern Shunn Format, except for pieces that are intentionally playing with how they appear on the page. Once again, if this is the case, please give us a heads up in your cover letter.

· Each author can submit 1-3 poems, but please include these in the same .docx file with a page break between poems. If the poems exist as a unit (like a poem told in thirds), please let us know so we don’t decide to only publish one part.