Call for Submissions: Merganser Magazine

Merganser Magazine is a free online literary magazine, featuring a variety of prose and poetry.

Debuting in winter 2024, we aim to publish many writers and artists whose work transcends disciplines and genres.

We are now accepting submissions - we encourage you to submit!

Submissions

Please submit prose (fiction or creative non-fiction) and poetry by email to Jake Ott at:

editor@mergansermagazine.com

Include submission files as attachments.

Include as many stories and/or poems as you like. We'll consider every piece you submit, although we prefer not to publish more than one piece from the same author within a 6 month period.

Standard formats (e.g. standard manuscript format) are preferred, but not strictly required.

No hard editorial guidelines. We're eager to find strong, well-written pieces across a wide range of material. That said, our business model prioritizes shorter works, as well as those which are suitable for online reading (avoid long paragraphs). Anything longer than 2,000 words is likely a hard sell.

We allow simultaneous submissions. Email:

editor@mergansermagazine

if your submission is accepted elsewhere.

No reprints.

For prose, we pay the SFWA pro rate of $0.08 USD per word. For poetry, we pay $1 USD per line.

We aim to respond to all submissions within 1-2 months of submission. If you have not heard from us after 1 month, please feel free to reach out for an update.

Works translated, written, or developed by AI tools are strictly not allowed.

If your submission has been accepted, please wait 6 months before submitting again. This will ensure your next submission receives full consideration.

To increase chances of acceptance, read the magazine! You will see what has been accepted before. Typically, we publish what we feel were the most tightly written and creative pieces we received.

Writing Competitions: Los Angeles Review Writing Awards

Los Angeles Review Poetry Award

Deadline: Aug. 1, 2025 

The Los Angeles Review Poetry Award is a prize of $1,000 and publication in LAR given annually for an exceptional work of poetry. This season's judge is Kim Dower.

• Please submit poems of no more than 50 lines each (not including line spaces or numbering). Authors may submit up to three poems with each entry. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify us immediately at:

editor@losangelesreview.org

if your poems are accepted elsewhere.

 • Only previously unpublished poems are considered for the Los Angeles Review Poetry Award. Entries are not considered for general inclusion in the Los Angeles Review.
• Entry fee is $20.
• The winner will be selected in fall of 2025 and announced via our website, and a Red Hen Press press release.
• The winning poem will be published in the new LAR Online and included in the annual best-of print edition.
• In the cover letter field of each submission, include author’s name, mailing address, email address, and telephone number. Do NOT include this information in the submitted file.
• Please direct questions to:

production@losangelesreview.org

Los Angeles Review Short Fiction Award

Deadline: Aug. 1, 2025 

The Los Angeles Review Short Fiction Award is a prize of $1,000 and publication in LAR given annually for an exceptional work of fiction. This season's judge is Denise Frost.

• Please submit a story no longer than 2,500 words. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify us immediately at:

editor@losangelesreview.org

if your story is accepted elsewhere.
• Only previously unpublished works are considered for the Los Angeles Review Short Fiction Award. Entries are not considered for general inclusion in the Los Angeles Review.
• Entry fee is $20.
• The winner will be selected in fall of 2025 and announced via our website, and a Red Hen Press press release.
• The winning story will be published in the new LAR Online and included in the annual best-of print edition.
• In the cover letter field of each submission, include author’s name, mailing address, email address, and telephone number. Do NOT include this information in the submitted file.
• Please direct questions to:

production@losangelesreview.org

Los Angeles Review Flash Fiction Award

Deadline: Aug. 1, 2025 

The Los Angeles Review Flash Fiction Award is a prize of $1,000 and publication in LAR given annually for an exceptional work of fiction. This season's judge is Molly Olguín.

• Please submit a piece of 1,000 words or less. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify us immediately at:

editor@losangelesreview.org

if your story is accepted elsewhere.
• Only previously unpublished works are considered for the Los Angeles Review Flash Fiction Award. Entries are not considered for general inclusion in the Los Angeles Review.
• Entry fee is $20.
• The winner will be selected in fall of 2025 and announced via our website, and a Red Hen Press press release.
• The winning story will be published in the new LAR Online and included in the annual best-of print edition.
• In the cover letter field of each submission, include author’s name, mailing address, email address, and telephone number. Do NOT include this information in the submitted file.
• Please direct questions to:

production@losangelesreview.org

Los Angeles Review Creative Nonfiction Award

Deadline: Aug. 1, 2025 

The Los Angeles Review Creative Nonfiction Award is a prize of $1,000 and publication in LAR given annually for an exceptional work of nonfiction. This season's judge is Wes Jamison.

• Please submit a piece no longer than 2,500 words. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify us immediately at:

editor@losangelesreview.org

if your piece is accepted elsewhere.
• Only previously unpublished works are considered for the Los Angeles Review Creative Nonfiction Award. Entries are not considered for general inclusion in the Los Angeles Review.
• Entry fee is $20.
• The winner will be selected in fall of 2025 and announced via our website, and a Red Hen Press press release.
• The winning piece will be published in the new LAR Online and included in the annual best-of print edition.
• In the cover letter field of each submission, include author’s name, mailing address, email address, and telephone number. Do NOT include this information in the submitted file.
• Please direct questions to:

production@losangelesreview.org 

Submit your entries here. 

Writing Competition: Coniston Prize

*This year's judge is acclaimed poet Diane Seuss*

The winner of the Coniston Prize will receive $1,000 and publication. Up to 10 finalists will also be awarded $175 and publication. The winner and finalists’ work will be featured in the Coniston Prize Issue, published annually in October.

Submissions are open June 1 - August 1. We notify all entrants before October 1. The entry fee is $20.

Submit 3-5 previously unpublished poems in a single document through our submissions manager, totaling no more than 10 pages. You may include a cover letter and brief bio in the comments box. Multiple submissions are acceptable with additional reading fee.

This award recognizes an exceptional group of poems. We therefore suggest that you submit poems that are intentionally cohesive in some way, whether connected by subject matter, theme, voice, style, or imagery.

Please remove all identifying information from your document. All contest submissions will be read anonymously.

Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but we cannot refund contest fees if you have to withdraw all or part of your submission. Multiple entries are acceptable with an additional fee.

Eligibility

The Coniston Prize is awarded to women poets. Any poet who identifies as a woman is eligible. This includes trans, non-binary, and other gender expansive womxn.

If you know the editors or our judge personally, you should not submit your work. This includes current or former students of the editors or the judge.

Submit your entry here. 

Call for Submissions: Ark Review

Ark Review was founded in 2023 as a literary magazine to spread creative perspectives on ecological justice. We are an offshoot of the environmental nonprofit Everything Starts Small, or ESS.

We publish environmental fiction and poetry online.

Ark Review is named after the biblical story of Noah's Ark. In the story, Noah is called to construct the ark, a vessel large enough to hold two of each animal through the flooding of the Earth. As we combat our own rising tide, we hope this publication can be the vessel that offers the hope to carry us through the storm of our environmental impact.

We want good stories. More than that, we want unique stories that tell us something new about our relationship with the environment, i.e not a bunch of stereotypical dystopias. We value optimism and innovative ideas. This could be through absurdism, cultural identity, and more. We want stories to be bold and unapologetic. Be concise: throw the majority of your adverbs in the trash. The recycling bin, I mean.

Most importantly, the environment or an environmental topic should play a central role in your piece.

We want previously unpublished pieces. We appreciate mature themes, but do not want excessive use of cursing, gore, or explicit content. We will not promote hatred toward any identity group.

Published authors retain all rights to their work

Visit our interview on Jim Harrington's Six Questions for further insight on Ark Review submissions.

Submit your work here. 

Call for Submissions on Theme of "Reflection and Growth": The Shallot: Journal of Mental Health, Art, and Literature

 

We are currently open for submissions from June 18-July 19 2025.

Watch our social media and website for more information!

SUMMER/FALL 2025

Theme: Reflection and Growth

You are not an inanimate object, but a human. Full of hope, joy, pain, struggle, sadness, love, yearning. Your existence is precious and not guaranteed.

It is easy to work or worry yourself into the ground, buried by rock after rock, weight after weight, of the world's mighty problems. If you do not give yourself time to be… you. To nourish that which is yourself, it can disappear or become but a faded perspective of you.
For those views that you want to cherish and keep, reflect often. Be conscious of who you are and what it is to be comfortable in your own skin, even when that means being comfortable with the feeling of being uncomfortable.

You are only human. You may feel torn or pulled between perspectives and ideal outcomes. Let that feeling flow through you. That feeling, of letting yourself feel uncomfortable, but accepting it as okay and not needing to pass judgment: that is growth.

Consider this feeling and how your art, writing, or cooking helps you feel more connected to yourself.

For this edition, send us something that makes you reflect and represents your growth. Share your vision through writing, visual art, or creative recipes. Transform your dish with ingredients influenced or transformed by the perspectives and reflections of where you have been. Write a poem about the power of knowing oneself. Paint a colorful abstract that speaks for you using no words, just an indescribable flow of feeling. Whatever strikes your fancy. You may submit 2 recipes or poems or visual art pieces or short stories in each category. 

How to Submit

 

On our submission page via Duosuma: here. It will open for submissions on the date listed above (as open calls go live).

 

The Shallot is open to artists with lived mental and emotional health experiences. Artists in all locations/countries are invited to apply.

 

We accept the following (please see our website for specific guidelines): 

• Nonfiction
• Fiction
• Poetry
• Drama
• Experimental
• Creative Recipes
• Visual Art

Payment

 

Accepted artists will choose between an honorarium (currently $15) or an artist’s copy of the journal. 

Call for Submissions: Mulberry Literary Magazine

Submissions for Issue XI (Fall/Winter 2025) and Issue XII (Spring/Summer 2026) open midnight (CST/CDT) JUNE 1, 2025 and close 11:59 PM/midnight (CST/CDT) JULY 14, 2025. Please note that submissions for a particular genre are subject to close early if a large amount of submissions are received.

Mulberry Literary is thrilled to announce that, as of June 2025, we are a paying publication. Contributors will now receive a payment of $20 USD for each piece accepted in an issue. (please note that payment can only be sent through PayPal)

PLEASE NOTE: Mulberry Literary does not accept any copyright infringing pieces, AI-generated, or AI-prompted visual art, writing, or any such AI-created submissions.

As of June 1st 2025, all written and visual work must be submitted through our online forms; we no longer accept submissions through our email. Submissions received through email without editor approval will be automatically rejected.

Submissions to Mulberry are currently free, but if you would like to receive an expedited TWO-WEEK response, please consider making a donation to help Mulberry’s growing platform for artists and writers. Our donation page here has more information. Donations do not increase your chances of being accepted for publication, contests, or awards.

Simultaneous submissions are a-okay, but please inform us immediately if your piece has been accepted elsewhere. After a piece has been rejected or accepted, do not send us another entry during the same submission period. If you were published in a previous issue of Mulberry, please wait a full year before submitting again.

During our summer reading period, those who submit are automatically entered into Mulberry’s Fresh Voices Award, which awards an interview and artist spotlight to one applicant in each genre.

If your work is accepted, Mulberry Literary receives first North American serial publication rights (FNASR). Feel free to publish your piece elsewhere afterward so long as you state Mulberry Literary as its first appearance.

Written work accepted by Mulberry is subject to possible edits. An edited version of your work will be sent to you before the release of an issue. We encourage you to read it. If there are any changes you do not agree with or changes you would like to make in addition, do not hesitate to let us know.

Expect a response anywhere from an hour to a day to a week to a few months after you submit. If you do not hear back from us after 3 months, please reach out and make sure we received your submission. Publication date of Issue XI (Fall/Winter 2025) and Issue XII (Spring/Summer 2026) will be announced.

Got a question we didn’t cover? Email us at:

mulberryliterary@gmail.com 

and one of our editors will get back to you as soon as possible.

We look forward to reading and sharing your stories!

More information and online art submission forms here.

Call for Submissions: Rawhead: A Journal of Art & Literature

Issue #1

Rawhead is currently accepting submissions of poetry, prose, and visual art, via email, for our inaugural issue.

At this time, there is no fee. However, if you would like to support the journal while we grow, you are welcome to donate via Ko-fi. For those who’d like a guaranteed response in under 48 hours, we also offer a $3 donation tier. 100% of these donations go toward covering journal costs and paying contributors. Although donations are appreciated, they have no impact on editorial consideration.

Please send your work to:

rawheadjournal@gmail.com

Include a short cover letter and attach your work as .doc, .docx, or .pdf.

Editor’s Spotlight

Rawhead will select one outstanding artist and one standout writer each issue to receive a $100 award. We are actively seeking funding and hope to one day offer payment to all of our contributors. Supporting Rawhead through readership, amplification, and donations helps us achieve that goal.

Poetry

You may submit up to 7 poems, totaling no more than 15 pages. Please include 3 to 7 poems in a single document (.doc, .docx, or PDF preferred). Poems should be formatted one per page unless part of a sequence. Indicate stanza breaks if a poem carries over to a new page.

Prose

We accept fiction and nonfiction up to 4,000 words. You may submit one longer piece or up to two shorter works, provided the total word count does not exceed 4,000. For flash and experimental submissions (1,000 words or fewer), you may send up to three pieces in a single document.

Visual Art

We welcome visual art submissions in any medium, including illustration, photography, digital collage, mixed media, painting, and sculpture. Please submit 3 to 10 pieces for consideration, uploaded as high-quality image files (.jpg, .png, or .tiff).

Special Issue #1 – Rawhead Presents: Bloody Bones

Rawhead is not a horror journal, but we believe in monsters and love Halloween.

For our first Special Issue, we’re borrowing back the other half of our name. In the lore, Rawhead is often one part of a monstrous duo. Bloody Bones is its counterpart. If Rawhead is our banner of resistance, disruption, and mythic presence year round, then Bloody Bones is the beast we let loose when it’s time to put all symbolic decorum aside.

This issue is a way of honoring the complicated relationship between Rawhead and Bloody Bones, while celebrating our favorite spooky holiday.

We’re looking for art and literature that explores the shadowed corners of being. That might mean ghosts, vampires, and folklore, but it could also mean grief, transformation, survival, hunger, queerness, rage, humor, dreams.

Monsters as metaphor, or monsters as real as you need them to be.

We welcome poetry, prose, hybrid work, and visual art. Our submissions standards for Special Issues are identical to the guidelines for our normal issues.

Simultaneous & Previously Published Work

We accept simultaneous submissions and encourage you to submit widely. If your work is accepted elsewhere, please notify us of which pieces are no longer available. We’ll be happy for you and pleased to continue reviewing the rest.

We believe that powerful work deserves more than a single appearance. Too often, published pieces reach only a limited audience before slipping into obscurity. At Rawhead, we’re committed to giving exceptional writing and art a second life where it can continue to resonate, provoke, and endure. We will consider previously published poems, prose, and visual art under the conditions that you still retain the rights, properly acknowledge the original publishers, and at least one year has passed since their initial appearances.

Cover Letters

Please include a short third-person bio, a list of previous publications (if applicable), and any personal websites, blogs, or social media handles you’d like us to share. You can enter this information in the cover letter field on Submittable.

Inclusion & Equity

Rawhead is committed to uplifting work by BIPOC, queer, disabled, and neurodiverse artists and writers—and anyone whose voice has been overlooked or underestimated.

Ethical Standards

Rawhead does not accept work that promotes or perpetuates racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, or other forms of hatred or dehumanization. Don’t bother sending it.

Response Time

Our goal is to respond to your submission within 2–4 months, though it will likely be sooner. We appreciate your patience and the trust you place in us by sharing your work.

Rights & Reprinting

By accepting publication in Rawhead, the Author grants Rawhead the following rights: Rawhead acquires First Serial Rights, Non-Exclusive Reprint Rights, Electronic Rights, Archival Rights, and Non-Exclusive Anthology/Reprint Rights. This permits Rawhead to archive your work online, to use it in promotional materials, and to reprint it in future anthologies. All other rights remain with the Author. The Author retains full copyright and may republish the Work elsewhere after it appears in Rawhead, provided the Author credits Rawhead as an original publisher of the Work.

Note: Rawhead accepts reprints. If your submission was previously published, please ensure you currently hold the rights and include prior publication information in your cover letter or submission notes.

Writing Competition: Terrain.org 16th Annual Contest

Terrain 16th Annual Contest

Submission Period

The contest submission period for our 16th Annual Contest is May 1, 2025 to 11:59 p.m. on September 1, 2025 (Labor Day in the U.S.). Winners and finalists will be announced in December 2025.

Prizes

A prize of $1,000 plus publication for the first-place winner will be awarded in each genre. Finalists in each genre will also receive publication and a $200 prize. All submissions are considered for publication.

 Selection Process

Terrain.org’s editors read all entries, passing the top entries (finalists) in each genre to the judges, who will choose the first-place winners. Decisions of the judges are final. Judges and editors do not know the identity of the contestants. Finalists are notified prior to sending their entries to the judges.
How to Submit

You are not eligible to enter this contest if you are a current student of the contest judges or if you have been a winner in the contest in the last five years. Finalists are welcome to submit again.

Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but previously published material in any format, including blogs or social media, will not be considered. Submissions can be withdrawn through the submission system, though in that case contest entry fees will not be refunded. Individual components of submissions (i.e., a single poem in a poem set) may be withdrawn by sending a message through Submittable.

Cost

The cost to submit is $20 per story, essay or article, or set of 1-5 poems.

What to Submit

You may submit up to three entries (at $20/entry) in any or all genres:

Poetry
Submit 1-5 poems per entry. Combine all poems into a single document. For poetry, we are seeking the single best poem or set of poems. The entire submission must not exceed 7 pages. Poems must contain only the poem title(s) and poem(s) without the author name or contact information (including in the document header/footer).

Fiction
Submit one story, up to 5,000 words total, or up to 2 flash fictions, up to 1,000 words each, per entry. Stories must contain only the story title and story itself without the author name or contact information (including in the document header/footer).

Nonfiction
Submit one essay or article, up to 5,000 words total, or up to 2 flash essays, up to 1,000 words each, per entry. Essays must contain only the essay title and essay itself without the author name or contact information (including in the document header/footer). We will consider all nonfiction, but are most interested in creative nonfiction, including personal essays, lyric essays, memoir, literary journalism, and other literary forms.
The Submission Process

Submissions and payment for the 15th Annual Contest are conducted on our Submittable site.

Call for Submissions on Theme of "Voice": The Branches: A Journal of Literature and Philosophy

 

Fall 2025 theme: VOICE

DEADLINE: September 13, 2025

Seeking submissions of previously unpublished written and visual work. We are especially interested in cultural criticism, personal essays, and book/movie discussions and also publish poetry, short fiction, art, and photography.

We recommend reading some of our previous issues (available free online) to get a feel for what we publish. Give us your big ideas and small thoughts, the ways you’re interacting with and understanding the world. We love Joan Didion, C. S. Lewis, Ada Limón, Susan Sontag, Flannery O’Connor, Patti Smith, and (hopefully) you!

Prose: 1500 word maximum

Poetry/Art: 4 piece maximum

If submitting multiple pieces, please include each as a separate document.

Do not submit work created with the use of generative AI or similar tools.

Have a response to one of the pieces we’ve published previously? Submit a letter to the editor.

Submit your work here. 

Writing Competition: The Moth Nature Writing Prize

THE MOTH NATURE WRITING PRIZE 2025 IS NOW OPEN

The Moth Nature Writing Prize aims to encourage and celebrate the art of nature writing. It is awarded annually to unpublished pieces of prose or poetry which best combine exceptional literary merit with an exploration of the writers’ relationship with the natural world.

Each year a single judge is asked to choose winners from entries worldwide. Previous judges include Richard Mabey, Helen Macdonald, Max Porter, Kathleen Jamie and Cal Flyn.

The prize is open to anyone over the age of sixteen, as long as the work is original and previously unpublished.

THE PRIZES

1st prize €1,000 and a week at The Moth Retreat in Ireland

2nd prize €500

3rd prize €250

THE JUDGE

Multi-award-winning author and naturalist, Mark Cocker, will judge The Moth Nature Writing Prize 2025. Mark has written 13 books, including Crow Country, A Claxton Diary and One Midsummer's Day: Swifts and the Story of Life on Earth. He co-founded several environmental organisations, including the Oriental Bird Club and New Networks for Natureand has been a country diarist for The Guardian for the past 38 years.

‘Profound knowledge, uncanny ability to observe and heartliftingly exact prose.’ The Times

HOW TO ENTER

The Moth Nature Writing Prize is open to anyone over 16, as long as the work is original and previously unpublished. There is a 4,000 maximum word limit (for prose and poetry).

The entry fee is €15 per entry (a single poem or piece of prose). You you can enter as many times as you like, along with €15 entry fee.

You can enter online or send your entry along with a cheque or postal order made payable to ‘The Moth Magazine Ltd.’ with an entry form or a cover letter with your name and contact details and the title of your piece attached to: The Moth, Ardan Grange, Milltown, Belturbet, Co. Cavan, Ireland H14 K768.

Please read the rules before you enter.

The Prize closes 30 September 2025.

The winning entries will appear in the Irish Times online.

You will need to subscribe to our mailing list if you wish to be notified of the results.

More information and entry form here. 

Call for Submissions: subTerrain Magazine

WINTER, #102 {GENERAL ISSUE}

This issue will be a general issue featuring fiction, poetry, commentary, and creative nonfiction, the winning entries in our 2024 Lush Triumphant Literary Awards, as well as excerpts from forthcoming releases from Canadian indie presses.

SUBMISSIONS OPEN JUNE 1 :: DEADLINE: AUGUST 15, 2025

Submit via Submittable. Submission fee: $3.00.

If submitting via snail mail, please identify on the envelope the issue # or theme issue for which you are submitting.

Feel free to interpret our themes in unique and unusual ways.

All other regular submission guidelines still apply, as below.

GENERAL GUIDELINES:

The following are some general guidelines (as always, we suggest READING an issue of the magazine to see what we're all about).

Submissions must be previously unpublished and be:

1. typed, double-spaced on 8 1/2 x 11 paper (no disks or e-mail submissions please)

2. Fiction: a maximum of 3,000 words.
(max. 3 submissions per issue)

3. Poetry: we no longer accept unsolicited poetry submissions (unless specifically related to one of our theme issues). Poetry should be single-spaced with stanza breaks.

4. Creative Non-Fiction: a maximum of 4,000 words.
(max. 2 submissions per issue)

5. Commentary (social or otherwise): a maximum of 4000 words.
(max. 2 submissions per issue)

6. Photography & Illustration: we only accept solicited art and photography. Please forward us a link to your work;

7. Those submissions not accompanied by a SASE (self-addressed, stamped envelope) will not be considered or returned. Submissions from outside Canada: It has come to our attention that IRCs are no longer available in the U.S. Submitters from outside Canada: please DO NOT SEND RETURN ENVELOPES WITH U.S. STAMPS -- WE CANNOT USE U.S. POSTAGE TO MAIL FROM CANADA! Please include your email address with your submission and we will respond via email.

8. Please do not send submissions via email.

Payment rates for published submissions:

Poetry: $50 per poem
Prose: $.10 per word (to a maximum of $500.)

Submit online (click) here: 

Mail hard copy submissions to:

subTerrain Magazine
P.O. Box 3008, Station Terminal
Vancouver, BC V6B 3X5
CANADA
TEL: (604) 876-8009
EMAIL: subter@portal.ca

Call for Submissions on Theme of "Deluge/Drought": South 85 Journal

South 85 Journal will be open to general submissions June 15 ~ August 15 for its Fall/Winter issue through Submittable: South 85 Submissions Page. Additional reading periods will be announced for 2026.

THEME ISSUE: DELUGE | DROUGHT Is less more? Is more too much? Can less be enough? Is more actually more? What has overwhelmed you? Underwhelmed you? When must we say, Stop? When do we beg, Keep going?

Where do we live? An environment of too much or not enough? Or both? Can we achieve balance or is our fate locked in the extremes?

Maximalist or minimalist…in possessions? Passions? Food? Drink? Love? Questions? Answers? Time? Flowers?

Inundate ~ overflow ~ drown ~ shortage ~ lack ~ parched. Rebirth. Destruction.

The possibilities are endless, and we want this theme to feel open to countless interpretation. As always, we’re eager to see what you come up with!

• Fiction submissions should be between 800 and 4000ish words. Please include word count. Flash fiction should be under 750ish words, submitted to the flash category. One story per submission.

• Nonfiction submissions should be no longer than 4000ish words. Please include the word count on your submission.

• Poetry submissions should contain no more than 3 poems, up to 6 total pages, one poem per page.

• Please send only one submission per category (Poetry, Fiction, Flash, and Non-Fiction) during each reading period. You are welcome to submit to multiple categories. We suggest including the title of your work in your file name.

• Submission fee = $3

• We will publish novel excerpts, provided they can stand on their own. We do not publish genre fiction or children’s stories. We encourage you to read archives of South 85 Journal and acquaint yourself with the material we publish before submitting your work. We encourage the use of a content warning if necessary, in consideration of our manuscript readers.

• Type should be no smaller than 12-pt. font. Please use a standard font such as Times New Roman or Arial, and refrain from script or “flowery” lettering.

• All work will be considered for our Editor’s Choice Award of $100, which be given to ONE piece in the issue.

• Submissions should be saved in Word or Rich Text format.

• Number pages consecutively, double space, and use margins of at least one inch.

• Place your name, email address, and word count in an upper corner of the first page.

• We do not solict work; each published piece comes to us through Submittable.

• Converse MFA students, grads, and faculty are not permitted to submit work to South 85 Journal.

• Writers whose work has been published in the journal are asked to wait one issue before submitting to the journal again (i.e. your poem appeared in Spring/Summer 2025, so you’re cleared to submit again for the Spring/Summer 2026 issue and any after).

• We accept simultaneous submissions. If your work is accepted elsewhere, please promptly withdraw your piece via Submittable or email to withdraw individual poems: south85journal AT gmail DOT com.

Please include a professional bio of 50ish words written in the third person with your cover letter.

South 85 Journal does not publish work which has been previously published, either in print or online.

Our reply time is typically eight weeks or so. If AI has been used in the creation of the work, please indicate so.

We acquire exclusive first-time Internet rights only. All other rights revert to the author at publication, but we offer formal, written reassignments upon request. Works are also archived online. We are unable to pay for submissions, however thanks to an anonymous donor, ONE piece in the issue will be awarded the Editor’s Choice Award of $100. We ask that whenever an author reprints the work that first appeared in our pages, South 85 Journal be given acknowledgment for the specific work(s) involved.

Interviews: If you would like to conduct an interview with a literary writer with whose book has been published or is forthcoming within the last year or so, please send a query via email:

south85journal AT gmail DOT com (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

Call for Submissions on Theme of "On Freedom": About Place Journal

On Freedom

About Place Journal invites submissions for Volume VIII, Issue IV, “On Freedom.”

All around us, we see and hear calls for freedom from many different voices and different directions. Some of these calls are frightening; some are inspiring. How are we to understand this “freedom” moment? We seek poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, visual art, video, and hybrid works that question, reimagine, and embody what freedom and unfreedom mean in our complex world.

We’re looking for work that explores freedom’s multidimensional nature—what historian Timothy Snyder distinguishes as negative freedom and positive freedom. Negative freedom is “freedom from” (oppression, constraint, violence), while positive freedom is “freedom to” (create, speak, love, flourish).

We’re also interested in work that engages freedom as a process. Freedom requires cultivating “habits of freedom” (Snyder)—daily practices that sustain and expand our capacity for liberty. Author Maggie Nelson also understands freedom not as a fixed state but as an ongoing practice.

We view the act of creation itself as a habit or practice of freedom—a claiming of voice and space. We invite submissions that not only speak about freedom but express it through formal innovation, boundary-crossing, and aesthetic risk-taking.

We welcome explorations of what philosopher Hannah Arendt called “inwardness as a place of absolute freedom” as well as work that maps the external territories of political and social freedom. We’re interested in how art can articulate author bell hooks’ idea that “awareness is central to the process of love as the practice of freedom.”

We invite you to join us in the radical act of creative freedom, to challenge constraint and to imagine liberation in both bold and quiet ways.

All submissions should be previously unpublished and should engage with the theme of freedom in thoughtful and nuanced ways. We welcome work in various forms and styles, from traditional to experimental.

Work must be submitted via Submittable by August 1, 2025.

About Place Journal is committed to amplifying diverse voices and perspectives. We especially encourage submissions from writers and artists of historically marginalized communities whose experiences and insights on freedom may challenge dominant narratives and expand our collective understanding.

Call for Submissions: Reed Magazine

Thank you for your interest in submitting to Reed Magazine. We publish one journal annually featuring fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art. We host contests in each genre, and offer a special contest for high schoolers in Santa Clara County, California. We seek submissions that exhibit craft, complexity, and creativity while giving voice to a diverse array of artists at various stages in their careers. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions about our submission process or guidelines. Submitters can expect to hear back from Reed Magazine by the end of December 2025.​​​ 

Fiction and Nonfiction

Writers may submit pieces of up to 5,000 words.  Aesthetically, Reed Magazine is open to most styles and approaches, including experimental and literary. All works should be stand-alone short stories, not chapters of longer works.

Reed Magazine seeks creative nonfiction, such as personal essays and narratives, not scholarly papers or book reviews. All works should be stand-alone essays, not chapters of longer works. Writers may submit pieces of up to 5,000 words.

Please be sure to:

• provide a cover letter that includes your name, mailing address, phone number, and email address (but exclude this information from the works themselves)
• include a brief bio, up to 50 words
• save submissions as a Microsoft Word (.docx or .doc) or Portable Document Format (.pdf) document
• double-space text, and use any readable 12-point typeface (such as Times New Roman)
• number pages
• include word count (5,000-word limit)
• check that your Submittable profile is up-to-date​​

Poetry

Our taste is eclectic and celebrates the wonderful diversity of forms, styles, and levels of diction available to the contemporary poet. Writers are welcome to submit up to five (5) poems per submission.

Please be sure to:

• provide a cover letter that includes your name, mailing address, phone number, and email address (but exclude this information from the works themselves)
• include a brief bio, up to 50 words
• save submissions as a Microsoft Word (.docx or .doc) or Portable Document Format (.pdf) document
• single- or double-space text, and use an easily readable 12-point typeface (such as Times New Roman)
• number pages
• submit up to five (5) poems in a single document
• check that your Submittable profile is up-to-date 

Art

Reed Magazine seeks artwork that reverberates beyond the page, with imagery that lingers in the minds and challenges viewers to think. Our pages are open to a variety of media and styles. Artists may submit up to five (5) pieces of studio art, including photography, per submission.

Please be sure to:

• provide a cover letter that includes your name, mailing address, phone number, and email address (but exclude this information from the works themselves)
• include a brief bio, up to 50 words
• include available art credits: title, medium, dimensions, year
• render submissions in an easily accessible format, such as .jpg
• size submissions to at least 300 dpi
• check that your Submittable profile is up-to-date
  

General Art submissions may be considered for the cover. ​

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Submission cap: Please limit your submission to our free categories to two (2) per person during each open reading period. There is no limit to the paid categories.

Use of AI: Reed Magazine honors the complexity and diversity of human creativity. Submissions that appear to be the product of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools will be declined. However, if you have a piece that interrogates the use of AI, we welcome it. Reach out if you have questions on this.

Formal-play and genre-blending work: We love and encourage work that is both formally and generically playful. If this describes your work and you’re unsure which category to submit it to, submit to the one it more closely aligns to. You can add an explanatory note in your cover letter if the context would help us in our consideration.

Editorial process: Reed Magazine copy editors will review submissions accepted for publication to ensure consistency with our style conventions.

We do not accept work that has been previously published (physically printed and distributed or digitally available to the public). We do accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify us if your work is selected for publication elsewhere. 

Submit your work here.

Call for Submissions: Big Sky Journal

Big Sky Journal is a high-end, general interest magazine that captures the full range of culture and lifestyle in the Northern Rockies. Like the region the magazine showcases, Big Sky Journal is a publication of juxtaposition: small towns with big ideas; changing communities with old-fashioned values; low-key lives with high-speed Internet.

Covering stories throughout Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming for more than 20 years, Big Sky Journal is a collectible resource that publishes six editions each year: a Fly Fishing issue in February 2016; a Home architectural issue in April; a Summer issue in June; an Arts issue in July; a Fall issue in October; and a Winter issue in November.

Unmatched in literary and photographic excellence, the magazine is consistently recognized as a leader in regional consumer publishing. Our content is as diverse as a backcountry adventure, and our readership is highly active, with the majority interested in fly-fishing, hunting and hiking, but also with sophisticated tastes in food, art and architecture.

Published by J.D. Publishing LLC, Big Sky Journal distributes 40,000 magazines nationally from Bozeman, Montana

All of Big Sky Journal‘s features, columns, poetry, fiction and photography focus on the Northern Rockies landscape, culture, people, places and wildlife. BSJ strives to capture real life in the Northern Rockies, focusing on backcountry and backstreet haunts that provide an insider’s perspective to our readership. We strongly recommend that you familiarize yourself with BSJ before sending a query.

We do not run stories featuring commercial guides or outfitters, instead we seek personal experiences from knowledgeable contributors in the field. BSJ is interested in introspective articles by knowledgeable writers and photographers who approach a story from an unique angle, whether it is from a first-person perspective of competing in a sled dog race or as an observer at an art show. Subjects have a human-interest angle and range from conservation to cowboy art, history to humanity and everything in between.

Queries and submissions are now accepted via email only. Big Sky Journal is no longer considering mailed submissions or queries. Please include the word “QUERY” and the magazine’s edition in the subject line. Please keep proposals to one page, succinctly detailing the angle and purpose of the story idea. With your query, please include information about images that would help illustrate the story. For example, is a photographer traveling with you? Do you have access to professional images? And/or is there an upcoming photo opportunity that could help illustrate the piece?

BSJ adheres to AP style. Payment is negotiable and due 30 days after publication. BSJ editors reserve the right to edit or rewrite any article to suit the magazine’s needs. Major alterations will be discussed with the author whenever possible.

Please note that we have a small staff and often receive an overload of submissions for editorial; allow three months response time to your queries.

SEND TO:
Jessianne Castle, Editor
jessianne@bigskyjournal.com 

Features: Feature-length stories (1,000-1,800 words) that pertain to the local characters, culture, people, environment, communities, and other general-interest categories throughout the Northern Rockies region, including Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. See examples of feature stories here.

Outside: First-person stories detailing adventures in the great outdoors, taking place in the Northern Rockies region, including Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, including tales of hiking, biking, fly fishing, hunting, etc. See examples of Outside columns here.

Excursion: A how-to column that covers a topic/location in the Northern Rockies region, including Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. Examples include Backpacking Yellowstone, Fishing High Country Lakes, Visiting the Best State Parks, etc. Each one includes an overall introduction followed by two sidebars. See examples of Excursion stories here.

History: Tales of local legends or historical events that have taken place in the Northern Rockies region, including Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. See examples of History columns here.

Local Knowledge: Local Knowledge is a column profiling people in the region with a timeless craft, skill, or tradition that they are preserving in a modern world, for example, boot making, saddle making, fly tying, heirloom gardening, building sheep wagons, blacksmithing, etc. It’s a West that most of us often miss in this high-tech age of modern conveniences. Length is 1,000-1,200 words, payment negotiable. See examples of Local Knowledge stories here.

Images of the West: This is a photo essay that’s accompanied by text and captions. These commonly have a general theme that ties the images together, and they are photo-heavy with about 400 words of copy to explain the topic. See examples of Images of the West stories here.

Essay: The hallmark of BSJ editorial is personal experiences of place. It’s a way for writers and readers to connect, relate and relive Big Sky Country. We accept short, creative nonfiction essays on living in the Northern Rockies with subject matter related to recreation, family, nature, Western culture, history, etc. Full manuscripts only. In the annual fly fishing issue, we sometimes publish “Fish Tales” a short essay section of six to eight nonfiction stories of 800 words or less related to fly-angling; tall tales are welcome.

Back 40/Poetry: On the back page, we feature poetry or short prose, subject matter should be appropriate to the Northern Rockies. The maximum length is 400 words. Payment is negotiable. See examples of Back 40 poems here.

Fellowship: Ucross Fellowship for Native American Artists

UCROSS FELLOWSHIP FOR NATIVE AMERICAN ARTISTS

We are now accepting applications for our Spring 2026 residency.

​Our dedicated fellowship supports the work of contemporary Native American visual artists, writers, and performers. Selected fellows are offered a four-week residency, which includes uninterrupted time, private studio space living accommodations, meals prepared by our professional chef, a stipend, and the experience of the majestic High Plains. The Fellowship for Native American Artists also includes an award of $2,000 and the opportunity to present work publicly, such as a featured exhibition in the Ucross Art Gallery, a reading, or a performance.

The fellowship began in 2018 by supporting Native American visual artists, thanks in large part to a grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Following the success of the first two years, in 2020, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) granted Ucross funds to continue the program for visual artists and expand its reach to include Native American writers. In 2024, the NEA granted Ucross additional funds to include Native American performers.

The open call for applications for Spring 2026 (January through early June) will open May 1, 2025, with a deadline of July 15, 2025. The open call for applications for Fall 2026 (August through early December) is open from November 1 to January 15.

​There is no application fee to apply to the Ucross Fellowship for Native American Artists. While typically only two recipients will be selected per discipline each year, all applicants will have the option of being considered for a standard Ucross residency.

More information and application portal here. 

Call for Submissions: Jelly Squid Magazine

 

Jelly Squid Magazine

MINI SQUID GUIDELINES

Introducing our fourth issue, MINI SQUID!

MINI SQUID will be a mini-issue showcasing mini-work and published IN PRINT. Starting June 6th, we'll be accepting submissions of tiny, mini, compressed work – short poems, microfiction, tiny drawings, etcetera. Here's everything you need to know:

POETRY
6 lines maximum per poem (and one word minimum – these works can be as short as you like). Send us no more than three poems total. Please try to avoid excessive use of spacing; we’d like to see poems that approach a small amount of space as an opportunity rather than a limitation.

FICTION & NONFICTION
500 words maximum per piece. Send us no more than three pieces. Guidelines are the same for both fiction and nonfiction, but please identify the genre of your work in your submission email.

VISUAL ART
Three pieces maximum. We’re in search of anything and everything mini – doodles and tiny drawings, micro-crochet and mini fiber art projects, very small sculptures and tiny objects, mini paintings, etc. Work with very simple compositions. Work that makes use of a small amount of space. We’d like artists submitting to interpret mini as a theme and let it inspire them to simplify, deconstruct, look closely. We accept all mediums that can be captured in a still image.

OTHER/HYBRID
Three pieces maximum. We’ll leave it to you to read the guidelines from our other genres and apply them to your work.

We know this is a lot of new information to take in, so please don't hesitate to email:

 jellysquidmag@gmail.com 

or message us on our socials with any questions!

Please continue reading below for our general guidelines – this will tell you more about what we do and don't accept, how to format your work, and more.

GENERAL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Jelly Squid was created out of a desire to seek out and uplift voices that feel innovative and new. We accept prose, poetry, and visual art, as well as work that falls into several of those categories (we love hybrid work!). Though we are based in the PNW and aim to use our platform to uplift underrepresented voices from our local community, we accept English-language submissions from anywhere in the world.

Please send all submissions by email to:

jellysquidmag@gmail.com 

If your submission includes multiple pieces, please submit all of them in one document (does not apply to art). PDFs are preferred for writing and PNGs are preferred for art. Please only send us one submission in one category per reading period. We also ask that you send us a short third-person bio along with your submission. Do not include your name anywhere in the document you are submitting.

Jelly Squid accepts work from writers of all backgrounds, but we are especially interested in publishing work from writers who have been published six times or less (or not at all). This is not a requirement, but if this is you, please let us know! We want to give your work the time and attention it deserves. We love to see work from young writers, but please do not submit if you are under 18. Also do not submit work created using AI. Also – this should go without saying, but we want to be clear – we at Jelly Squid do not stand for transphobia, racism, homophobia, misogyny, zionism, ableism, anti-semitism, xenophobia, or any bigotry of any sort. Black lives matter, trans lives matter, free Palestine – if you disagree, don't submit. If you send us work that expresses bigoted views, we will automatically reject it and will not consider any future work you might send our way.

We accept simultaneous submissions, but make sure to let us know. If you have to withdraw a piece (or pieces), please let us know immediately via email. We do not accept previously published work (work that has been posted on personal websites or social media is ok). If you've had your work published by us before, please wait to submit again until a full issue cycle has passed since the issue you were published in (for example, if you had your work published in Issue 1, you can submit to us again for Issue 3).

We do not currently offer payment upon publication as we are small and independently run, but we hope this can change at some point in the future. Submissions are always free. All rights revert to authors upon publication.

Call for Submissions on Theme of "Currents": Notch Magazine

 

Notch Magazine

For this issue we’d like to invite you to consider currents. Please share your musings on the transfer of electrical charge, direct and alternating; poems that capture the scope of variable voltage; stories whose characters bristle with static; and music scores that translate the rhythm and pulse of electrical surges.

Currents in rivers are shaped by the depth of the water and the obstacles it meets in its path. Currents, vertical and horizontal, are also present in oceans; influenced by planetary rotations and variable water density. Wind itself is an air current—jet streams and breezes sweep along as temperature changes and pressure recalibrates.

Consider submitting paintings that drift like tides; textiles that hum with the quiet pull of a longshore current, tugging unknowingly along the edge of the coast; or photography that traces the wind's passage through a landscape. We would also like to see works that seize the bioelectric microamperes that fuel our spinal chords, hearts and brains—and make them dance.

We are less interested in personal essays. Essays exploring philosophical currents of thought from eras past are most welcome.

We accept all mediums–from operatic scores to tattoos to sonnets.

For writing: Pieces up to 1500 words are preferred. Longer work is considered on occasion.Works in translation are welcome.

For the visual & sonic: Please send a high resolution image, audio file, or link to your art. Artist statement optional.

Submissions close July 7, 2025.
Contributors will be compensated. 

To submit, email your work and a brief bio to:

submissions@notch.ink

Call for Submissions: Edge City 2

 

Edge City 2: Our print and online literary magazine.

Prose: up to 6,000 words

Poetry: up to six poems

Art: up to eight pieces

We are looking for fiction, nonfiction, and hybrid works in any style. We want pieces that fit into the HAYS code. The more off-putting, the better.

For accepted submissions, we can offer a payment of $25, as well as an author copy of the printed magazine. The author retains all rights to the work.

Please email:

submissions@nocobo.co 

with the subject line in this form:

“EC2 [Author Name] [Work Title]”

Submissions close July 1, 2025.

Call for Submissions from Canadian Writers: The Ampersand Review

 

The Ampersand Review is a literary magazine published by Sheridan College’s Honours Bachelor of Creative Writing & Publishing program.

The Ampersand Review accepts submissions of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and essays. We seek to publish literary works of the highest quality. To us, this means work that engages thoughtfully with its subject matter and displays formal excellence and innovation. We are now seeking review pitches for Issue No. 9.

We welcome literary works in any genre or form, and from writers of all backgrounds and identities. We’d love to hear from voices who haven’t been heard before and we are committed to providing a platform that meaningfully publishes stories, ideas, and opinions yet to be shared.

In keeping with our mandate to foster literary culture in communities within Canada, we only accept submissions from writers who reside in Canada.

GENERAL GUIDELINES

Our reading period for Issue #9 runs from June 1st-July 31st. If your work is still under consideration, please do not submit again until you’ve received a response. We will not be able to consider multiple submissions from one author; please only submit one submission in a single genre per reading period. If you send multiple submissions in multiple genres, only the first submission we receive will be considered.

The following submissions will not be read:

Submissions sent while a previous submission is still being considered.

· Mail submissions.

· Submissions sent outside of our reading period.

· Submissions that blatantly disregard our guidelines.

· Submissions generated (wholly, or in part) by AI.

We accept only previously unpublished work. Simultaneous submissions are accepted but we kindly ask that you notify us immediately if any part of your submission has been accepted elsewhere.

Please note that we do not consider or publish work written by current students, staff, and faculty at Sheridan College.

Poetry 

• Poetry submissions should not exceed five poems.

• Please submit a PDF in addition to your word document if your poem makes use of atypical formatting. Use the space bar, not Word tabs, to space your poems.

Fiction

• For short fiction, submit only one piece up to a maximum of 3000 words.

Non-Fiction

• We accept polished drafts of essays and memoir as well as standalone excerpts. 

• Submit only one piece at a time up to a maximum of 4000 words.

Reviews 

• We accept review pitches for fiction, poetry, and non-fiction books written by Canadian authors and published by Canadian publishers within the last 12 months, or that are forthcoming.

• Review pitches will be considered on a rolling basis by the Reviews Editor.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

We aim to respond to all submissions within four months. If you haven’t heard from us by then, please query via email.

The Ampersand Review buys first North American serial and limited, non-exclusive digital rights for all accepted submissions. All rights revert to the author at the time of publication.

Payment rates are as follows:

Poetry: $50 per poem/page to a maximum of $100. 

Fiction: $100 per story. 

Non-fiction: $100 per piece. 

Reviews: $100 per review.

Thank you for reading our guidelines. Please query at:

ampersandreview@sheridancollege.ca

More information and submission link here. 

Writing Competitions on Theme of "Fragility": The Nomad Review

The NOMAD Review considers and curates fresh voices in arts and literature.

Categories:

1. Fiction, Personal Essay & Poetry: For general prose and poetry submissions, please note that while we welcome writing of any length, we are more likely to publish pieces under 5,000 words. Please limit your submissions to one per reading cycle.

2. Industry Specials: We also seek innovative voices to discuss or demonstrate tools to help creatives grow their personal goals and careers. Emerging and working creatives regularly face challenges in time, funding, work value, work-life balance, and more. We're looking to publish articles that address these concerns from personal experience or collective wisdom.

3. Criticism, Interviews, & Reviews: for works of an analytical nature, we’re looking for observers to share their understandings about creative works/bodies of work, practices or locations of creation/display, and more. While the focus is not limited to emerging creatives, projects, and businesses, we especially love attention paid to creative newcomers.

4. Visual Art: please limit submissions to 5 pieces per reading cycle, prepared in .jpg or .png format. The resolution for images should be greater than 70 dpi. Please include your artist statement in the cover letter area, linking your submission to themes of the magazine.

General Submission Guidelines:

• We will be reading submissions again from June 1-August 1, 2025. Please email submissions directly to: 

info@nomadreview.org

• We read work on any theme, but our current contest seeks submissions on the theme of "fragility." One winner in each of these six categories will be selected for a $75 prize: poetry, fiction, nonfiction, visual art, industry specials, and criticism/reviews/interviews.

• We cannot accept paper submissions at this time, unless you are an incarcerated writer or artist. In that case, please mail work to: 

NOMADartx

809 S. Mann Ave 

Tucson, AZ 85710

• While we welcome writing submissions of any length, we are more likely to publish prose under 5,000 words.

• Please prepare writing submissions in one letter-sized document, using a standard typeface (e.g., Times, Helvetica, Arial) and font size (12 point). All files must be uploaded in PDF or Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) formats. Please do not include your name anywhere on your manuscript (rather, include it in the cover letter). Please DO include page numbers.

• For visual art: please limit submissions to 5 pieces per reading cycle, and prepare your files in .jpg or .png formats. The resolution for images should be greater than 70 dpi.

• We reserve the right to pair accepted visual works alongside written pieces or other artworks, and curate multiple works into groups for features. Additionally, we may select certain works to feature, in part or whole, in banner areas of the NOMADartx site.

• We are open to simultaneous submissions, but please email us to let us know as soon as your work is accepted elsewhere.

• We may occasionally republish previously published work, as long as this does not conflict with previous contracts. However, you must indicate previously published work when you submit.

• Responses will be provided as promptly as we, with a small staff, are able to provide them. Please do not email us about the status of your work until at least six months after submission.

• Although NOMADartx Review does not request exclusive rights to accepted work, we do request the right to preserve your work online in our archives for the lifespan of the magazine. If the work we publish is later republished, we request that you note its initial publication in NOMADartx.

NOMADartx Review is currently an all-volunteer publication and we're unable to provide payment at this time. However, we are passionate about promoting great art, and will submit contributor work for appropriate literary and art prizes!

Call for Submissions from Black writers on Theme of "Homecoming": Lucky Jefferson

 

Writing allows us to imagine a world where oppression and trauma don’t exist. And there is a reality where we are not defined by our trauma(s), but through our power—And you’re invited to be a part of that.

Awake is a digital zine and collection of work by Black writers and artists that explores the power we each hold. For a third time, Awake, [Issue 7], will be in print!

Deadline: Aug. 1, 2025 

Use the prompt below to complete your submission:

"Home" is elusive for many folks in the Black diaspora. We seek to find home in our communities, in our culture, in our bodies, and in each other.

Homecoming invites Black writers to reflect lovingly on the spaces, places, and people that have made them feel at home—like they belong. Whether it's a barber shop in your neighborhood, your auntie's kitchen table, or your favorite sweater, share a poem expressing your love and devotion.

Your work does not need to follow any specific structure, but should celebrate and pay homage to your subject.

*All poetic and creative expressions are welcome (poetry, creative non-fiction, photography, art, etc.)*

PAYMENT (UPON ACCEPTANCE):

$15 — Haiku, Short Poems (<14 lines), Micro Fiction (under 100-300 words)
SUBMIT UP TO 3 PIECES PER UPLOAD

$25 — Prose, Short Story, Flash fiction, Creative-Nonfiction (under 1000 words)
SUBMIT NO MORE THAN 1 PIECE PER UPLOAD

$50 — Hybrid, Experimental, Essays, Long-form pieces. (under 2000 words)
SUBMIT NO MORE THAN 1 PIECE PER UPLOAD

 $50 — All Artwork (includes comics, paintings, etc.)
SUBMIT UP TO 3 PIECES PER UPLOAD

Upon acceptance, submissions will be included on our website, in print, and will be eligible to be publicized on social media.

Accepted authors will receive a payout of $15, $25, or $50, each accepted submission. 

We do not accept translations or work that has been previously published in print or online.

**We encourage you to donate with your submission. Your contribution fuels the publication of Lucky Jefferson as we are a growing independent publication with an all-volunteer staff.​

**Previously accepted poets/writers should wait 2 quarters, or two issues, from the time of acceptance, before submitting new work to any open call.** 

Submit your work here. 

Call for Submissions: If There's Anyone Left

 

 If There's Anyone Left

GENERAL (i.e. non micro-fiction) GUIDELINES

Barring unforeseen circumstances (for which we will update this page), we are open to general flash submissions each year from June 1 to July 15. Submissions outside this window won’t be considered, unless otherwise posted on this page.

We want science fiction and speculative fiction. So long as it falls into one of these categories, we will happily read it. If other elements are present, that is fine, but it must include science or speculative fiction.

NOW ACCEPTING TRANSLATIONS (MORE INFO BELOW)

No more than 1000 words. This is a firm limit. Please no queries about longer pieces.

NO AI-GENERATED/ASSISTED STORIES

Pay rate is professional - $0.08 US/word 

This is for marginalized members of the sci-fi/spec community—this includes people of color, the LGBTQ2S+ community, members of marginalized genders, and disabled and neurodiverse people. If you are not a person of color, LGBTQ2S+, neurodiverse, disabled, or of a marginalized gender, please DO NOT send us your work. Authors of all accepted pieces will have the option to include a short bio in the anthology. We understand the sensitive nature of gender identity and sexual orientation, so if you wish this status to remain unwritten and/or if you prefer to be anonymous, we will print only what you wish to be printed. If you would like your piece published under a pseudonym, please indicate this on your submission. If you would like your pronouns included, please indicate those as well.

DO NOT send us anything hateful. No gratuitous violence, torture, rape, or any work that promotes an ideology unbecoming of an inclusive society – no stories supporting racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, or any other of the many forms of hate.

Minutiae

Please prepare your submission according to standard guidelines, which you can find here. No mailed subscriptions. DOC or DOCX formats only. Please don’t include your address or telephone number—if we need those, we’ll ask for them upon acceptance.

You may send up to three submissions per window. This can be all at once or one at a time if you like.

Cover letters (must include cover letter): please include a short bio and PayPal email address. Please don’t summarize your piece. If you’re a member of SFWA, HWA, Codex, or other writerly groups, please let us know here.

Please include all contact information (physical address not required unless your piece is accepted, at which time we’ll only use it to send your print copy) in your file, including your PayPal associated e-mail address.

If PayPal won’t work for authors, we will find an alternative.

E-mail all stories to:

iftheresanyoneleft at gmail dot com (Change at to @ and dot to .) 

with the following subject line: SUBMISSION: [story title here] AUTHOR [your name here]. Any submissions without this subject heading may not be read.

Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let us know if your story is accepted elsewhere so that we can remove it from consideration.

All stories will be published as an eBook and in print in a single volume. 

Sample contract can be found here.

Future submission windows will be provided when there are additional anthologies. 

Submission Grinder is an excellent tool and please feel free to log submissions there.

Though we may be able to offer feedback sometimes, we regret that we will not be able to provide individualized feedback on all stories. Please understand that choosing stories is a highly subjective process and just because we do not accept your story does not mean it is not excellent. If you DO NOT want to receive feedback, please state that in your e-mail.

We are trying out automated response confirmation emails, but the way gmail works, you’ll likely only get an automated response to your first submission if you send all three pretty close together in time.

No reprints.

We buy the following rights:

worldwide electronic for 6 months from the date of purchase, non-exclusive for the life of the magazine.

non-exclusive print and electronic

TRANSLATIONS

We will only accept stories newly translated into English (i.e. they’ve never been published in any form in English before). We will pay $0.08 US/word to the author and $0.08 US/word to the translator based on the English language version (still a maximum of 1000 words).

We will be buying first-printing world exclusive English-language and non-exclusive original language rights for six months.

In your email, please tell us the story’s original language, place of publication, and include the original language version. We will make every effort to publish the original-text version alongside the English translation. Therefore, the rights to the original story must be available. Please also tell us if you are the author or translator. We will have both the translator and original author sign the contracts. Please make sure you have permission from the original author (and/or publisher) to translate the work before sending it to us.

Call for Submissions: Hayden's Ferry Review

Submission Period: June 15-July 15, 2025

Poetry Guidelines:

Submit a maximum of 3 poems totaling up to 8 pages. Please include your entire submission in one file and be sure your name and contact information are included on the first page of the file. All work should be uploaded through our submissions manager. Acceptable file formats include .doc, .docx, and .pdf. Please send one submission at a time and wait for a response before you submit additional work. We do not consider book-length works. Submitters are strongly encouraged to read the journal before submitting. Sample work from current and past issues is available on our website.

Prose Guidelines:

We accept both fiction and non-fiction. Prose should be double-spaced. Submit a maximum of one piece totaling up to 20 pages (though we favor pieces under 17 pages). Please include your entire submission in one file and be sure your name and contact information are included on the first page of the file. We accept one story, essay, novel excerpt, or memoir excerpt per author at any given time. All work should be uploaded through our submissions manager.

Translation Guidelines:

Translations submissions should be works translated into English from any other non-English language, and must include the original text along with the translated text. Translators should secure rights to translate the work they are submitting. Submit up to 6 poems/micro-fictions, or one essay/story. Upon acceptance, we will request a translator's note on your translation process (similar to an artist statement).

Translation submissions are open year-round and during the months we open for submissions in other genres for a forthcoming issue, we’ll also open submissions for 50 free translation submissions under the Submittable category “TRANSLATION: Free Submissions for Underrepresented Writers - Issue X.”

Art Guidelines:

We are looking for visual art in all categories. Please submit 5-8 pieces at a time. We may ask for additional art based on this submission. We accept work that has been previously published on the artist's social media or personal website but we do not accept work that has been previously published in other journals.

Upon acceptance, we will request high res files, an author's bio, and an artist's statement. We publish art in full color, often selecting between 2 and 4 artists for each issue. One of these will receive cover credit and bookmark credit.

General Notes on Submission:

• For our PRINT issues: Please send one submission per genre at a time, and wait for a response before you submit additional work. If you submit more than one submission, we will not read the second one. Please double-check that you are submitting in the correct genre. Work submitted in the incorrect genre will be declined.

• For our WEB issues: please send one submission at a time, and wait for a response before you submit additional work. If you submit more than one submission, we will not read the second one.

• Simultaneous submissions are welcome. If your work is accepted elsewhere, please notify the editors immediately by adding a message to your submission in Submittable.

• Withdraw your submission using Submittable. If you are only withdrawing a section of your work (for example: 2/5 poems), add a message to your submission.

• Contributors receive one copy of the issue in which they appear. Additional copies may be purchased for $6 each up to 5 copies.

• We do not accept previously published material - this includes work that’s been published on social media and Substack. (See the above exception for art submissions.)

• We do not consider book-length works.

• Submitters are strongly encouraged to read the journal before submitting: to subscribe, visit http://haydensferryreview.com/store.

• Our goal is to respond to submissions within six months. Please only reach out about your submission status after six months have passed.

Anyone affiliated with ASU (staff, faculty, and graduate/undergraduate students) should refrain from submitting to HFR until they have been unaffiliated for three years.

If you have previously been published in HFR's print journal or a web issue, please wait 2 years from your publication date before submitting again.

By submitting, you are agreeing to receive occasional newsletter emails from us. You are welcome to opt out at any time and a link to do so will be included in each newsletter.

PLEASE NOTE: We no longer accept submissions by mail. We will only review work that has been received through Submittable.

Upon acceptance of your work, HFR asks for first North American Serial Rights and nonexclusive use of the Work thereafter such as in anthologies, special projects, and digital archiving; nonexclusive online publication on HFR’s website and affiliated sites or platforms, if selected; nonexclusive right of translation, publication in all languages, and distribution on HFR or affiliated sites or platforms, if selected; permission for versions to be created by nonprofit organizations for use by people who are blind or disabled; nonexclusive rights to your name(s), image(s), likeness(es), and biographical information for use in the promotion and publication of the Work.

After publication, all rights, except those stated above, revert to the copyright owner. You (or the copyright owner) retain copyright and the right of reprint. Please credit Hayden's Ferry Review as the place of first publication. You are responsible for the content of the Work. ASU and HFR assume no liability.

Free Submissions for Underrepresented Writers

Hayden’s Ferry Review recognizes that for too long the literary canon and the publishing world have largely privileged certain stories and voices over others. According to Pen America’s “Reading Between the Lines: Race, Equity, and Book Publishing” report, “the [US] publishing industry, and the books it puts out, remain disproportionately white.” Yet, the report goes on to say, “Not only is the United States a demographically diverse nation—as of the last census, an estimated 42 percent of the country are people of color—it also boasts a demographically diverse readership. The National Endowment for the Arts estimates that approximately a quarter of America’s regular adult readers are people of color. For decades, voices within and outside the publishing industry have called on publishing houses and bookstores to more fully reflect this demographic diversity.”

At HFR, we believe that as a literary journal we have the responsibility to publish creative work that reflects diverse experiences, identities, and cultures on both a national and global scale. We are especially committed to uplifting the voices of those who have long been marginalized and underrepresented.

Art submissions are open year-round and always free but during the months that we are open for other genre submissions, we will have at least 50 free submissions in each genre for underrepresented voices. If you consider yourself to fit into this category, please submit for free to “Free Submissions for Underrepresented Writers.” Among the many types of underrepresentation that exist in literature, we particularly encourage Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and those who belong to the LGBTQIA+ and disability communities to submit to HFR.

We do not discriminate on any impermissible basis, including race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, or disability. Anyone without regard to these categories is welcome to submit as an underrepresented writer if they consider their experiences or identities to be underrepresented in the literary industry.

A Note on Accessibility:

It has come to our attention that Submittable may not be accessible to visually impaired writers. HFR is committed to accessibility and wants to receive submissions from all writers equally. If you are a visually impaired writer who is currently unable to submit via Submittable due to accessibility issues, you may email your submission as an attachment in .pdf format to:

haydensferryreview AT gmail.com (Change AT to @ )

Please let us know in the email you are submitting due to accessibility concerns. Note that submissions received via email which are outside the current submission period, or do not suit the current call(s) or guidelines, will not receive a response. If you have questions concerning this policy, please email us at the above address.

Book Reviews & Interviews:

Our book reviews and interviews are conducted by current and past HFR staff and students in the ASU MFA program with the occasional solicited review or interview. We accept books for review submission during the months of September to April. If you would like us to consider your book or collection for a featured book review or interview on our blog, especially if you are a former contributor, please email:

 haydensferryreview@gmail.com 

with the subject line “Book for Review/Interview Consideration.” In the email, include the title of your work, a brief summary, and anything else you’d like us to know. If you have a digital copy of your work, feel free to include this. If we are interested in reviewing your work, we will send you our mailing address where you can send a physical review copy. We receive many wonderful works but, unfortunately, are unable to review all of them. If you haven’t received a response from us within two months, we are currently at capacity and won't be able to take on your book. This doesn't mean we aren't thrilled to see your work out in the world! But because we operate with a mostly volunteer staff, our bandwidth is limited.

Submit your work here. (Note: Submissions open on June 15, 2025.)

Call for Submissions: Scrawl Place

 

Current Guidelines (as of May 5, 2025)

Scrawl Place is a literary journal disguised as a visitor’s guide.

The audience for this online publication is the guest, the visitor, the traveler, the day-tripper, the out-of-towner, and the in-towners eager to wander.

I’m looking for submissions about “places in the places” where you live or where you’ve visited. My aspiration is that readers will visit the places you write about and be inspired to write about those places themselves.

Checklist for submissions

• Does the place exist? The place should be a real, tangible place.

• Does the place have a name? If the place does not have a name, it is probably not specific enough for Scrawl Place.

• Can you pin the place on a map? This isn’t an absolute requirement, but the more specific the place, the more likely it’s a fit for the journal.

• Can you take a photo of the place? This is not an absolute requirement, but if the place cannot be captured in a photo (i.e. impossible to take a photo of “America”), it is probably not specific enough for the journal.

• Is the place your home or the moon? The place should not be your personal home, the bottom of the ocean, the moon, or any other place that is generally impossible for readers to visit.

What to Submit CNF, Fiction, Poetry, Hybrids

Length There are no length requirements (a/o August 11, 2022)
Submit one to three pieces at a time in the same document.

Payment $35 per piece 

Paid within 30 days of acceptance (PayPal, Venmo, CashApp, ApplePay or Zelle)

Where to Submit + Response Times

Send your submission through Submittable. 

The average response time is four weeks.

Cover Letters + Bio

Cover letters are optional, but please provide a third-person bio.

Rights

Writers retain all rights to their work. Scrawl Place requests a nonexclusive license to 1) Publish your work in an e-newsletter; 2) Archive your work on the website so long as the site exists; 3) Excerpt your work for use in promotion.

Simultaneous Subs + Previously Published Work

Scrawl Place encourages simultaneous submissions.

Scrawl Place accepts previously published work.

Any questions? Email:

andy@scrawlplace.com

Call for Submissions from Writers and Artists from Pennsylvania, Delaware, or New Jersey: Philadelphia Stories

 

Submission Guidelines

Philadelphia Stories is a free print magazine that strives to publish the finest fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and art written by authors living in, or originally from, Pennsylvania, Delaware, or New Jersey. Philadelphia Stories seeks submissions from diverse perspectives: all ethnicities, races, abilities, and gender identification. We wish to demonstrate the vitality and vibrancy of the Philadelphia-area residents in every issue.

Philadelphia Stories is an all-volunteer non-profit supported by the donations of its members. You can help support other local writers and artists by making a donation here.

Thanks to the support of the Conrad Weiser Contribution Fund, we are a paying market paying an honorarium of $50 to our authors published in the print magazine.

Below are the guidelines for submitting material. There is no reading fee.
Deadlines

SUBMISSION PERIODS:

Art: Rolling submissions

CNF/Fiction/Poetry —

Summer/Fall 2025: June 1 – September 1, 2025

PLEASE NOTE: You will be notified of the status of your submission within six months AFTER the issue deadline. If you have not heard from us within six months after your submission was sent, please feel free to contact us and we’ll check the status for you. Please note, our emails do sometimes get caught in spam filters. Thanks for submitting to Philadelphia Stories!

General Guidelines

• Only work submitted through our Online Submission Form will be considered.

• We do not accept previously published work. This includes work published online, on personal blogs or websites.

• Any work received after the closing date for a particular issue will be considered for the next issue.

• Simultaneous submissions are accepted. Please let us know immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.

• Please attach a SHORT bio (about 75 words, written in third person) including your connection to Pennsylvania, Delaware, or New Jersey.

• We will send notice by email regarding the acceptance or rejection of your material within six months after the issue’s deadline.

Fiction

• Please send all submissions to the Fiction Editor through our Online Submission Form.

• We accept short stories or novel excerpts in varying lengths up to 5,000 words. (Hint: Shorter works are more likely to find a spot in print.)

• We look for fiction written by Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey writers (either currently residing in, originally from, or lived here at some point) that features sharp writing, carefully crafted plots, and, above all, compelling characters. Novel excerpts should be able to stand alone as a complete work.

Poetry

• Up to three poems may be submitted in one submission period. Due to themed issues and contests, there may be a delay between winter, spring, and summer. Thank you for your patience.

• Each submitted poem is not to exceed 36 lines. Poems may be single spaced (unlike prose submissions which should be double spaced). Poems that exceed 36 lines/one page may be excluded from consideration.

• Submit each poem in its own single document/attachment. This will allow the submitter to WITHDRAW work that is accepted elsewhere as we DO expect some poets to make simultaneous submissions to multiple journals. Submitted documents that include multiple poems may be excluded from consideration.

• If your simultaneously submitted poem is accepted elsewhere, please WITHDRAW your poem as soon as possible. And congratulations!

• Your cover letter should include a SHORT bio (about 50-75 words, written in third person) including your connection to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or Delaware. Feel free to copy and paste the same text in each of your three submissions. Upon acceptance, we will also ask for a photo and an updated bio.

• Please title your submission with the TITLE of the attached poem.

• Please send all poetry to the Poetry Editor through our Online Submission Form.

Nonfiction

• Creative nonfiction essays should not exceed 2,500 words. We’re looking for pieces that focus on positive Philadelphia experiences, but will consider any well-written essay on any subject. In particular, essays should convey real emotional honesty and or humor.

• Please send all essays to the Nonfiction Editor through our Online Submission Form.

Artwork

• All artwork must be submitted electronically.

• Please submit no more than five previously unpublished images for consideration.

• Preliminary images do not need to be print resolution and may be attached as a JPEG or GIF. Final, approved artwork should be of professional quality, at least 300 dpi saved as a TIFF, PDF, JPEG or EPS.

• Do not send us links to your website. We’ll leave it to you to find your best work.

Please upload all artwork to through our Online Submission Form or email to:

art@philadelphiastories.org

PS Junior (writers/artists aged 18 and younger)

Philadelphia Stories, Junior, a division of Philadelphia Stories, is a literary magazine published each Spring for writers age 18 and under who currently live in Pennsylvania, Delaware, or Southern New Jersey. Please follow these guidelines for submitting material. There is no reading fee.

Deadline: February 1.

General Guidelines
1. Philadelphia Stories, Jr. accepts work submitted to our online submission form.
2. On the first page, please include your name, school, grade, and information on how we can contact you.
3. Any work received after the closing date for a particular issue will be considered for the next issue.
4. Tell us about yourself and where you live. For example: George Smith is in sixth grade and likes to write poetry. He also likes basketball and lives with his cat and little sister in Cherry Hill, NJ. He has read all seven Harry Potters twice.

If you would prefer to email your submission, email to:

PSJR912@gmail.com