Call for Submissions: Brown Hound Press

We are soliciting stories for publication on brownhoundpress.com. Each week, our website is visited by thousands of readers. Our readership includes writers, editors, publishers, and literary agents.

Story length is capped at 3,000 words (a couple hundred over is fine). Fewer than 800 words likely won’t be a fit. Flash is not really our thing.

We pay $25 for all accepted stories. If we buy a story, we ask for exclusive rights for one year. After that, the rights go back to the author.

What We Want:

• Mystery

• Offbeat

• Dark Humor

• Southern Gothic

• Literary

Our acceptance rate hovers around three percent. An additional two percent of submissions are offered editorial notes with an opportunity to revise and resubmit. Yes, this means it’s hard to get published at Brown Hound Press. But you should try anyway!

To submit a story for consideration, please use our online form. Stories should be previously unpublished. Please do not submit more than one at a time.

We do not permit the use of AI in the stories we publish. Do not attempt to submit stories that have been written with AI.

Writing Residency and Fellowship: Baldwin Fellowship Program

2026-2027 Baldwin Fellowship Program

an artist residency program for the Global Majority founded by Jacqueline Woodson

Baldwin For The Arts prioritizes fostering an intergenerational community of artists of the Global Majority. The term “Global Majority” is a positive (re)framing of diverse and historically marginalized communities. Rather than view people of African, Asian, Caribbean, Indigenous, Hispanic/Latino/a/x, and dual-heritage backgrounds as minorities, the term recognizes that ‘Globally’ these populations are the Majority.

Emerging and established artists of the Global Majority who specialize in the following disciplines are encouraged to apply:

**Literature: **All genres.
**Performance: **All disciplines which are performed in front of a live audience, including theater, music composition, and dance.
**Visual: **All art forms that use paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects including painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, and filmmaking (includes documentary, narrative, and experimental projects).
**Interdisciplinary: **All projects that use multiple disciplines, such as science, technology, literature, philosophy, to create new and unique artistic experiences.

Application period is February 18, 2026 until April 18, 2026.

*For additional information, please visit us at www.baldwinforthearts.org. *

Apply here. 

Call for Submissions: Spank the Carp

 

Spank the Carp 

We publish fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction, from any author including as yet unpublished writers or writers with only a few publications under their belt. See below, but also check out the editor's interview on Six Questions For and on Duotrope.

PREFERRED CONTENT
Any genre, including hard science fiction, though PLEASE no fantasy, erotica, or sappy romance. Humor is good.

Flash Fiction (around 800 words or less).

Short stories (around 5000 words or less).

Poetry that is lyrical, where you've paid as much attention to the sound of the words as to their meaning.

​Free verse is okay as long as it doesn't read the same with or without line breaks. Same goes with poetry submissions in general.

Concrete or Shape poetry definitely encouraged.

Please no excerpts from larger works, for example a chapter from a memoir, and no chapbooks in full or in part.

NEW: Creative non-fiction: Same word limit as short stories. All types except biography, and Content Notes below apply.

Regardless, we prefer works that cut to the chase, that are pithy, and have a sense of importance (without overdoing it). And by that we mean, you wrote something you feel needed to be written and put out there in the world.

CONTENT NOTES
Please DO NOT SUBMIT anything erotic, sexual, pornographic, or portraying gratuitous violence. Think PG-13, maybe PG-18. Also do not submit political or religious screeds disguised as fiction or poetry. Sensitive thought-provoking actual fiction that makes a general religious or political point, like something utopian or dystopian is okay, just no preaching. It won't even be considered. Same goes with anything erotic, sexual, pornographic, or violent.

Anything you submit must be your own original creation. It must never have been published on any website or print publication that you do not personally own. If it has appeared only on your own blog or website or your own self-published printed material it is considered self-published. In this case, as long as you are the sole copyright owner, we will accept your work for consideration for reprint.

NOTE: Please do not submit any work where you used AI in any fashion (other than say 'smart' type ahead/grammar checking) If you're not sure, please add a note to your cover email regarding your use.

Carpwork Gallery ARTWORK and PHOTOS
I'm looking for images and photos that depict Carp and Koi in artistic and natural settings and have a strong artistic element. See the Carpwork Gallery for examples. A one sentence credit will appear with your image or photo and a caption that you should provide. Submission process, compensation, and terms are the same as for written work.

NOTE: When submitting images, please include a creative caption.

SUBMISSION PROCESS - PLEASE NOTE
All stories must be submitted via email. We will respond as quickly as possible. Turnaround time is approximately 60 days.
NOTE: By submitting your work you agree to the Terms and Agreements below as well as the note above regarding AI.

Please submit one short story, one flash, or up to three poems at a time. Simultaneous submissions are fine but please inform us if your submission is accepted for publication elsewhere.

​Please no resubmissions.

Please include:
- In the subject please include the type of piece you are submitting, for example: Submission - Poetry
​- In the body of your email: Your full name,
- A two sentence max description of your work,
- How you heard of SPANK the CARP (optional).
- Attach a docx, doc, or rtf formatted document (no PDFs please). For visual poetry, png or jpg only.
- Do not send a formal bio. If your work is accepted we will contact you for a formal bio. DO however tell us whether you have been published before.

Email to: 

the_carp (at) spankthecarp.com

with the word Submission as the subject.

NEW - Voluntary TIP JAR Submissions: For $4 you will be guaranteed a response within 2 weeks, with feedback. This is totally voluntary and does not affect the editor's decision. Details and signup are here.

Compensation
No compensation can be offered at this time. If accepted, your work will appear prominently on the home page, with a link to its own page. This can easily be linked to from a personal or other website. Also, since we seek quality over quantity, in the issue in which your work appears, you will appear with only a few other authors and not buried in a sea of screen clutter.

Terms and Agreements
SUMMARY: If we accept your work, we ask for First Serial Rights until publication. After publication all rights revert back to the author. Also your work will remain in our past issues archives unless you ask us to remove it. Exceptions to these terms can be granted on a case by case basis, just ask.

Call for Submissions: The Capra Review

The Capra Review is an annual online magazine of fiction, nonfiction, photography, and art. We review submissions on a rolling basis. Authors should expect notification of acceptance status within three months of submission.

We welcome simultaneous submissions that have not been previously published in print or online. Please inform us promptly if your work has been accepted elsewhere.

Contributors retain all rights to their work. We humbly ask that the original publication in The Capra Review be acknowledged for future reprints.\

Unfortunately, we are unable to offer payment at this time.

General Guidelines

We suggest a 5,000-word limit, but we will consider longer pieces.

Fiction: Short stories and stand-alone novel excerpts.

Non-fiction: Memoirs, personal essays, narratives, letters, travel journals, and confessions. We do not accept peer-review or academic articles.

Photography: Photo series/stories with a narrative or theme. Upon acceptance, we follow up with an artist interview to publish alongside the work.

Cover art: photographic series of paintings, collages, and sculptures.

Send submissions to:

thecaprareview@gmail.com 

in one of the following file forms: .doc, .rtf, .pdf, .docx, .txt, mp4, .mov., jpeg.

Call for Submissions: Varnish Print Journal

Varnish Literary Journal 

The physicality of print remains the most effective medium for deep emotional and intellectual connections with literary art in 2026. Collecting excellent work as a real object anchors creative community building, and encourages the dispersal of literature in physical settings.

On these grounds, thrilled, we are opening submissions for the inaugural print edition of Varnish. In line with our mission, the print journal seeks to expand the professional writing landscape in Australia; unlike with Varnish Online, we are able to compensate all artists for their work, offering payment for chosen fiction, essays, and poems.

Works are to be selected purely for artistic merit, stylistic ingenuity, and complex examinations of lived experience. For this edition, only one submission in total is allowed per person, and we do not accept pitches.

Important information:

We’re only able to consider the first 500 submissions, so don’t delay

Please send all submissions to:

varnishsubmissions@gmail.com

When submitting, please add “Print Submission” to your email subject-line. Submissions not marked as “Print Submission” will automatically be redirected to Varnish Online. Payment is for the print version only.

Word limits:

Fiction – Maximum 8000 words

Essay – Maximum 8000 words

Poetry – Maximum 4 pages

Rates:
Fiction – $250

Essays – $250

Poetry – $100

Submissions close 4 April 2026.

Call for Submissions: Unbound Ink

Closes on Friday, May 1, 2026

At Unbound Ink, we believe in the transformative power of the written word and its lasting impact. We are committed to reading each submission anonymously, apart from any identifying information, including publishing history—or the lack of it. By approaching each piece in this way, we aim to share a rich spectrum of voices in an inclusive space. We’re seeking work that will challenge, move, and surprise us. Work that won’t let us go.

Submission Periods:

We accept submissions of previously unpublished work twice a year — starting in February, and again in July—in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and visual art. Submission periods will remain open until we reach our cap for that period.

Response times vary according to the volume of submissions, but we will try to respond within three months. Thank you in advance for your patience.General Submission Guidelines:

We read each submission anonymously. Please see our Mission Statement.

Important: 

• Do not include your name or contact information anywhere in your submission. Please do include the genre of the work you're submitting at the top of the page. If we accept your work, we will request your name and bio so that we can include this information when your piece is published on our site. Please send only unpublished work. If your poem, story, or essay has been published in a journal, in a blog, or on social media, it is not eligible for publication.

• Simultaneous submissions are welcome. If your work is accepted elsewhere, please notify us as soon as possible.

• We obtain first rights to online publication only, and authors retain copyrights of their work. We ask that you wait three months before publishing the piece elsewhere, online or in print.

• Submissions are open internationally, and inclusion of other languages is welcome, as long as the poem, story, or essay is primarily written in English.

• Currently, we only accept translations by the original author.

• AI-generated work will be automatically declined.

• While we don’t charge a submission fee, we are (at this time) unable to pay our authors.

• Upon submission, you will be added to our mailing list. You may unsubscribe at any time.Genre

Specific Guidelines:

We consider previously unpublished:

Fiction

Submit one short story, up to 5,000 words.
Submit one or two flash fiction pieces, up to 1,000 words each, in a single document.

Poetry

Submit three to five poems, up to ten pages in a single document.

Nonfiction

Submit one creative nonfiction piece or personal essay, up to 3,500 words.

Visual art

We accept visual art for our online covers only. Please watch our website for submission periods. Visual art specs generally require a high-resolution digital format (like JPEG or TIFF) at 300 DPI or higher.

Submit your work here. 

Writing Competition: 2026 Emerging Writers Essay Contest with Waterman Fund

2026 Emerging Writers Essay Contest with Waterman Fund

Since 2008, Appalachia, the mountaineering and conservation journal published by the Appalachian Mountain Club, and the Waterman Fund have collaborated to sponsor an annual essay contest for emerging writers. Writers who have not published a major work of fiction or narrative nonfiction on topics of wilderness, wildness, ecology, or environmental issues are eligible. The Waterman Fund provides generous prize money of $3,000 for the first-place essay selection and $1,000 for a runner-up.  

The submission window will remain open until March 15.

For 2026, we invite essays that address any or all topics related to: our relationship to the natural living world, land and place, preservation/conservation, alpine ecosystems, wild(er)ness and the deep woods.

We welcome essays that span genres of memoir, scientific, and personal adventure; fiction, poetry, plays, and songs are not eligible for this contest. 

Submissions should be 2,000-3,000 words. Please include contact information, a few lines about why you feel your essay is appropriate for the contest, why you believe you are an emerging writer, and a list of all publications as a brief annotated bibliography (with links when possible). Send your online submissions as a Microsoft Word (or Word-compatible) document, double-spaced, in 12 point, Times New Roman. Do not insert photographs or other graphics in the document. If submitting by mail, please include an email address.

For inquiries or to mail your submission through the post, please contact: 

essays@watermanfund.org

More information and submission link here. 

Writing Competitions: Ninth Letter Literary Awards

Ninth Letter Literary Awards

Ninth Letter accepts submissions of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for our literary awards from March 1 to May 1.

Prize

The winner in each genre (poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction) will receive $1,000, publication in the Fall/Winter print issue and online, two contributor’s copies of the print issue, and bragging rights. Ninth Letter acquires First North American Serial Rights (FNASR) only; all other rights are retained by the author. All submissions are considered for publication in our general issue and/or online. Judge information is available on our website. 

General Guidelines

Submissions are read anonymously, so neither the author’s name nor any identifying information should appear on the manuscript itself. If the author’s name appears in the poem, story, or essay, please replace with [Author’s Name] to maintain anonymity. Acceptable file formats are .pdf, .doc, .docx.

Please ensure you submit the correct document for your entry. At this time we are unable to accommodate submission replacements or edits.

Prose Guidelines

Please submit one piece of no more than 8,000 words. You may also submit up to three pieces of flash-fiction or flash-nonfiction as long as the total word count of the submission is no more than 4,000 words.

Poetry Guidelines

Please submit up to 5 poems in a single file of no more than 10 pages.

Submission Fee

There is an $20 submission fee for each entry. All U.S. entrants will receive a one-year print subscription to Ninth Letter. All international entrants will receive a copy of the fall/winter print issue. Payments are accepted via Submittable.

Multiple Submissions

You are welcome to send multiple submissions in multiple categories provided a fee is paid for each entry. Should you submit more than once, your print subscription will be cumulative. For example, if you submit one manuscript to each poetry, fiction, and CNF, you will receive a three-year subscription.

You may also choose to gift any or all of your print subscriptions to another literary magazine fans of your choosing. If you’d like to gift any of your submissions, please fill out this Google Form after submitting, and our contest coordinator will manage the subscriptions. The Google Form is anonymous and will not collect your email.
Simultaneous Submissions

Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please withdraw your submission immediately upon acceptance elsewhere. For poetry, please send a message via Submittable if withdrawing select poems but not the entire manuscript. Due to logistical and labor considerations, neither refunds nor replacement submissions will be offered for withdrawn manuscripts. You will still receive the complimentary one-year subscription even if you have to withdraw your submission.
Eligibility

No current students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign or students associated with the school in the past five years are eligible to submit. Likewise, any entrants with a close relationship with guest judges are not eligible to submit.
Accessibility

If you require additional accessibility considerations, please email ninthletter9@gmail.com with the subject line “Contest Accessibility.”

Submit your entry here.