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Grist: A Journal of the Literary Arts,  seeks high quality submissions from both emerging and established writers. We publish craft essays and interviews as well as fiction, nonfiction, and poetry—and we want to see your best work, regardless of form, style, or subject matter.

Past issues have included such writers as Dan Albergotti, Dorothy Allison, Ellen Bass, Richard Bausch, Katherine Boo, Maud Casey, May-lee Chai, Peter Ho Davies, Timothy Donnelly, Denise Duhamel, Tom Franklin, Elizabeth Gilbert, Joy Harjo, Lyn Hejinian, Bob Hicok, T.R. Hummer, Adam Johnson, Fady Joudah, Dorianne Laux, Dorothea Lasky, Dana Levin, Julia B. Levine, Lisa Lewis, Thomas Lynch, Khaled Mattawa, Joseph Millar, Ander Monson, Danielle Pafunda, Ron Rash, Hilda Raz, Maggie Smith, Maura Stanton, Michael Steinberg, Virgil Suárez, Julie Marie Wade, William Wenthe, and many others.

We read between May 15th and August 15th. Please note that we do not accept snail mail submissions. Please do not mix genres in the same submission. For each genre, please wait until we have responded to your current submission before submitting another. We do not consider previously published work. We discourage the submission of multiple drafts of the same work during a submission period unless a revision was requested by an editor.  We do not consider work from those currently or recently affiliated with the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

Simultaneous submissions are acceptable as long as we are immediately notified if the piece has been accepted elsewhere. While we can’t always personally respond to each withdrawal or partial withdrawal notice, rest assured that the information has been entered into the system. We’re sorry, but  Grist  does not accept authors in back-to-back issues.

Grist  is committed to diversity, inclusivity, cultural interchange, and respect for all individuals. In the case of all submitted and/or accepted work, if an author behaves or speaks publicly—or is revealed or accused to have behaved or spoken, even in private—in ways that contradict these expressed values of the journal, then we reserve the right to disqualify an author’s submission, release the author from any contract, and/or remove their work from our archives.

Our submission fee ( waived for subscribers ) is $4 for three to five poems, for one work of fiction up to 7,000 words, or for one work of non-fiction up to 7,000 words (in all of our prose categories, we are also open to considering flash pieces as long as they are submitted in one document and do not total over 7000 words). The bulk of our reading fee goes to paying our writers; the rest covers our Submittable fees and a portion of our publishing costs, which helps us to make a high-quality home for a wide variety of the best national and international creative and literary work available to us. We hope that you will regard this fee as an investment in you, the writers who keep us going, while also serving as a sign of your support for the literary art we all value so much.

Average response time is 2-4 months. If you have not received a response after four months, send a query email to your genre’s editor.

Submissions will be considered for publication in either the print issue or here online. Payment is $10 per poem or 1 cent per word for prose (up to $50), as well as a contributor copy. Additional copies are also available at a reduced price for contributors.

To submit your work to the journal, please read our guidelines below and then submit via our online submissions manager,  Submittable . To pitch ideas or submit reviews or craft essays please read our submission guidelines on this page. To submit to our annual ProForma contest, please see our  Contest  page.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

ISSUE 16 GRIST STAFF

Read online content.

Origin Story

Danielle Cadena Deulen is the author of four books. Her most recent poetry collection is Desire Museum (BOA Editions, 2023). Her previous books include Our Emotions Get Carried Away Beyond Us, which won the Barrow Street Book Contest; The Riots, which won the AWP Prize in Creative Nonfiction and the GLCA New Writers Award; and which won the Miller Williams Arkansas Poetry Prize and the Utah Book Award. She served as a Jay C. and Ruth Halls Poetry Fellow at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing. She has been the recipient of an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, an Oregon Literary Fellowship, and a Pushcart Prize. She is co-creator and host of “Lit from the Basement,” a literary podcast. She teaches for the graduate creative writing program at Georgia State University in Atlanta. Her website is danielledeulen.net. Shara Lessley is the author of The Explosive Expert’s Wife and Two-Headed Nightingale , and co-editor of The Poem’s Country: Place & Poetic Practice, an anthology of essays. A former Wallace Stegner Fellow, her awards include an NEA fellowship, the Mary Wood Fellowship from Washington College, the Diane Middlebrook Poetry Fellowship from the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, an Olive B. O’Connor Fellowship from Colgate University, and a “Discovery”/The Nation prize, among others. Shara’s poems and essays have appeared in Ploughshares, The Gettysburg Review, The Kenyon Review, and IMAGE , and have been included in the Pushcart and Best American Poetry anthologies. She is Consulting Editor for Acre Books.

Most Non-Compete Clauses are Legally Unenforceable

Robert Walikis is a writer, playwright, poet, and songwriter. His short stories “Terrafir” and “Peak Child” were semifinalists for the North American Review ‘s 2023 and 2022 Kurt Vonnegut Speculative Fiction Prizes. His very short story “Funerary Rumors” was second runner-up for PRISM International ‘s 2022 Grouse Grind Lit Prize for V Short Forms. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Post Road, PRISM International, Bridge Eight, and elsewhere. Rob lives in Maine with his wife-partner-writer Diana Mullins. He makes maps and tells stories. Read more at www.robertwalikis.com.

We Could Fix You

Alan Sincic teaches at Valencia College. His fiction has appeared in the New Ohio Review, Greensboro Review, Saturday Evening Post, and elsewhere/ His short stories have won contests sponsored by the Texas Observer, Driftwood Press, Prism Review, Westchester, American Writer’s Review, Broad River Review, and Pulp Literature. The opening chapter of his novel, The Slapjack , won the 2021 First Pages Prize.

GRIST STAFF

Emily Jalloul Editor-in-Chief Elysia Mann Art & Design Editor Jeffrey Amos Fiction Editor Jacque Scott Nonfiction Editor Ashley Dailey Poetry Editor Andrew Butler Poetry Editor Marisa Stickel Managing Editor Bess Cooley Managing Editor, Online Content Sarah Yancey Reviews Editor Katie Haire Social Media Editor Rachel Harper Events & Promotions Coordinator

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Submissions

General Overview

Unlike many magazines, Creative Nonfiction draws heavily from unsolicited submissions. Our editors believe that providing a platform for emerging writers and helping them find readers is an essential role of literary magazines, and it’s been our privilege to work with many fine writers early in their careers. A typical issue of CNF contains at least one essay by a previously unpublished writer.

We’re open to all types of creative nonfiction, from immersion reportage to lyric essay to memoir and personal essays. Our editors tend to gravitate toward submissions structured around narratives, but we’re always happy to be surprised by work that breaks outside this general mold. Above all, we’re interested in writing that blends style with substance and reaches beyond the personal to tell us something new about the world. 

Creative Nonfiction accepts submissions online through Submittable. Please read specific calls for submissions carefully. 

When you submit online, you will receive a confirmation email from Submittable. We try to respond to all submissions as quickly as possible, but because the submissions are more often than not at the upper end of the word limit and because we really do read everything carefully, the process often takes a long time. Unfortunately, this is especially true for work we like. If you have not heard from us since the initial confirmation email, please assume your manuscript is still under consideration. 

What is Creative Nonfiction?

Dive in with CNF Founder and Editor, Lee Gutkind

Current Issue

78 / Experiments in Voice

Uncoventional narrators & shifting perspectives

What is voice? How do you find yours? How can you change it, rearrange it, play with it? And then, how can you use it to make change in the world? This issue is a celebration of writerly playfulness, exploration, and risk-taking, featuring breathless, epistolary, speculative, second-person, and snarky essays.

Current submission calls

Accepted All Year

We’re looking for writing about writing—smart and insightful ideas related to the art, craft, history, or philosophy of creative nonfiction.

Recently closed Submission Calls

Closed / June 27, 2022

True stories by (or about) nurses

For a special expanded anniversary edition of I Wasn’t Strong Like This When I Started Out: True Stories of Becoming a Nurse , Creative Nonfiction/In Fact Books is seeking essays by and about nurses.

Closed / August 1, 2022

Sunday Short Reads

Creative Nonfiction is currently seeking original short nonfiction for the Sunday Short Read email, which reaches 8,000+ readers weekly. Accepted work is also featured and archived online. We’re open to submissions on any subject, in any style.

Closed / May 15, 2022

We are actively reading the submissions received and will update submitters on the status of their work as soon as we can.

Closed / February 22, 2021

New Nonfiction by Older Writers

Closed / January 11, 2021

Experiments in Nonfiction

Pitch us a craft piece.

As of May 2022, we’ve retired this portal; see new guidelines, above.

A Note About Fact-checking

Essays accepted for publication in Creative Nonfiction undergo a fairly rigorous fact-checking process. To the extent your essay draws on research and/or reportage (and ideally, it should, to some degree), CNF editors will ask you to send documentation of your sources and to help with the fact-checking process. We do not require that citations be submitted with essays, but you may find it helpful to keep a file of your essay that includes footnotes and/or a bibliography.

A Note About Reading Fees

Here at Creative Nonfiction, we are always reading, searching for excellent new work to showcase in our various publications. At any given time, we usually have several submission portals open (see above calls for submissions), many of which require writers to pay a reading fee to submit their work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Still have questions? View additional FAQs here , or contact us .

After weeks of deliberating over the right words and fine-tuning your creative nonfiction piece , you’re ready to begin submitting to literary nonfiction journals. The only problem is finding the right home for your creative nonfiction submission. What journals or literary nonfiction magazines should you prioritize submitting your work to?

Find your answer here: we’ve searched the net for great creative nonfiction journals, and any of the following 24 publications is a wonderful home for creative nonfiction—guaranteed.

If you’re looking to submit multiple genres of work, take a look at the best places to submit poetry and the best places to submit fiction , too!

24 Creative Nonfiction Magazines to Submit To

Just like our other guides on the best literary journals to submit to, we’ve divided this article into three different categories:

• Great journals to secure your first publications in
• Competitive journals for writers with previous publications
• High-tier creative nonfiction journals at the summit of publishing

Any publication in the following 24 journals is sure to jumpstart your literary career. So, let’s explore the best nonfiction magazines and journals!

Creative Nonfiction Magazines: Great First Publications

The following eight journals sponsor creative nonfiction from both emerging and established writers, making them great opportunities for writers in any stage of their journey.

1. Sundog Lit

Sundog Lit loves the weird and experimental, and it regularly seeks innovative nonfiction for its biannual journal. All submitted works should be well-researched and play with both form and content. Submit your hybrid content to this great creative nonfiction journal!

2. River Teeth Journal

River Teeth Journal specializes in narrative nonfiction. The journal operates with the motto “Good Writing Counts and Facts Matter,” which captures their preference for well-researched and thoughtfully composed CNF. Literary nonfiction submissions are open twice a year, typically between September and May.

3. Atticus Review

Atticus Review posts daily nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. They publish work that is unabashed and resilient, finding hope in even the toughest of situations. All published works after September 19th, 2020 receive a $10 award from this creative nonfiction journal!

4. Barren Magazine

Barren Magazine publishes nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and photography, preferring works with grit and muster. Each publication of this creative nonfiction magazine includes prompts: for their 17th issue, the prompts are “unorthodox, sensational, kinetic, quixotic, & transcendent.”

5. The Offing

The editors at The Offing look for work that’s innovative, genre-bending, and challenges conventions. The Offing is especially keen to support both new and established authors, making them a welcome home for your creative nonfiction submissions.

6. Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse sponsors emerging and diverse voices in its biannual publication. Submissions for this journal remain open between September and May, and they typically range between 2,500 and 5,000 words. This is a great literary journal to submit to for writers of all styles and narratives!

7. Dogwood: a Journal of Poetry and Prose

Dogwood is a journal of poetry and prose based out of Fairfield University. This annual publication only opens for submissions in the Fall, and each edition includes prizes for top pieces. Literary nonfiction from all walks of life are welcome here.

8. Montana Mouthful

Straight out of the Treasure State, Montana Mouthful seeks “just a mouthful” of fiction and nonfiction. Creative nonfiction submissions should not exceed 2,000 words but should still deliver a cogent, memorable story.

Creative Nonfiction Magazines: Reputable Literary Journals to Submit To

The following literary magazines and creative nonfiction journals can be tough competition, but with a few previous publications under your belt and a special story ready for print, the following journals could jumpstart your literary career. All of these journals have fantastic literary nonfiction examples!

9. Conjunctions

Conjunctions publishes daring works of poetry and prose, living by its motto to “Read Dangerously!” Submitted works should provoke, excite, and linger with the reader. Conjunctions publishes both a biannual magazine and a weekly online journal, both of which house fantastic literary journalism.

10. Black Warrior Review

Black Warrior Review is a biannual literary journal run by the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. This Whiting Awarded journal nurtures groundbreaking literary nonfiction, fiction, and poetry, with many of its authors going on to win Pushcarts and Best of the Net prizes!

11. Hippocampus

Hippocampus Magazine is one of the best creative nonfiction magazines out there, as it focuses solely on the publication of personal essays and nonfiction stories. Their strictly digital publication is highly literary and has many great creative nonfiction examples and pieces. Despite being a highly competitive journal, both new and emerging writers can find a home at Hippocampus .

12. American Literary Review

The American Literary Review , run out of the University of North Texas, publishes engaging and precise stories and poetry. The journal is currently on hiatus, but read some of its back issues and you’ll understand why it’s a great literary journal to submit to.

13. Fourth Genre

Fourth Genre is a biannual creative nonfiction journal published through Michigan State University. The journal amplifies diverse and powerful voices, seeking stories that are refreshing, earnest, and imaginative. Fourth Genre only publishes nonfiction, so read its back issues for some great creative nonfiction examples!

14. The Cincinnati Review

The Cincinnati Review is interested in literary nonfiction that can “knock your socks off.” Submissions for personal essays are open between September and January; writers can also submit flash nonfiction year-round to its miCRo series.

15. Creative Nonfiction

“True stories, well told” is the motto of Creative Nonfiction , the aptly-named journal of all things CNF. Creative Nonfiction celebrates a diverse range of voices and experiences, championing both new and established essayists. Between its literary publications and its creative nonfiction blog, writers can learn a lot from this journal. Send your creative nonfiction submissions to Creative Nonfiction !

16. Witness

Witness publishes prose and poetry that examines and analyzes the modern day. They seek stories about modern issues and events, often publishing bold and eclectic takes on serious issues. Witness is a more politically-oriented journal, making it a leader in contemporary literary journalism.

Creative Nonfiction Magazines: The Summit of Literary Nonfiction

The following journals are notoriously difficult to publish in, as writers often have to have a name built for themselves in the literary world. Nonetheless, the following publications exist at the summit of CNF, so keep these publications on your radar as top literary journals to submit to.

AGNI , a highly literary publication run at Boston University, publishes fiery, transformative prose and poetry. Creative nonfiction submissions should be polished, inventive, and highly original. Be sure to read their previous publications for an idea of what they look for!

18. The Atlantic

The Atlantic is well-respected for its literary journalism, making it a premier publisher of creative nonfiction. Though many of its published pieces are solicited, The Atlantic is always looking for fresh, bold stories and poetry, so it’s a premier place for nonfiction magazine submissions.

Salon does not present itself as a creative nonfiction journal, but many of its previous magazine issues are highly literary in nature, examining current issues with a sharp, educated lens. If you have nonfiction stories that are both personal and global in nature, Salon accepts queries for articles and editorials, so check them out!

20. The Antioch Review

The Antioch Review is a real page-turner, as their past publications can attest to. This highly literary journal publishes fantastic prose and poetry, and if you have a creative nonfiction piece that’s riveting and influential, The Antioch Review is looking for your creative nonfiction submissions.

21. The Colorado Review

The Colorado Review is a tri-annual publication steeped in history, with original issues featuring poetry and prose from Langston Hughes, E. E. Cummings, Henry Miller, etc. The journal is committed to contemporary literature, seeking voices that are transformative and capture today’s (or tomorrow’s) zeitgeist. The Colorado Review is a fantastic space for literary journalism and will certainly welcome your creative nonfiction.

22. The Virginia Quarterly

The Virginia Quarterly publishes a wide array of literary nonfiction, fiction, and poetry, promising both ample readership and ample pay. VQR seeks inventive and imaginative stories, and it accepts both personal essays and nonfiction pieces on literary and cultural criticism. Submissions are generally open in July, but keep tuned for any special announcements or brief reading periods!

23. New England Review

New England Review is a quarterly publication of all things literary. The journal is dedicated to publishing both emerging and established voices, though it remains a highly competitive journal for creative nonfiction. NER is a great literary journal to submit to for stories that are engaged, critical, and sparkling.

24. North American Review

The North American Review is the oldest literary magazine in the United States. Since its inception in 1815, it remains one of the best nonfiction magazines to submit to, publishing strong literary voices with imaginative story arcs and moving messages. Nonfiction magazine submissions at North American Review are always spectacular—go check them out!

Tips for Publishing Your Creative Nonfiction Submissions

“How do I get my nonfiction published with so many other voices in the room?” This is a question we hear often, and as writers in the modern day, we can’t help but notice how diverse the publishing world is, and how everything “has already been written.” How can you make sure your story gets published in the right creative nonfiction magazines?

Of course, no story is guaranteed publication, but if you’ve written an earnest, sparkling story with grit, character, and truth, then the right literary journals to submit to are in this list. Additionally, you can boost your chances of success with the following publishing tips:

Start With a Powerful Title

Your creative nonfiction submissions should draw the reader in right away, which means starting with an attention-grabbing title. Your title could be a singular and obscure word, or it could be a long description, or anything in-between—the goal is to stand out while representing your story faithfully.

Here are some great titles we saw from a brief glance at the literary nonfiction examples from Hippocampus :

• Bar Bathroom Graffiti in New Orleans: A One Year Catalog by Kirsten Reneau
• Necrokedeia for Children by Mark Hall
• Ford Motor Company Tells Me About Perseverance by Alexis Annunziata

These titles give you an idea about the story itself while also drawing you in with wit, humor, or obscurity. Literary editors have thousands of stories to read each year; give them something to notice so you can stand out among the rest!

Follow the Creative Nonfiction Journal’s Formatting Guidelines

A surefire way to receive rejections on your literary nonfiction is to ignore the formatting guidelines. Each journal has its own requirements, though they often align with MLA formatting requirements, but be sure you follow the journal’s instructions faithfully, or else they may discard your submission without even reading it.

Read the Creative Nonfiction Magazine’s Past Issues

The 24 publications mentioned in this article are some of the best nonfiction magazines in the world, in part because they adhere so strongly to their tastes and preferences. As such, no two journals are alike, and each publication has its own expectations for the nonfiction they read and publish. Before you submit your creative nonfiction, be sure to read some past publications and gauge whether your essay will fit in with the journal’s literary tastes.

Keep Track of Your Submissions

Many creative nonfiction journals allow simultaneous submissions, meaning you can submit the same piece to multiple journals. However, if one journal accepts your work, you need to notify the other journals that it has been accepted and is no longer available for consideration.

Keeping track of your creative nonfiction submissions in a spreadsheet or personal organizer is essential: if multiple journals publish your story, it could harm your chances of getting published in the future.

Aim High—But Not Too High

Your personal essay deserves to be read, but if you’re only submitting to journals like VQR or The Atlantic, it might never see the light of day. Part of the publishing process means building your publication history and portfolio.

Your literary journalism will one day get published in Salon or the New York Times, but until then, focus on getting recognized in smaller and medium sized journals—and don’t let rejections bring you down, because it’s only up from here!

Fine-Tune Your Creative Nonfiction Submissions with Writers.com

Looking for extra help on writing your personal essay, lyric essay, or hybrid nonfiction piece? The instructors at Writers.com are ready to assist you. Gain valuable insight and diverse perspectives on your nonfiction stories before submitting them to the 24 creative nonfiction magazines we’ve listed.

Good luck, and happy writing!

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We welcome submissions of original, previously unpublished manuscripts of all lengths, ranging from short short stories to complete book-length works for serialization. Narrative regularly publishes fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, including stories, novels, novel excerpts, novellas, personal essays, humor, sketches, memoirs, literary biographies, commentary, reportage, interviews, and features of interest to readers who take pleasure in storytelling and imaginative prose. We look for quality and originality of language and content. In addition to submissions for issues of Narrative Magazine itself, we also encourage submissions for our Story of the Week, literary contests, and Readers’ Narratives. Please read our Submission Guidelines for all information on manuscript formatting, word lengths, author payment, and other policies.

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Brevity publishes well-known and emerging writers working in the extremely brief (750 words or fewer) essay form. We have featured work from Pulitzer prize winners, NEA fellows, Pushcart winners, Best American authors, and writers from India, Egypt, The Netherlands, Ireland, Spain, Malaysia, Qatar, and Japan. We have also featured  many previously-unpublished authors, and take a special joy in helping to launch a new literary career. Over the past year Brevity has averaged more than 10,000 unique visitors per month.

Authors are paid a $45 honorarium for featured essays (via PayPal).  

If you would like to hear our editor-in-chief’s thoughts on what makes flash nonfiction successful, you might access this interview from the River Teeth blog . or this post from the Brevity Blog .

We prefer that submissions should be formatted as seen here  (single space, no indentation, one extra space between paragraphs) unless alternate formatting is a specific design element of the essay.

Brevity has closed submissions as of May 1, 2024. We will reopen our submissions window in early September.

When we reopen, you can submit here:

https://brevity.submittable.com/submit

Our Craft Essay section is now merged with the Brevity Blog . For submissions info, see below.

The Brevity Blog

While Brevity (the magazine) publishes the finest examples of flash nonfiction we can find, the Brevity Blog  is the place to discuss issues related to the writing of creative nonfiction. Full guidelines for the Brevity Blog can be found here.

• The Spielberg List: Determining What Actually Belongs in Your Memoir
• But My Sister Remembers It Differently: On Working with Contested Memories
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• From Chronological to Spiral Structure — Why and How
• What Rick Rubin Taught Me About Who My Book Is For

© 2024 Brevity: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction. All Rights Reserved!

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Submitting to Literary Magazines

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OVERVIEW  

This section of the OWL seeks to demystify the process of submitting creative work to literary magazines. We’ll review topics such as how to figure out what to submit in the first place, how to find good potential homes for your work, and how to maximize your chances for acceptance. We’ve also included examples of writing relevant to the submission process such a cover letter and a biography as well as an acceptance and rejection letter to provide a look into what correspondence with literary magazines looks like.  

INTRODUCTION  

You’ve done it! Whether it was a lightning bolt of inspiration or weeks (months? years?) of writing and revising, you’ve crafted a piece of creative writing you’re proud of. Maybe it’s a sestina; maybe it’s a lyric essay. Whatever it is, you want to get it published. Reasons for publication are numerous: wanting to see what others think of your work, seeking a way to bulk up your CV, or hoping for a chance to get some hard-earned cash, just to name a few. Regardless of if you’ve submitted 100 times before or this is your first time, this resource will help you navigate the submission process.  

We’ll start by thinking through what you can submit in the first place. Next, we’ll move into thinking about where to submit, considering strategies for finding places to submit in the first place as well as how to discern whether or not a particular publication is a good fit for your work. After, we’ll think through the logistics of how to submit and talk through an example cover letter and biography (written materials you’ll almost certainly be asked to include in your submission). Finally, we’ll discuss what happens after you submit and review a few example rejection letters as well as an example acceptance letter.  

WHAT DO I SUBMIT?  

There are three main considerations when discerning what to submit: 1) whether or not a piece has already been published, 2) the genre of a piece, and 3) the length of a piece.   

First, if a piece has already been published, including on a personal blog, a website, and/or on social media, your piece is almost always not eligible for re-publication. The same goes for work that has already been self-published. Lit mags (also referred to throughout this document as literary magazines, literary journals, and journals) want to be the first to feature your work in question and not just “another place” that offers your work a home.  

Second, different lit mags accept different genres. For example, if you only write short stories, you won’t be able to publish in Rattle , which only publishes poetry. If you write in multiple different genres, you might find that you are able to submit your fiction to one magazine, and your essays to another.  

Third, lit mags often have length restrictions, which can vary widely. You might be able to submit poems only if they are 50 lines or less; or, you might be able to submit any type of prose so long as it is 6,000 words or less. If you tend to write particularly long pieces but want to submit to a lit mag that has length restrictions, try finding an excerpt of a larger work to submit or condensing your work for the sake of submitting it.  

WHERE DO I SUBMIT?  

After deciding to submit what work to submit, one question often looms: Where do I submit? Finding lit mags is just a Google search away. Chances are, you’ve heard of some flagship publications: The New Yorker , Paris Review , Ploughshares …. Just as there are myriads of different types of writing in the world, so too are there myriads of different kinds of lit mags. Some have been around for decades; some were founded earlier this year. Some only publish online; some only publish hard copy. Some are themed (nature poems only, zombie fiction only, Wyoming-themed work, etc.). Some operate through universities; others are independent. Some require payment to have your work read (usually a smallish fee, say, $3) whereas others allow you to submit for free. Some pay their contributors, though most don’t, or do only minimally. Some ask you to submit your work through Submittable (an online submissions-management platform) whereas a select few ask for hard copy submissions mailed to their office. (For more on this front, “How do I submit?” is a good place to start.) Seeking the right home for your work can be intimidating, but it’s not an impossible task. Below are four strategies to help you find places to submit to in the first place.  

1. This list from Driftwood Press: a good starting point!  

If you don’t know where to start, Driftwood Press keeps a massive “Where Else to Submit” list, linked above, that includes links to hundreds of different magazines and presses, what genres they accept, when their submission deadlines are, whether or not there is a submission fee, and whether or not they offer compensation for publication.  

The enormity of the list can be overwhelming, but you can always select a few lit mags on this list at random and begin scanning their websites to see what their publication is all about as you consider whether your work might find a good home there.

2. What writers do you like? Where did they publish?  

Do you have a favorite author? Favorite poet? Take a look at a book of theirs and see where they’ve published. This is especially relevant for books of poetry, essays, short stories, or other work often published as a collection. Just like musical artists often release a few singles before their album, it is commonplace for a writer to have portions of their work published in lit mags before putting out a book-length collection.  

In other words, if you like Writer X’s work, maybe you’ll like where she publishes, too! If you are reading contemporary work, it’s helpful simply to read the “Acknowledgements” pages and slowly get familiar with the names of different lit mags.   

3. Look local.  

If you are a Purdue student, maybe you’ve grown particularly fond of the cornfields in Indiana, and publishing work through a local journal is particularly appealing to you. If so, maybe you’d be especially drawn to the Sycamore Review , The Indianapolis Review , or any number of other journals based out of Indiana. To find local lit mags or publishers, a good start would be to visit a bookstore or library in your area and browse their shelves to see what lit mags they’re carrying. 

4. Consider submission windows.  

A vast majority of literary magazines do not accept submissions year-round; rather, they may have a “submission window” where they accept work. Some magazines only accept work one month of the year, whereas others may have two different three-month submission periods during the calendar year. Some magazines might have a month-long submission window (June 15-July 15, for example) that will automatically close once they reach a certain number of submissions. If, for instance, you only have time to commit to submitting your creative writing in the summer months, you’ll want to find magazines that accept submissions in the summertime. As you begin the process of finding lit mags you like and want to publish in, it might help to make a document to organize when you can submit to which magazine.   

HOW DO I KNOW IF MY WORK IS A GOOD FIT?  

Below are three considerations to help you gauge if your work seems like it could be a good fit for the journal you’ve found.  

1. Read the most recent issue.  

This is arguably the most time-consuming (and perhaps frustratingly obvious) tip, but it has to go first. Just like the best way to figure out if you like a restaurant is to try its food, the best way to figure out if you want to submit to a lit mag is to give it a read. If paying the $10 or $15 dollars necessary to order the lit mag (or pay for online access to it) isn’t possible or doesn’t appeal, fear not! There is often online content for your perusal. Most, though not all, lit mags have online features, so while you may not be able to read the most recent issue in its entirety, you can still read work that the magazine’s editors deemed fit for publication. Even if a lit mag doesn’t publish any of their work online (or a paywall prevents you from accessing it), lit mags that offer contests will often publish contest winners.

2. Read the “About Us.”  

Beyond growing familiar with work the lit mag publishes, check out the “About Us” page. This will often include the mission statement / vision for the journal, which can also be helpful in discerning if there might be aesthetic similarities and/or shared interested between you and the folks who run the journal. Further, it can be great to look into who runs the lit mag. If you’re sending in a short story, who is the fiction editor? Look that person up—maybe even read a short story published by the editor. Does this person seem like they might be interested in the kind of work you create?  

3. If you are in touch with other writers, use them as resources!  

Not everyone is in the position of having other writers nearby, but if you are in touch with other writers and/or know of writers who have publishing experience, feel free to ask them if they have any experience with the journal you have in mind. Maybe they won’t, but maybe they will—or know someone who does. (Consider this is a broader encouragement, too, to seek out community as you seek readers for your work.)  

WILL MY WORK BE ACCEPTED?  

It’s important to make a few concessions, here.  

Concession Number One: There are many more writers than there are literary magazines, journals, and publishers.   

Concession Number Two: Except for the most widely renowned writers (think, those who have entire bookcases devoted to them at big-name bookstores), creative writing is not a lucrative field, and likely will not become one.  

These two concessions combine for Concession Number Three: Readers and editors for literary magazines are swimming in submissions. It’s not unreasonable for a magazine to receive 700 short story submissions and only be able to publish five of them, or to receive 200 poetry submissions and only be able to publish eight.   

Space within magazines, especially print ones, is at a premium; the time of the person reading your submission is at a premium, too. It is actually a great sign of encouragement when, in response to your submission, you receive what’s known as a personalized rejection rather than a form rejection. That is, you might receive a note informing you that, while the journal cannot publish your work at this time, they enjoyed reading it and would love to hear more from you in the future. (Read more below on I submitted: Now what?)  

So, will your work be accepted? Statistically speaking, it’s unlikely. But, it’s also unlikely for an NFL team to win a Super Bowl, or a scientist to win a Nobel Prize, or a student to get admitted into Harvard, but these things happen every single year. If publishing is something important to you, don’t let the odds stop you from trying.   

WHAT CAN I DO TO MAXIMIZE MY CHANCES OF BEING PUBLISHED?  

While publication percentages may not be particularly confidence-inspiring, there are things you can do to increase the chance your work will get picked up.  

1. Submit your best work.  

This is perhaps obvious, but it bears noting. As discussed above, readers for lit mags are often inundated with submissions. Submit your best work first to help yourself stand out. If you’re unsure which is “best,” ask a trusted reader for their opinion. Further, if you are submitting a packet (two different flash fiction pieces, or five pomes) rather than an individual work, start with the strongest. 

2. Read the submission guidelines!  

For better or worse, lit mag readers and editors are almost always looking for ways to easily shrink their stack of 1,000 submissions, to, say, 100. And then to 10. There is no easier way to get your submission denied than by neglecting to follow every submission guideline. This means that you should not submit four poems when the magazine only accepts three, submit a PDF when the magazine asks for a Word doc, or submit your fiction to the nonfiction category. Similarly, do not send in a 2,500-word essay when the journal asks for a 2,400-word maximum.  

Follow all submission guidelines exactly, not because it is so important to, say, have your bio in third-person as opposed to first-person, but because following these guidelines will allow the reader to immediately dive into the important material—your work—without getting bogged down by any logistical hiccups. Further, adhering to the submission guidelines shows that you yourself are a careful reader and that you respect the journal by following said guidelines in the first place.  

3. Make sure your work is a good fit in the first place!  

Revisit “How do I know if my work is a good fit?” above.  

4. Consider simultaneous submissions.  

Most journals accept simultaneous submissions, which is, as the term suggests, submitting your work story to multiple different journals simultaneously. Most journals will clarify in their guidelines whether or not they accept simultaneous submissions (a vast majority do, so long as you let Journal B know that your piece is no longer available as soon as Journal A accepts it .) If there’s a short story you really want in the world, consider sending it to a handful, maybe even two handfuls, of places.  

CONTESTS VS. GENERAL SUBMISSIONS 

Another consideration for submissions is whether you’d prefer to submit to magazine’s general submissions, their contests, or a mix of both. Contests, offered by some—not all—journals, are generally more competitive and more expensive to enter (fees usually range between $20-$30). But, winning them almost always comes with clout as well as prize money, ranging from modest sums ($100) to larger ones ($1,000+). Sometimes, contest winners are selected by a guest judge (generally a respected and perhaps well-known writer), and other times they are chosen by the editors of the magazine themselves.  

One thing to note is that even if you don’t win the contest, it can be possible to still be picked up for publication by the journal as a finalist or simply as someone who caught the attention of the judges. Whether or not finalists and/or semifinalists are published alongside the contest winner (or winners) is up to the magazine’s discretion.  

HOW DO I SUBMIT?  

On the websites of most journals, there will most likely be a tab that says “Submit” or “Submissions.” Occasionally, this tab is slightly buried somewhere on the webpage. (Look in the “About Us” or “Contact Us” sections of the site if you have trouble finding it.)  

In terms of actually submitting, a vast majority of journals only accept—or greatly prefer—online submissions. Generally, this is done via a platform called Submittable that allows you (as the submitter) to manage and track your submissions, just as it allows the journal editors to track and view their submissions. Sometimes, submitting is done via an in-house submission portal, and, in the rarest of circumstances, a magazine will only accept mailed, hard copy submissions. Regardless, the lit mag will (or should ) have their submissions process clearly demarcated on their website in terms of 1) how to submit, 2) what time(s) of year they accept submissions, and 3) what they are looking for in terms of submissions (genre, page length, etc.).  

As noted previously, following these submission guidelines exactly is in your best interest. Beyond preparing your piece of writing for submission and figuring out the journal’s guidelines so you can follow them, there are two other pieces to the submission puzzle you’ll need: a strong cover letter and a solid, succinct bio.    

COVER LETTER + EXAMPLE  

The cover letter is your chance to briefly let the journal know 1) what you are submitting as well as 2) why you are submitting to that magazine in particular. The best-case scenario for a cover letter is that you’ve presented yourself in a professional manner as an eager, capable writer with a strong reason for submitting to the journal. What follows is an example cover letter:  

Dear Audrey Li and the entire Coffee Journal team,  

Please consider my following poems, “Exciting Poem 1,” “Clever Poem 2,” and “Memorable Poem 3” for inclusion within an upcoming edition of Coffee Journal . I especially admired Ash Lever’s “Brilliantly Titled Poem” in your latest edition and would be honored for my work to be considered for publication in an upcoming edition of your journal.  

This is a simultaneous submission, and I will let you know immediately if any of these poems are accepted elsewhere.   

Thank you in advance for taking the time to consider my work.  

Best,  

It’s helpful to make a few quick notes on this example cover letter and what this writer does well. She…  

• Addresses, by name, the relevant genre editor to whom she has addressed the cover letter.  
• Includes the name of the work she is submitting, as well as the professional, polite request to consider her work in an upcoming edition of the journal.  
• Mentions something she specifically admires about the journal in question, revealing herself as someone who has “done her homework”—that is, she is showing that she really does have (at least some) vested interest in this magazine.  
• Notes that her submission is simultaneous; that is, she is submitting these poems to other magazines as well. As previously noted, this is fine to do if the magazine accepts simultaneous submissions so long as she lets Coffee Journal know that one (or more) of her poems is no longer available as soon as she learned another journal has accepted them.   
• Concludes the note by thanking the editor(s). Remember, these cover letters are being read by readers who are often underpaid or unpaid and who have, more often than not, dozens and dozens of pieces to read. Kindness in a cover letter is important here just as it is elsewhere.  

For more, The Adroit Journal has a great piece further explaining the ins and outs of cover letter writing with an annotated example.  

BIOGRAPHY + EXAMPLE  

The biography is your chance to briefly give a glimpse of who your writer-self is. Common information to include is where you are from, where you went to or are going to school, what you do for work, and where you have been previously published (if applicable). Writing in third person is the best way to go.   

Generally, these are expected to be professional. That said, if the journal you are applying to is particularly quirky, or you have no desire to confine yourself to the constraints of a traditional cover letter, feel free to be quirky. The best-case scenario for a biography is that, similarly to the cover letter, you’ve presented yourself as a professional and given the magazine a small glimpse of who you are.  

For those of you asking, “What do I put for publications if I haven’t published anywhere yet?” the answer is simple: nothing. Don’t let your lack of publishing be a catch-22 stopping you from trying to publish in the first place. And take heart: Many magazines exist specifically with the mission to promote new and emerging writers.   

What follows is an example biography:  

A. Writer is a poet from Indiana. She received her MFA in poetry from A Super Excellent University, and her poems have appeared in This Cool Journal and are forthcoming from Another Cool Journal . She lives in West Lafayette where she teaches high school English.

I SUBMITTED! NOW WHAT?  

Congratulations! Even if your work is not selected by the particular lit mag you submitted to, you are putting your work out in the world. At this point, you wait. Response times vary widely, from several weeks to up to a year (or more). Many magazines have submission guidelines indicating about how long you should expect to wait to hear back. Some will also ask that they not be contacted with an inquiry about your submission until a certain amount of time has passed.  

During the waiting process, don’t let your writing life be put on hold! A common saying in the journalistic field applies here: “Work is never finished, it just meets deadline.” Feel free to continue shaping the writing projects you submitted, or leave them until you hear back from journals and allow yourself to start writing in new directions.   

REJECTION LETTERS: TWO TYPES + EXAMPLES  

Generally speaking, there are two different types of rejection letters a lit mag can give, and—perhaps surprisingly—one of these is actually good news. The first type is a form rejection letter. This is a generic rejection, meaning this letter is copy and pasted to each person who receives it (with the exception of changing the submitter’s name and the title of their submitted work). A form rejection might look like this:  

Dear A. Writer,  

Thank you for submitting “Exciting Poem 1,” “Clever Poem 2,” and “Memorable Poem 3” to Coffee Journal . Unfortunately, we decided your work was not a fit for us at this time.  

Sincerely,  

The Editors  

A personalized rejection, on the other hand, while still a rejection, often includes some kind of encouragement. Two different examples, followed by an explanation of why a personalized rejection is good news, follows:  

Thank you for submitting “Exciting Poem 1,” “Clever Poem 2,” and “Memorable Poem 3” to Coffee Journal . While we are not able to find a place for it at this time, we found your work exciting and greatly enjoyed reading it. We would look forward to reading more of your writing in the future.  

Thank you for submitting to Coffee Journal . Though we have decided against publishing your work at this time, we found “Clever Poem 2” particularly moving. Please keep up in mind for future work.  

On the outset, the form rejection letter and the personalized rejection letters don’t have much of a difference. But take heart: That extra line in the personalized rejection letters is a big deal. Anything such as an invitation to resubmit, a specific, encouraging note about your work, and / or commentary about your specific pieces or writing are signs your rejection was personalized rather than a form rejection. This means that out of the large amount of work that journal received, while your work wasn’t part of the teeny percentage chosen for publication, it stood out to the editors. It’s not a bad idea to consider submitting again a future reading period for that lit mag; if you do so, consider adding a note in your cover letter that you’ve been encouraged to resubmit.    

DEALING WITH REJECTION  

In an interview with Michigan Quarterly Review , poet Hannah Ensor spoke well on creative writing awards (and, perhaps by extension, publication): “I think that it means a lot when you do win, but it means almost nothing when you don’t.”   

In a world where editors and readers for lit mags are swimming in submissions, a rejection is not so much a condemnation of your work as a “out of the 100 pieces we received, this is not one of the five we are able to accept.” This isn’t to say that rejection doesn’t sting; no one likes getting turned down. For better or worse, rejection is simply part of the process.  

Further, being rejected from a particular journal is not necessarily a suggestion that your work isn’t a good fit for the journal; much is up to chance in terms of who first reads your work. Many lit mags, especially larger ones, have teams of readers that will curate a small portion of submissions for more serious consideration by the section or genre editor(s). Your submission to Coffee Journal this year may be read by a completely different set of eyes than last year.   

Finally, consider the following positive spins on rejection:  

• Rejection is an invitation to keep writing.   

On the one hand, it’s an opportunity to return to your work: What might be revised? How might you make your work come more fully into its own? On the other hand, it can be an opportunity to dive into something new, with all the knowledge and experience you’ve now gained from writing what you’ve already written. (If having writing that never gets published is a depressing thought, consider this encouragement by accomplished writer Anne Lamott in an essay of hers embracing the messiness of first drafts: “Just get it all down on paper, because there may be something great in those six crazy pages that you would never have gotten to by more rational, grown-up means. There may be something in the very last line of the very last paragraph on page six that you just love, that is so beautiful or wild that you now know what you’re supposed to be writing about, more or less, or in what direction you might go – but there was no way to get to this without first getting through the first five and a half pages.”)  

• Rejection is an opportunity to revisit why you write in the first place.  

Why did you write that story, that poem, that essay in the first place? Rejection can provide a tangible time to revisit your “Why?” as a writer. If you’re writing for the money and you’ve gotten numerous rejections from paid awards, perhaps writing is not the most prudent path forward. If you’re writing because you feel you have something to say, because you love language, because it’s a way for you to discover what you’re thinking and how you feel about the world, well…rejection can’t touch those motivations. Remind yourself why you got into writing in the first place and keep at it.  

ACCEPTANCE LETTERS: YOU’RE IN! WHAT’S NEXT?  

The purpose of acceptance letters is simple. You’re in! Like a job offer, an acceptance letter from a lit mag means you have an offer for publication—they want you if you want them. After your work is accepted, there a few things that will happen:  

• You will need to read and sign a contract detailing:  
• What the lit mag needs from you (such as an updated bio) between that moment and publication.  
• What happens with the rights of your creative work ( this page by Poets & Writers details copyright information in more depth).  
• What compensation you will be provided with (if applicable).  
• You may correspond with an editor from the journal to perform final edits and/or revisions of your creative piece(s).  
• You may need to submit an updated author information, such as a bio, and/or a finalized version of your creative piece(s).  
• You need, if applicable, to immediately withdraw the work that is being published from any other lit mags you submitted it to. This is generally done by contacting the magazines through Submittable or by emailing the editors—lit mags’ Submissions page will generally clarify how they’d like to be notified if you need to withdraw part or all of your submission.  

EXAMPLE ACCEPTANCE LETTER  

Thank you for sending us “Exciting Title Number 1” and “Memorable Title Number 3.” We greatly enjoyed both of them and would like to publish them in Coffee Journal ’s next edition.  

As per our submission guidelines, we offer three free copies of the edition in which your work appears. Please click here to confirm acceptance.   

Thank you for sending your work! We look forward to hearing from you.  

Audrey Li  

Coffee Journal Poetry Editor  

Just a few things to note, here:   

• Getting an acceptance does not necessarily mean the journal is accepting every piece of work your sent; it simply means they are accepting one (or more) of your pieces.  
• Generally, acceptance letters are more personalized; the magazine has chosen your work and is eager to make a good impression on you just as you’ve made a good impression on them. In this vein, acceptance letters are generally sent from the particular editor who chose your work or oversees your genre, whereas a rejection letter is often from the unnamed “Editors”.  

CLOSING THOUGHTS  

Submitting work can be any number of things: exciting, gut-wrenching, confusing, tedious. Regardless of your personal attachment to—or detachment from—the submission process, it’s an important process to understand as a creative writer. Even though the odds may be that a rejection is much more likely than an acceptance, you never know unless you try.   

Imagine if the writer of your own favorite book never took the chance to submit it for publication in the first place. Thank goodness they did take that chance so their writing could change you and others—in however big or small a way. This chance, submitting work for publication, is one that you can take, too.  

Best of luck, and happy submitting!  

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES  

Submission Etiquette: The Cincinnati Review has a short, helpful article on submission reminders.   

Writing Cover Letters: The Adroit Journal has a great piece explaining the ins and outs of cover letter writing.  

Submission Opportunities: Driftwood Press: Where Else to Submit  

The Invisible Art of Literary Editing : an in-depth look into the inner workings of literary magazines.  

Submittable : a common platform lit mags will request submissions through.  

Copyright Information : This page by Poets & Writers explains relevant copyright information for writers.   

REFERENCES  

Jenkins, Marlin M. Somatic Pinging: An Interview with Hannah Ensor, Michigan Quarterly  Review Blog, Mar 25, 2019, https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/mqr/2019/03/somatic-pinging-an-interview-with-hannah-ensor/ .  

Lamott, Anne. "Shitty First Drafts.” Language Awareness: Readings for College Writers. Ed. by  Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005: 93-96.  

Exploring the art of prose

Submit to CRAFT

CRAFT   explores the art of prose, celebrating both emerging and established writers.

We focus on the craft of writing and how the elements of craft make a story or essay shine.

We feature fiction and creative nonfiction, as well as craft essays and interviews.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

For all contest information, including submission guidelines, please visit our Awards , Calendar , and Submit pages, and our Submittable .

Other questions? Email [email protected].

Unless specifically requested, we do not accept AI-generated work.

Fiction & creative nonfiction.

Our entire fiction library can be found in our Fiction Section . Our creative nonfiction library is found in the CNF Section .

Our creative categories are open year-round to any emerging or established author. We accept submissions from international writers. We review simultaneous submissions but ask that you inform us immediately and withdraw your work if it is accepted elsewhere. We pay our authors $100 for original flash and $200 for original short fiction and creative nonfiction. We do not charge submission fees, but are highly selective in what we choose to publish.

We will also consider previously published creative work, as long as the writer retains the rights or second-publication rights can be obtained. We do not pay for reprints.

Each published creative piece will include an editor’s introduction as well as a craft essay (author’s note) by the writer. These essays will be requested upon acceptance. To read the author’s notes of previously published stories, please see   both our Fiction Section and our CNF Section.

To see a list of our most commonly asked questions about submitting to us, please visit our FAQ page . If you have additional questions after reading our FAQ, please send an email to: contact (at) craftliterary (dot) com.

Flash Fiction , for work up to 1,000 words. (See submission form for details about microfiction.)

Short Fiction , for work up to 6,000 words.

Flash Creative Nonfiction , for work up to 1,000 words. (See submission form for details about microessays.)

Creative Nonfiction , for work up to 6,000 words.

Please review the guidelines in the submission form you choose for specifics about the genre. We’ve added some limits in an effort to improve our response time. We no longer allow multiple submissions—please send only one piece per genre at a time . If your creative work is declined, we ask that you wait three months before submitting again to the same genre. You may have one piece of fiction (short story or flash fiction), one piece of creative nonfiction (longform or flash essay), and one craft piece (interview or essay) under consideration at one time.

CRAFT & CRITICAL WRITING / INTERVIEWS

We accept submissions of polished craft and critical essays. For interviews, we accept completed pieces or pitches. For a look at the type of content we publish, please visit our Craft Section . All work in this section is concerned with fiction or creative nonfiction. Please do not send critical work about poetry. Also, please do not send personal essays (creative nonfiction) to this category. We pay between $50 and $100 for original craft content.

Craft and critical essays range from 1,500 to 2,500 words concerning the craft of fiction or creative nonfiction. We recommend familiarizing yourself with our archive. Most essays we publish offer a careful examination of craft elements in fiction or creative nonfiction.

For interviews and hybrids , we are interested in conversations with fiction and creative nonfiction writers focusing on the craft of writing. You may pitch in Submittable or query us for more information at contact (at) craftliterary (dot) com. We often schedule interviews well in advance—please contact us as soon as possible with your proposed interview. In your pitch, please include several potential topics and/or at least six possible questions.

We no longer allow multiple general submissions—please send only one piece per genre at a time . If your craft submission is declined, you may submit again to the craft genre immediately. You may have one piece of fiction (short story or flash fiction), one piece of creative nonfiction (longform or flash essay), and one craft piece (interview or essay) under consideration at one time.

EDITORIAL FEEDBACK PLATFORM

CRAFT is proud to offer editorial feedback on creative short prose up to 6,000 words. We review flash fiction, short stories, flash creative nonfiction essays, and longform creative nonfiction essays. We’re happy to help you revise work for submissions, applications, and other opportunities. Learn more here .

Submission questions, concerns, and inquiries can be sent to: contact (at) craftliterary (dot) com

To submit a piece or learn more about our guidelines, click the submit button.

Author’s Rights

CRAFT holds first serial publication rights for three months after publication. Authors agree not to publish, nor authorize or permit the publication of, any part of the material for three months following CRAFT’ s first publication. For reprints we ask for acknowledgement of its publication in CRAFT first.

• Short Stories
• Flash Fiction
• Longform Creative Nonfiction
• Flash Creative Nonfiction
• Craft & Critical Essays
• Books by CRAFT Contributors
• Dialogue Challenge
• First Chapters Contest 2024
• EcoLit Challenge 2024
• Short Fiction Prize 2024
• Novelette Print Prize 2024
• Memoir Excerpt & Essay Contest 2023
• Flash Prose Prize 2023
• Setting Sketch Challenge 2023
• First Chapters Contest 2023
• Character Sketch Challenge 2023
• Short Fiction Prize 2023
• Hybrid Writing Contest 2023
• Creative Nonfiction Award 2022
• Amelia Gray 2K Contest 2022
• First Chapters Contest 2022
• Short Fiction Prize 2022
• Hybrid Writing Contest 2022
• Creative Nonfiction Award 2021
• Flash Fiction Contest 2021
• First Chapters Contest 2021
• Short Fiction Prize 2021
• Short Fiction Prize 2020
• Flash Fiction Contest 2020
• Creative Nonfiction Award 2020
• Elements Contest 2020: Conflict
• Short Fiction Prize 2019
• Flash Fiction Contest 2019
• First Chapters Contest 2019
• Short Fiction Prize 2018
• Elements Contest 2018: Character | Dialogue Setting
• Fast Response

Submissions

We publish two issues a year, September 1 and March 1. We accept general submissions for poetry, nonfiction, and fiction between two reading periods, and the first 300 submissions to each are free. We also run a collaborative writing contest in August. We also accept visual art all year. 

• General Submissions: March 1 – May 1
• General Submissions: October 1 – December 1
• Collaboration Contest: July 15 –  August 31

We are thrilled to finally be able to say that, starting with issue 17, we will be able to offer our contributors a small payment of $50 upon publication.

A Note on Our Aesthetic

We believe there is beauty in scars on smooth skin, in the small fissures where things begin to break apart. Sundogs are not the sun itself but phantom stars appearing on the horizon, illusions produced by the play of the sun’s heat with crystals of ice. They shed their light all the same. Many are tinged with color.

We look for this same quality in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. We want writing that attempts to salvage something pure from the collision of warmth and cold, that says what it can about the world it finds itself in. We seek a diversity of voices speaking from visceral, lived experience. We like truth we can stare at until our eyes water, words so carefully chosen we want to reread them as soon as we have finished.

Practical Matters

We are grateful to be a part of a literary community that is taking action against systemic racism. We will also be donating submission fees from our current reading period towards Black-led organizations and anti-racist collectives. In the next year, 25% of our submission fees will be donated, as well. Thank you in advance for helping us work together for change.

The best way to know the preferences of our individual editors is to read the journal. Our genre editors also take over our Twitter from time to time to discuss work we’ve published and why. Check it out at  #editortalk .

Sundog Lit  is serious about representing the literary scene and supporting diverse and underrepresented voices. We want to hear from women, people of color, queer and trans writers, and every community who pushes our world away from the oppressive status quo. This is our commitment to literature; hold us to that standard.

One submission at a tim e, please . We happily accept simultaneous submissions, though please withdraw immediately if accepted elsewhere. If part of a packet submission, note the withdrawal in a note on Submittable. We do not consider previously published material nor do we accept email submissions.  Please address your submission to the appropriate genre editor, and be mindful of correct pronoun usage in your cover letter. 

Genre Specifics

Summer Collaboration Contest Writing doesn’t have to be a lonely business. Sometimes teamwork is what makes the dreamwork, so this summer we want to see what you’ve created with another writer (or two or three⁠ — there’s actually no limit) for our annual Collaboration Contest. Between July 15 and August 31, submit your wildest, most inventive work of any or mixed genre. Just keep your hybrid masterpiece to 1,000 words or less. Winners will receive a $300 prize and all the glories of publication.

Refractions For our blog, we accept short-form work that fits a given topic or theme that asks you  to see–and write about–familiar things differently. We want you to play with perspective. A little distortion, in our opinion, is a good thing. Please check Submittable for the current prompt, which we will change up on a quarterly basis.

Fiction We want muscular prose, authenticity, and a real beating heart. Play with form and show us the humorous absurd. Submit short stories of no more than 3,000 words or up to 3 flash fictions of less than 750 words each in a single document. 

Nonfiction We are cool with traditional personal essay, memoir, etc. We LOVE us some experimental, research-driven stuff. Segmented. Lyric. Essays written in a bowl of alphabet soup. Surprise us. Play with form and content. If you hybridize some poetry and nonfiction, send it our way. Submit a single piece of no more than   4,000 words or up to 3 flash essays of less than 1,000 words each in a single document.

Poetry We want vivid, vibrant poetry. We like prose poems or straight poetry with prose elements. We like traditional poetry. Submit up to 3 poems in a single document.

Visual Art We’re looking for beautiful, fascinating, devastating cover art for our upcoming issues. We are happy to consider collage, but are looking only for pieces in which any original work has been substantially transformed and is no longer recognizable. We are not currently looking for photography. Submit up to 6 pieces at a time. 

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5 places to submit your personal essays

The best stories often come from real-life experiences. If you enjoy writing personal essays, consider submitting your work to one of the publications on this list. (Fiction writers and poets, there are some gems for you here too.) All the journals on our list are currently open for submissions and none charge fees.

Note: We are a creative writing school and compile these lists for the benefit of our students. Please don’t send us your publishing queries or submissions :). Click on the links to go to the publication’s website and look for their submissions page.

Adelaide Literary Magazine accepts personal essays and narrative nonfiction (up to 5,000 words) written in English and Portuguese. You can also submit short stories (up to 5,000 words) and poetry (up to 5 pieces per submission). They publish online once per month and generally respond within two months.

bioStories focuses exclusively on personal essays (500-7500 words). They publish essays on nearly any topic and are especially interested in work that celebrates the extraordinary within the ordinary. Pieces are published as they are accepted, and the editors generally respond to submissions within two months.

HuffPost Personal wants personal stories from writers of diverse experiences and welcomes essays on nearly any topic so long as they’re told with an authentic voice and point of view. There are no specific word limits, but writers are asked to pitch the editors before submitting their piece for consideration.

Quarter After Eight is an online literary journal published once per year. The editors are seeking work that ‘directly challenges the conventions of language, style, voice, or idea’. In addition to essays and creative nonfiction (no specific word limits), they also accept flash fiction, short stories (up to 7,500 words), and poetry (up to 4 pieces per submission). Submissions are open through 15 April 2021, and the average response time is 2-3 months.

The Rappahannock Review is an online literary magazine that publishes twice per year. In addition to essays and creative nonfiction (up to 8,000 words), they’re also looking for flash fiction, short stories (up to 7,500 words), and poetry (up to 5 poems per submission). They generally respond within one month.

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Written by S. Kalekar August 8th, 2024

Five Paying Literary Magazines to Submit to in August 2024

These magazines pay for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. They publish a mix of literary and genre works. Not all are open through the month. The Four Faced Liar This Ireland-based literary journal accepts fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translations, and art from around the world. Their mission is to showcase emerging writers and artists. They are now reading submissions for Issue 3. Deadline: 14 August 2024 (see the post on X here ) Length: Up to 4,000 words for short fiction and creative nonfiction; up to 1,000 words for fiction; up to 3 poems Pay: €200 for short stories or creative nonfiction, €100 per poem, €100 for flash fiction Details here .

(And Ecotone , “the literary magazine dedicated to reimagining place”, will accept fee-free online submissions of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry during August 29–31, and free postal submissions from September 1–5 – online submissions will be charged in September; they pay $100 minimum for poetry and $200 minimum for prose, details here .)

Nashville Review They’re currently open for fiction (including flash and excerpts), poetry, and translations through August. They have a submission cap, and may close early if volume demands; nonfiction was closed at the time of writing. Art and comics are accepted year-round. Deadline: 31 August 2024, or until filled Length: Up to 7,000 words for fiction, up to 3 poems Pay: $25/poem, $100 for prose and art Details here and here .

(And Epoch charges for online submissions of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and comics, but will have one fee-free submission weekend in August, follow their social media for details on the date; they also accept fee-free postal submissions from 1 August to 15 March; pay is $100-500, details here and here .)

Orion’s Belt This is a speculative flash fiction and poetry magazine. Their website says, “We specialize in the strange and poignant and awe-inspiring, stories that have a cosmic scale and intimate personal stakes. Currently, we publish fiction and poetry, one story and one poem per month.” They have detailed guidelines. Deadline: 1 September 2024 Length: Up to 1,200 words Pay: $0.08/word Details here . 

(And PseudoPod ,from the Escape Artists suite of magazines, will open for horror fiction submissions in August – this is an online magazine and podcast. Their reading period is 9-19 August 2024 – see their schedule , and they pay $0.08/word for original fiction of up to 6,000 words, details here .)

Uncanny This award-winning speculative fiction magazine has opened a submission period for short fiction only. Deadline: 2 September 2024 Length: 750-10,000 words Pay: $0.10/word Details here . Rainy Weather Days This is a new magazine. Their tagline is ‘A cozy literary magazine’, and they’re reading submissions for their second issue. “We focus on polished and grounded works of prose and poetry that are enjoyable to read. Our focus is on cozy reads. These are works without explicit or gratuitous scenes of sex, violence, or gore. … We are looking for works that are daring, even challenging, but not so experimental to the point of overwhelming the narrative.” And, “Preference will be given to (cozy) horror, suspense, and/or mystery stories (though all genres are welcome) for Volume 2..! Genre may vary: romance, mystery, horror/suspense, etc. However, we are currently only accepting works of fiction.” They plan to release digital and print versions of the magazine. Deadline: 15 September 2024 Length: 1,500-15,000 words Pay: $25 Details here .

(Another new magazine open for submissions now is Dirty Magick Magazine , reading for their first issue. “Dirty Magick Magazine specializes in fantasy fiction with a hard-boiled edge. We are interested in urban fantasy, sword and sorcery, and gothic/supernatural horror. We also like speculative fiction, especially steampunk and cyberpunk, but they must contain a magical twist. But the true spirit of this magazine lies in the hybrid space, where crime/detective modes can be combined with fantastic premises.” Pay is $50 for stories of 2,000-12,500 words, and the deadline is 15 August 2024. Details here and here .)

Bio:  S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached  here .

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August 9, 2024

Free Talk: Manuscript Publishing for Novelists

Emily Harstone is the author of The 2024 Guide to Manuscript Publishers, The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submission, and a founding editor for Authors Publish Magazine. Download the Slides.

Available to watch right now, completely free.

June 11, 2024

Free Talk: An Introduction to Publishing Your Writing in Literary Journals

You can download the slides here, and take a look at the sample submission tracker here. Shannan Mann is the Founding Editor of ONLY POEMS. She has been awarded or placed for the Palette Love and Eros Prize, Rattle Poetry Prize, and Auburn Witness Poetry Prize among others. Her poems appear in Poetry Daily, EPOCH,…

August 15, 2024

Dulcet: Now Seeking Submissions

A new literary journal accepting fiction, poetry, and visual art.

78 Opportunities for Historically Underrepresented Authors in August 2024

Opportunities open to writers of color, LGBTQ+ writers, writers with disabilities, and more.

My Agent Failed to Sell My Book. So I Landed a 3 Book Deal on My Own. Here’s What Happened.

How parting ways with an agent led to a book deal.

August 12, 2024

28 Literary Journals Focused on Limited Demographics

This list focuses on a wide variety of journals that are seeking specific kinds of writers, including older writers, writers attending university, working class writers, the incarcerated, veterans and their families, women writers, and Southern writers. Some of these limitations are geographic, some are not. Some publications have stricter guidelines than others. Not all are…

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FREELANCE COMMUNITY

• Literary Magazines That Pay Writers: Pitch These 20 Markets

Arnita Williams

Write for literary magazines: 11 tips for freelancers

Want to write creative non-fiction, essays, short stories, or poetry…and get paid? There’s an often overlooked niche for your creative work: literary magazines.

If you have a journal of creative work tucked away in a desk drawer, it’s time fetch it. Literary magazines will pay you for:

• Non-fiction
• Flash fiction
• Non-academic essays
• Photography
• Interviews of emerging artists, or 
• Recent book reviews 

There’s a mix of markets in the literary magazine niche that welcome emerging and seasoned writers, as well as some pubs that offer a combination of both. 

Although a few literary magazines and journals may be difficult to break into, take advantage of opportunities to submit your work to be read by distinguished authors and editors when the markets are open.

Grab your unpublished work, review the list of literary magazines that pay writers, and submit your best work. 

Ready to get started? Check out this list of 20 literary magazines that pay freelancers:

This literary magazine offers an assortment of exceptional essays, poems, stories, and translations. 

TIP: This pub seeks fictional short stories, and non-fiction literary essays, memoirs, reviews. Journalism or academic work is not accepted.

Contact: Email Co-Editor Sven Birkerts

Rate: Pays $20 per page, up to $300

2. Allegory

Online magazine published bi-annually in May and November, which specializes in fantasy, horror, and science fiction.

TIP: Seeks original work “with a twist.” No sex or violence. But you can’t go wrong with funny submissions.

Contact: Email Publisher and Managing Editor Ty Drago

Rate: Non-Fiction pays $15 per article | Fiction pays $15 per story

Publishes literary and artwork quarterly, which covers art, fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.

TIP: Pays expenses of non-fiction writers on assignment.

Contact: Editor Briony Bax  

Rate: Contact editor.

4. American Poetry Review

This bi-monthly magazine publishes literary prose and contemporary poetry, which covers fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.

Contact: Editor-in-Chief Elizabeth Scanlon : 

Rate: $1 per line for Poetry | $60 per page for prose

5. Ancient Paths

Online publication, which publishes top-quality poetry, short fiction, and spiritual themes on art. 

TIP: This is a great platform on which new poets and storytellers can begin having their work published.

Contact: Email Skylar Burris

Rate: $1.25 per work published | $1.25 per poem

6. Bennington Review

Publishes a variety of literary works: poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and film writing.

TIP: Submissions will be accepted September 1, 2022. Check submission guidelines for details.

Contact: Email Managing Editor Katrina Turner

Rate: $100 for 1 – 6 pages of typeset prose. $200 for 7+ typeset pages. $20 per poem.

7. Copper Nickel

This national literary journal publishes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry works, which is maintained at the University of Colorado Denver.

TIP: Needs non-fiction essays. Submit poetry to editors, Brian Barker and Nicky Beer. Joanna Luloff is the fiction and non-fiction editor. Teague Bohlen is also a fiction editor.

Contact: Email Editor/Managing Editor Wayne Miller  

Rate: $30 per printed page / non-fiction, fiction, and poetry 

8. Frontier Poetry

This literary magazine publishes poetry from new, emerging, and establishing poets.

Contact: Email Associate Editor Jeni De La O or Editor-in-Chief I.S. Jones  

Rate: $50 – $150 for poetry

9. Grain Magazine

A quarterly literary magazine of eclectic writing, available in print.

Contact: Email Editor Mari-Lou Rowley

Rate: Poetry $5 – $250

10. Longleaf Review

A quarterly online literary journal that believes “everyone has a story to tell,” and where everyone is welcome. It is an excellent platform for new creative writers.

Follow submission guidelines to present your creative fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and hybrid works.

Contact: Email Editor Paige Perez

Rate: $20 per piece.

11. New Letters

This quarterly magazine covers fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

TIP: In need of “creative nonfiction or personal essays.” Any subject, style, or genre. Exceptions: Not interested in footnoted scholarly or critical essays, or commercial-type essays. No self-help, how-to, or non-literary work.

Contact: Email Editor-in-Chief Christie Hodgen

Rate: Pays $15-$50 up to 5,000 words, also pays expenses of writers on assignment for nonfiction. Pays $15-$50 up to 5,000 words for fiction. Poetry pays $10 – $25 with unlimited word count.

12. New Reader Magazine

This quarterly arts and literature journal that covers fiction, flash fiction, nonfiction, poetry, memoirs, interviews, and lyrical essays.

Contact: Email Managing Editor Joseph Chino Castanares

Rate: Poetry starts @ $5 per piece |  Fiction, Memoirs, Reportage, Interviews, Lyrical Essays start at $10 per piece |  Fiction over 1,000 words starts @ $20.

13. Ninth Letter

Ninth Letter is a literary journal published by the Department of English at the University of Illinois, which publishes “prose and poetry that experiment with form, narrative, and non-traditional subject matter, as well as more traditional literary work.”

TIP: The editorial staff rotates, and there is a different editor assigned to nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. Check the submission guidelines for the appropriate editor.

Contact: Email Editor Jodee Stanley 

Rate: Nonfiction, fiction, and poetry pays $25 per printed page.  

14. One Story

This literary magazine actually publishes one story every three to four weeks, which its readers are sent by mail as a printed copy.

TIP: One Story currently needs short fiction stories “that are strong enough to stand alone-the best you can give.”

Contact: Email publisher Maribeth Batcha

Rate: Pays $500 for 3,000 – 8,000 words.

In addition to “news, reviews, letters, and features, this pub covers tons of poetry and artwork.

TIP: Needs essays, reviews, and technical feature stories. Check submission guidelines, as content needs change.

Contact: Email Editor Carole Baldock

Rate: $50 for nonfiction

16. Paris Review

Publishes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry on a quarterly basis of high-quality. 

Contact: Email Editor Emily Stokes

Rate: $100 per poem. Pays $1,000 – $3,000 for fiction and pays expenses of writers on assignment for nonfiction projects. 

Publishes poetry quarterly in-print and daily online.

TIP : An excellent publication for emerging poets.

Contact: Email editor Timothy Green  

Rate: $50 per poem for online contributors, and $100 per poem for in-print contributors.

18. ThreePenny Review

A general-interest literary magazine published quarterly, which publishes nonfiction, fiction, and poetry.

TIP: Nonfiction, the genre most open to freelance writers. Check submission guidelines.

Contact: Email: Editor Wendy Lesser

Rate: Nonfiction – $400 for 1,500 – 4,000 words. 

This literary magazine covers the gamut of poetry, fiction, short fiction, nonfiction, photography, multimedia, and essays, which publishes quarterly.

Contact: Email Editor Paul Reyes

Rate: Poetry pays $200 per poem, up to 4 poems. For 5+ poems, pay is usually $1,000+. Short fiction pays $1,000 +. Personal essays and literary criticism pay $1,000+ at .25 cents per word, depending on length.

20. ZYZZYVA

Publishes a mix of curated works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry of established and new talent of contemporary arts. 

TIP: Will begin accepting submissions September 1 st . Check submission guidelines .

Contact: Email: Managing Editor Oscar Villalon

Rate: Pays $50 for each nonfiction piece, plus expenses paid for writers on assignment. Pays $50 for fiction, and $50 for poetry.

Looking for some insider tips about how to pitch literary magazines, land assignments, and get paid? Check out these 11 tips to get started:

• Read the guidelines and back issues of lit mags to which you want to submit work. 
• Find the right contact info. Submit your literary work to the appropriate editor. 
• Watch for literary magazines and journals that have specific editors assigned exclusively to poetry, fiction, nonfiction, art, essays, interviews, book reviews, and photography. Here is some literary advice from agents.
• Only submit your work during the dates specified by the publication . Some pubs only accept literary work during specific times of the year. The submission schedule can be found within the guidelines.
• Literary magazines are competitive and can be tough to break into. They only have a limited number of spots available; this is so editors can carefully read each piece.
• Make your submission stand out. Since the market is so competitive, with editors overwhelmed with submissions, they read quickly with an eye to reject a piece. This process narrows the selection process. So, make your piece stand out above the rest.
• Take a different approach. To make your piece stand out, lit mags and journals seek fresh, “different and original” creative literary pieces-knock the editor off their feet and sweep them away!
• Don’t fear the online submission process. Submitting your literary work may require that you submit the finished piece via an “online submission manager.” The most used submission manager is called “submittable,” which is available on the submission page of the lit mag or journal.
• No academic essays. Although a few lit mags and journals are published by universities, they are not looking for academic essays.
• A small fee is charged by some lit pubs upon submission of your work, as a reading fee; about $3 per submission, and the fee could be higher.
• If you’re seeking alternative ways to get your literary work published , some magazines have literary competitions, which offer monetary rewards to the winner of $1,000+.

So, get your creative juices flowing, or dust-off your cherished unpublished literary work, go forth, and share it with the world.

Do you write for literary magazines? Tell us about it in the comments.

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Get Paid to Write Poetry: 14 Markets for Freelance Writers

Can you actually get paid to write poetry? Yes. I’ve written poetry for a long list of publications, and ultimately published a book of poetry. It’s not the only way I make a living writing, but submitting poems for money is certainly one of my income streams.

Write for Magazines: 21 Publications That Pay $500+ Per Assignment

Want to write for magazines?

It’s a great way to make a living writing if you pitch the right publications. How about $500 or more per assignment?

If you’ve been cranking out magazine stories for $50 to $150 a pop, you may be wondering if that’s really even possible. That’s often the going rate for local, regional, or small-circulation magazines.

If you want to write for magazines, and have limited experience, these are great places to get some clips, and earn some money, but it shouldn’t be your last stop.

Many consumer and trade magazines pay $500 or more per assignment. And the pitching process is pretty much the same as smaller pubs:

• Identify a magazine you want to write for
• Study the submission guidelines
• Develop a solid story idea
• Do a little research and interview a source
• Write a killer query letter, and pitch your story idea to an editor

If you can do that, you’ve got the chops to get paid well to write for magazines. But you need to know where to look for those $500-plus assignments. Check out these 25 magazines to get started.

Make Money on Medium: Pitch These 10 Pubs That Pay Writers

Want to make money on Medium as a freelance writer? Not pocket change…pro freelancer rates. Pitch these 10 pubs on the platform.

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Call for submissions: 2025 Perugia Press Prize

Author: Andy Irwin

August 15, 2024

Deadline: November 15, 2024

Perugia Press, a feminist micro press publishing emerging women poets, is seeking submissions for the 2025 Perugia Press Prize Contest.  The contest is open from August 1st to November 15th for full-length poetry manuscripts by women, which includes all gender-expansive definitions of that term, who have no more than one previously published full-length book.

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The English Major: Overview

The major in English is designed to introduce students to the history of literature written in English; to acquaint them with a variety of historical periods and geographical and cultural regions of English language and writing; to create an awareness of methods and theories of literary and cultural analysis; and to provide continued training in critical writing.

Students who declare the major in English from the Fall 2021 semester will complete requirements in the redesigned major.  These include a sequence of three small, faculty-led seminars (English 90, 100, and 190) that focus on foundational skills in reading and understanding literature and in writing critically and meaningfully about it. The seminars are meant to be taken in order: English 90 (“Practices of Literary Study”) introduces students to different strategies for close reading, for making sense of literary language, and for appreciating the value and interest of literary study. English 100 (“The Seminar on Criticism”) addresses a range of literary topics, periods, and genres, but in each case provides intensive and closely supervised work in critical reading and writing and an engagement with methodological problems in literary studies.  We strongly recommend that majors take English 100 as juniors. English 190 is a senior research seminar that follows from prior coursework and culminates in a substantial and original scholarly essay. Students pursuing honors in English take the year-long honors seminar, H195A/B, instead of English 190 or in addition to it.

The core of the major also consists of English 45A-45B-45C, a survey of literature in English from Chaucer through the mid-20th century, including British, American, and anglophone writing. Together with the required course in Shakespeare, this sequence provides a foundation in literary history on which to build more specialized course work. Further requirements include at least one upper-division course in literature before 1800 and at least one “Literatures in English” course, addressing the variety of literary traditions and writings of peoples and cultures that have been historically underrepresented in the U.S., the British Isles, and other anglophone countries and regions.  

To be eligible to declare the major, students must have completed at least 30 units, the L&S Reading and Composition requirement, and two major requirements: English 45A or 45B, and one of the following: English 45A, 45B, 45C, Shakespeare, or English 90.

Please see the  Requirements  page for details.