Call for Submissions: Smokelong Quarterly

Please note that we are currently in our quarterly free-submissions period (November 16th - December 31st). Our next paid-submissions window is January 1st to February 15th.

SmokeLong publishes flash narratives--fiction, nonfiction, and hybrid (somewhere between fiction and non-fiction)--up to 1000 words.

Include the word count and a print-ready, third-person bio with your cover letter. We prefer a simple cover letter.

Please remove all identifying information from your story’s document. Guest Editors and staff Submissions Editors read anonymously and have no access to bios. Also note that submissions editors have no access to Submittable messages. If you need to make changes to your submission, please withdraw and resubmit your work.

During unpaid submissions windows, you may send one previously unpublished piece at a time and wait until you hear our decision before sending another, or for a fee you may choose to send up to three submissions in one document through the Multiple Submissions form. The Multiple Submissions option comes with a discount code for The SmokeLong Shop and a promise to respond within three days. Paid multiple submissions are read by Christopher Allen, the publisher and editor-in-chief of SmokeLong, and passed to the senior editors for comments if Christopher decides they deserve further consideration. If we are considering your submission for publication, we'll let you know that we need a few more days to discuss your work.

For free submissions, please allow us up to four weeks to respond. We try to respond to paid submissions within one week.

Simultaneous submissions are considered. Please inform us immediately if your work has been accepted elsewhere for publication.

We pay $100/story or $150/story with audio, upon publication in the quarterly issue. Payment will be issued via PayPal or Zelle, and in rare cases the writer may be responsible for any associated fees if applicable.

If you are seeking feedback on your submission, please see the forms "SmokeLong General Submissions with Feedback" or "Senior Editor Critique." These services are subsidized by SmokeLong so that the editors giving feedback earn more than you're paying. This is one way SmokeLong is trying to keep feedback reasonably priced while also providing income for talented editors. If you are taking part in SmokeLong Fitness, please be sure to use the links for discounted links in the workshop.

If you choose to make a donation to SmokeLong using the tip jar feature, thank you so much! Your contribution will help the journal pay six senior editors (all freelance editors, so please look them up), artists, reviewers, interviewers, writers, and our webmaster, who has graciously stepped in to clean up our messes for more than 10 years. We sponsor up to four Emerging Writer Fellows each year, and we also support worthy causes, which you can find on our We Support page. While your donation will not influence our decision regarding your submission, it will influence our love for you. We also offer readers the possibility of donating to SmokeLong directly on the website.

We can't wait to read your words.

--The SmokeLong Team

Submit your work here.