Submissions

We want to provide a home for writing that we love. And we want you to publish in a venue that is compatible with your own literary ambitions, ethos, and tastes. We hope that what follows proves generative rather than limiting, even if you decide to not submit with us. 

We accept submissions via Submittable only (linked below).

We are open for submissions twice each year, from September 1-October 31 and from March 1-April 30. 

We will accept literary writing, including that with speculative, fantasy, utopian, or horror elements. 

You are welcome to submit the following genres: 

  • short fiction (1,000-5,000 words)

  • flash fiction (up to 1000 words)

  • poetry (up to three poems or five pages)

  • creative nonfiction (up to 5,000 words)

Please double space your prose. Single spacing for poetry is fine. We spend a lot of our time reading and appreciate submitters using an easily readable font, such as Times New Roman, Calibri, Aptos, Arial, or Garamond. 

Simultaneous submissions are fine. Please withdraw your submission in a timely manner on Submittable if it’s accepted elsewhere. If this happens, congrats!! We’re happy you found the right home for your piece. 

We ask that you only enter one submission during each submission cycle.

What doesn’t interest us. . . 

We are interested in human creativity and complexity and thus do not accept AI generated content. 

This is not the venue for YA or genre fiction, such as detective stories, space operas, horror/paranormal, slashers, or romance. Violence, if included, should be essential to the story and not gratuitous. 

Dogma, fanaticism, and platitudes get in the way of excellent writing, we find. Opinion essays–unless superbly crafted, nuanced, and literary in style–are unlikely to be accepted. At this time, we do not accept book reviews or literary criticism. 

Cover Letters

Having written dozens of cover letters ourselves, we understand that they can become an unnecessarily arduous task. For us, simple is fine. The writing should speak for itself. Our only asks for the cover letter are that you include:

  • The title, genre, and word count

  • A short bio 

  • A heads up if your piece includes sexual assault, particularly if it involves children  

Please don’t exceed 250 words. 

Response Time & Rights

We know what it’s like to agonize after submission, checking your Submittable account several times a day, anxious to know whether your piece has been accepted.  This is why we aim to notify writers of our decision within two months after the close of each submission cycle. Often, we will contact you much sooner than that. 

For those seeking feedback or a faster response, we offer the following:

  • $10 for expedited response (2 weeks)

  • $25 for expedited response with feedback (2 weeks)

    • We will provide submitters who select this option with a short paragraph of feedback about what we appreciated in the writing, why it did or didn’t work for us, and what might benefit from revision.  

Authors retain all rights to their work after publication, though we ask that you attribute your original publication with us if your piece is published again elsewhere. 

Financial Structure

Our literary review is not for profit. It is a labor of love run by volunteer energy. We may occasionally pay a nominal amount to a well-vetted reader, but the editors do not receive any compensation and do the vast majority of the reading and other labor. We charge a $4 submission fee so that we can cover the cost of our website and Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) membership. The remaining money we receive goes right back into the literary community we serve. 

We believe in paying writers and would pay more if we could. For now, we are able to offer the modest honorarium of $30 to each writer we publish. 

If published, we will promote your work on social media and will nominate exemplary pieces for relevant prizes.