Calls for Submissions – October 2016

On the first Wednesday of each month, Literary Mama shares a list of current calls for submissions. Good luck sending your work out into the world!

LITERARY MAMA OPPORTUNITIES

The Profiles department seeks “profiles of writers who are mothers, or writers who write about motherhood (who may or may not be mothers themselves), or writers who have something to say to mothers.” Submissions should range from 750 to 2,500 words and may be interview (Q&A) or narrative format. More information can be found here.

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The Columns department seeks columns contracted for 11 installments (1,000-1,600 words) that are published either monthly or bimonthly.

This blog post from our senior columns editor provides details about the three essential ingredients to a successful column pitch: hook, roadmap, samples. You can review our current and retired columns to make sure your idea is one that covers new ground in new ways. Most of all, we want a story that is uniquely yours–one that you can’t wait to tell, and that we can’t wait to read.

Please send queries and submissions to LMcolumns (at) literarymama (dot) com in the text of an email. Include the word “Submission” in the subject line, and allow one to three weeks for a response.

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The Literary Reflections department seeks writing by mother writers, both established and emerging, focused on the creative process or on parenting as it relates to literature. We’re looking for first-person reflections with both intellectual and emotional resonance. You may choose to write about your reading, writing, or professional life. Submissions should range from 1,500-3,500 words, and more information can be found here.

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Literary Mama seeks photography submissions to pair with the posts on our site. We are looking for photos that offer unique perspectives on motherhood, and we like photos that are artful, versus those that appear staged, and that encourage us to reflect.

If you would like to feature your evocative, creative photography on Literary Mama, you can review complete submission guidelines here and send .jpg images to: LMphotos (at) literarymama (dot) com. We always give photo credits and provide a link back to the photographer’s website.

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CONTESTS

Sequestrum is pleased to announce their second annual New Writer Awards, in which over $500 will be awarded to up-and-coming writers and poets. The contest will accept both prose (fiction & creative nonfiction) and poetry submissions, with first-prize winners selected in each genre. $15 entry fee. Fiction and nonfiction: entries up to 12,000 words accepted. Poetry: up to three pieces per submission. Most Sequestrum poems average under 40 lines. Please see the contests page for full guidelines.

Deadline: October 15, 2016 (tentative)

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Mash Stories has announced the keywords for its latest flash fiction competition: “chicken,” “bathrobe,” and “potato.” $100 for the winning story, max. 500 words. Submit here.

Deadline: October 15, 2016

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Alligator Juniper features contemporary poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and black & white photography. We encourage submissions from writers and photographers at all levels, emerging, early-career, and established. We produce one annual issue comprised of the winners and finalists of our national contests. All entrants pay a $15 submission fee and receive a complementary copy of that year’s issue in the spring. First place winning writers in each genre receive a $1000 prize. The first place winner in photography receives a $500 award. Finalists in writing and images are published and paid in contributor copies. Submit here.

Deadline: October 15, 2016

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Bath Flash Fiction Award is an international rolling flash fiction competition (300 word limit). Each award runs for 4 months. Judging takes place quickly with a top prize of £1000, £300 second, and £100 third. At the close of each competition, the next competition begins. All entrants considered for publication in forthcoming Bath Flash Fiction Award Anthology, due out the end of 2016. Submission details here.

Deadline: October 16, 2016

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Tupelo Press’ Sunken Garden Chapbook Prize is a prestigious national poetry prize for adult writers. Submit a previously unpublished, chapbook-length poetry manuscript with a TOC. Winner receives $1,000, an introductory reading at the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival, and publication. Final judge: Maggie Smith. Detailed submission guidelines here.

Deadline: October 31, 2016

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Deadline: October 31, 2016

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Narrative Magazine is open for its Fall Story Contest. “Our fall contest is open to all fiction and nonfiction writers. We’re looking for short shorts, short stories, essays, memoirs, photo essays, graphic stories, all forms of literary nonfiction, and excerpts from longer works of both fiction and nonfiction. Entries must be previously unpublished, no longer than 15,000 words, and must not have been previously chosen as a winner, finalist, or honorable mention in another contest.” Awards: First Prize is $2,500, Second Prize is $1,000, Third Prize is $500, and up to ten finalists will receive $100 each. All contest entries are eligible for the $4,000 Narrative Prize and for acceptance as a Story of the Week. Find out more here.

Deadline: November 30, 2016

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Baltimore Review Summer Contest seeks submissions for the winter contest. The theme is “Milestones.”  Why? The Baltimore Review is celebrating 20 years of publishing! A mighty milestone for us. Now we want to hear about other milestones. You can use the theme in any way you’d like.  Three winners will be selected from among all entries. All submissions considered for publication. Prizes are $500, $200, and $100. Entry fee is $10. Submit your poems, short stories, and creative nonfiction online to our Submittable Contest category here.

Deadline: November 30, 2016

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Slipstream poetry chapbook contest offers a $1,000 prize plus 50 professionally-printed copies of your book. All entrants receive a copy of the winning chapbook plus a complimentary issue of Slipstream magazine (a $20 value). The book and author are featured prominently on the Slipstream website for one year, as well as in all Slipstream catalogs, press releases, and promotional materials. Send up to 40 pages of poetry: any style, format, or theme. Submit here.

Deadline: December 1, 2016

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Ploughshares Emerging Writer’s Contest recognizes work by an emerging writer in each of three genres: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. One winner in each genre per year will receive $1,000 and publication in the literary journal.  We consider writers “emerging” if they have not published or self-published a book. Guidelines here.

Opens March 1, 2017 at noon EST and closes May 15, 2017 at noon EST 

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ANTHOLOGIES

bramble & thorn is seeking work inspired by dark forests, fanged girls, fierce women, feral princesses, a sisterhood of witches deep in the woods. Send us your tale of a girl that eats the wolf’s heart a piece at a time. Reading: poetry, prose poems, micro/short fictions & short essays. We prefer to read multiple pieces (3-5), but if you have one really fantastic piece you think we might like, don’t hesitate to send it. Reprints considered. Handbound, limited edition anthology. No fees. Submit here.

Deadline: November 1, 2016

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Southern Voices seeks southern voices, from the Appalachian hollers to the Deep South and everywhere in between, for the new short fiction anthology. This anthology aspires to combat the media-fueled stereotype that all Southerners share the same values (and the same accent!) by depicting the diversity of the region. We want to hear the stories of Southerners of a wide range of ethnicities, sexual orientations, gender identities, physical differences, social classes, and points of view. The stories may be contemporary or historical as long as they depict time and place authentically and imaginatively (Take it easy on the moonlight and magnolias, y’all). Styles and subject matter are wide open, but no erotica, gratuitous violence, or apostrophe-laden dialect. Submit here.

Deadline: December 10, 2016

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Open Country Press seeks submissions from dynamic and original voices for “Bright Bones: Contemporary Montana Writing, an anthology of innovative literature. We are looking for fresh poems, stories, lyric essays and translations, as well as cross-genre, collaborative and experimental works. Emerging and established writers from Montana and/or those who have spent a significant amount of time in Montana are invited to submit 3-5 poems or up to 20 pages of prose or other (no previously published work, please).” Click here to submit.

Deadline: December 31, 2016

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OCTOBER DEADLINES

Cherry Tree welcomes submissions of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction between August 15 and October 15. “We only consider original, unpublished work. For accepted work, we purchase First North American serial rights. Payment is two contributors’ copies.” Find more information here.

Deadline: October 15, 2016

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Proximity is open to submissions for Issue 13: Guns. “We’re interested in your true, lived experiences around guns. We want you to push our understanding of what it means to exist in a gun culture, wherever you’re located inside of it. How do you relate to the alluring, effective, fearsome, reviled tool called the gun? Comfortable? Terrified? Somewhere as yet undefined? Show us your gun rights and wrongs, uncover something unknown, stand outside and look in, or deep-dive into spaces you (think you) already know. Bring us inside a space we’ve yet to witness.” Submit long-form (6,000 words max), mid-range (2,000 words max), flash (500 words max), photo essay/multimedia, or other alternative forms of true stories. Detailed guidelines here; submit here.

Deadline: October 15, 2016

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Timberline Review welcomes new work from established and emerging writers. Short fiction, creative nonfiction, essays, poetry — tell us about life! Tell us a story! Prose submissions should aim for under 5,000 words; up to five poems per submission. $5 submission fee for non-members. Each published contributor will receive a payment of $25 and one copy of the journal. Click here for more detailed guidelines and the link to submit.

Deadline: October 15, 2016

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3Elements Review is now accepting submissions for Issue 13! The elements are Glaze, Thread, and Murmur. All three words must be used in any poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction submissions. Art and photography submissions must represent at least one of those elements. To submit, please click here.

Deadline: October 31, 2016

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The Crawl Space Journal  is now open for submissions! We are accepting poetry and short fiction (1500 words max) for our Spring 2017 issue scheduled to release on the Ides of March: March 15, 2017. We are looking for great writing, especially short forms: poems, prose, and flash fiction, within the realms of magical realism, fabulism, and fantasy. Our readers are mainly between the ages of 11 and 14. Submit here.

Deadline: October 31, 2016

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NOVEMBER DEADLINES

The Conium Review Online Compendium seeks pieces roughly 1,000 words or fewer. Our print publication publishes longer pieces, but the online version is devoted to bite-sized writing. We will occasionally make word-count exceptions, but you have better odds if you stay under 1,000 words. We’re looking for innovative writing. Have fun with it. Flash fiction narratives are great, but we also consider things like lists, open letters, marginalia, etcetera. Please bear in-mind, we want text-based pieces; we do not want images (please, no funky paintings with random words superimposed over them; we’ve seen enough of those already). Don’t send us anything that is wholly dependent on exact font sizes or other formatting tricks; we’re not technology wizards, and we’ll probably mess it up anyway. Remember, experimental and innovative writing is much more than just messing around with graphics and typography. Submit here.

Deadline: November 1, 2016

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Fourth Genre: Explorations in Nonfiction is now accepting submissions for the open reading period. We publish only nonfiction. We accept only work that has not been published previously, online or print. Detailed submission guidelines available here.

Deadline: November 30, 2016

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The Matador Review is now accepting submissions for their Winter 2017 issue. The magazine is an online literature and art quarterly based in Chicago, Illinois. They publish poetry, fiction, flash fiction, creative non-fiction, and visual art. Find out more and submit here.

Deadline: November 30, 2016

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DECEMBER DEADLINES

Understorey Magazine is accepting submissions for issue 9 under the theme of Home and Away. “We seek stories of arrival and departure, acceptance and exclusion, displacement and settlement, and other topics related to home as a country, nation, land community or state of mind.” Find out more here.

Deadline: December 1, 2016

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Creative Nonfiction magazine seeks original essays for an upcoming issue on the topic of The Dialogue Between Science and Religion. “Science and religion, despite their rich, interwoven history, are too often portrayed as opposites in nearly every way. As part of a larger effort to facilitate dialogue between these two ways of knowing the world, Creative Nonfiction and Issues in Science and Technology are seeking original narratives illustrating and exploring the relationships, tensions, and harmonies between science and religion—the ways these two forces productively challenge each other as well as the ways in which they can work together and strengthen one another. We welcome personal stories of scientists, religious figures, or (just as important) everyday people seeking to explore or reconcile their own spiritual and scientific beliefs. Essays must be previously unpublished and no longer than 5,000 words. More info here.

Deadline: December 12, 2016

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Glassworks, the literary magazine of Rowan University’s Master of Arts in Writing graduate program, seeks work to be considered for publication. Glassworks publishes nonfiction, fiction, poetry, hybrid pieces, craft essays, new media, and art both digitally and in print. We are currently reading until December 15, 2016 for our spring and fall 2017 print issues. We also publish flash fiction, prose poetry, and micro essays in our online edition Flash Glass monthly. Submissions for Flash Glass are accepted on a year-round, rolling basis. Submit here.

Deadline: December 15, 2016

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The Indianola Review is open to submissions of fiction (up to 7,500 words), nonfiction (up to 7,500 words), and poetry (3-5 pieces). Paying market. For detailed submission information, please click here.

Deadline: December 15, 2016

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Newfound explores how place shapes identity, imagination, and understanding. Newfound accepts submissions year round, but is also currently accepting submissions for their spring themed issue, Other Worlds. “This can mean work that represents exploration and discovery, “the alien/other” or otherness, foreign spaces and their remains, and/or activities of those living in such environments. Other Worlds can also mean states of mind or transformative conditions. We welcome speculative and slipstream work for this issue.” Detailed guidelines here.

Deadline: December 21, 2016

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JANUARY DEADLINES

Ploughshares is a journal of new writing, and two out of three issues per year are guest-edited by prominent writers who explore different personal visions, aesthetics, and literary circles, with each year’s Winter issue staff-edited. 50% each issue is directly solicited by the guest editor, and the remaining 50% is selected from unsolicited manuscripts. Ploughshares Solos, a series launched in 2012, digitally publishes long stories and novella length work as standalone singles. The series is staff edited. See submission guidelines for details.

Deadline: January 15, 2017

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FLARE: The Flagler Review is looking for evocative, compelling fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and artwork for its Spring 2017 edition. Want to be part of it? Submissions are now being accepted. FLARE is the award-winning literary journal at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida. We seek new, up-and-coming, and established writers and artists. Submit here.

Deadline: January 15, 2017

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ROLLING SUBMISSIONS

Akashic Books (of Go the F*ck to Sleep fame) seeks submissions for their Terrible Twosdays series. “Are you a parent going through the Terrible Twos? Did you live through them and survive? Terrible Twosdays is a place to commiserate over the unending shenanigans of your Darling Children (as the online parenting communities say).” Stories must not exceed 750 words. E-mail your submission to info@akashicbooks.com. More details here.

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Animal: A Beast of a Literary Magazine seeks essays, stories, and poems that capture the essence and immediacy of the beast. Animal is a subject-specific litmag, however loosely we define “animal.” In some form, we want a literal beast as a central character or motif. Render on the page what is both alien and familiar about an animal, animals, or being “animal.” Our submission guidelines are available here.

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Assay: A Journal of Nonfiction Studies is open to submissions in all disciplines. Assay “publishes the best peer-reviewed critical scholarship of creative nonfiction to provide a space for work that elevates the genre in an academic setting.” For more information on what they are looking for and how to submit, please click here.

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Break the Parenting Mold seeks submissions of syndicated or original posts. This is an online community dedicated to strength in community, lifting up parents of children with special needs and offering support by sharing individual stories. Lists (at least 400 words) or essays (at least 600 words) welcome. Submission guidelines available here.

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Compose: A Journal of Simply Good Writing is reading for its Fall issue. They publish work by both emerging and established writers and accept fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, articles on the craft of writing—both practical and inspirational, interviews with established writers, literary agents, editors, etc., excerpts from traditionally published works, photography and artwork. Detailed submission guidelines can be found here.

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The Establishment “is looking to unearth overlooked stories, produce original reporting, and provide a platform for voices that have been marginalized by the mainstream media. And yes, we want your humor, wit, and good old-fashioned satire, too. We publish originally reported features, interviews, long-form journalism, personal essays, and multimedia of all shapes, sizes, and creeds.” All contributors paid. Details on how to pitch can be found here.

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The Fem, a literary journal that publishes feminist, diverse, and inclusive creative works, is now open to feminist poetry, fiction, and nonfiction submissions. For detailed submission guidelines, please click here.

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Glass Poetry Press is interested in poetry submissions that enact the artistic and creative precision of glass. “We are not bound by any specific aesthetic; our only mission is to publish collections of high quality writing. All styles, forms and schools of poetry are welcome, though easy rhymes and ‘light’ verse are less likely to inspire us. We like poems that show a careful understanding of language, music, passion and creativity.” To submit, click here.

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HerStories Project is looking for the kind of wring that moves us, amazes us, and makes us wish that we had written it ourselves. As always, we to highlight the best of women’s voices and show the uniqueness and commonalities of women’s experiences, We are continuing with our monthly themes – October’s is fear and November’s is gratitude. Please visit our site for submissions guidelines.

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Ink In Thirds wants your poetry (up to 3 poems, no longer than 30 lines each), prose (300 words max), and photography (sent directly to submissions@inkinthirds.com). Submission details here.

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KERNPUNKT Press is currently reading manuscripts of literary fiction, art & architecture, science fiction, historical fiction, and children’s books. For more information and the link to submit, please click here.

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Lady Literary Magazine seeks fiction, creative nonfiction, essays on writing, and poetry from female writers of all ages. Fiction and creative nonfiction: up to 5,000 words; essays: up to 3,000 words; no word limit for poetry. As a literary magazine, they are seeking complex, multi-layered work. No genre fiction or simultaneous submissions. All pieces can be sent to submissions@ladyliterarymag.com. More information here.

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Mamalode magazine pays for publications. Submissions are ongoing, including topical pieces not related to the theme. You can submit here.

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Maximum Middle Age, a new online pop culture magazine for women of a certain age, is open for submissions in various categories (“Hardcore Feminist,” “The Domestic Arts,” “Back in the Day,” “Beauty Industrial Complex,” “Family Ties,” and Dr. Feelgood”). For more information on each category and submission details, click here.

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Minola accepts poetry, fiction, essays, reviews, and visual art exclusively from those who identify as women. They are “interested in the fearless and unsympathetic, featuring only work that goes where others are uncomfortable or afraid to go, collecting raw yet well-crafted work to create a space that is honest about the otherwise under-represented female experience.” Email submissions and cover letter to minolareview@gmail.com. Specific submission guidelines can be found here.

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Mothers Always Write, an online literary magazine for mothers by mother writers, is seeking submissions of poetry (up to 3 poems) and essays (up to 2,000 words) about the parenting experience. Tell us your beautiful story about motherhood. Please see their writer’s guidelines for specific requirements and suggested monthly themes at the site.

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Motherwell is a publication that tells all sides of the parenting story. It is open to submissions of personal essays (up to 1,200 words), opinion pieces (1,200 words), dialogues (1,000 words), and dilemmas (800 words). Original submissions only. Paying market. Co-founders: Randi Olin and Lauren Apfel. For genre-specific submission guidelines, please visit their Submittable page.

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MUTHA Magazine, exploring real-life motherhood from every angle, at every stage, seeks personal essays (~1,500 words), comics / graphic narratives / photo essays, and select interview pitches. MUTHA is a labor-of-love for all involved and does not pay at this time; ongoing open submissions; no reading fees; may take 3-4 weeks to respond to submissions (sometimes faster!). Editor: Meg Lemke c/o muthamagazine@gmail.com. Submission guidelines available here.

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Mystery Weekly, a short story mystery magazine, seeks short mysteries (up to 8,000 words). Published in both weekly and monthly editions, Mystery Weekly Magazine presents crime and mystery short stories by some of the world’s best established and emerging mystery writers that run the gamut from cozy to hardboiled fiction. They hope to build and nurture an online community of mystery enthusiasts and create a new market for talented crime fiction writers. Simultaneous and multiple submissions allowed. Click here to read their guidelines and submit your story.

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One for One Thousand is a virtual literary journal that pairs photography and prose. Prose: Submit 1,000-word stories or narrative essays inspired by a photo. Photography: Submit photographs that inspire an opening into a potential world. Seeking submissions in both categories; they will include hyperlinks to the photographer’s or writer’s chosen site. They also provide a unique workshop and editing process that involves all of their editors with live commentary. More information on how to submit here.

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Outsider Poetry, a literary review for those who create with mental illness, are self-trained, or create art and poetry that challenges cultural and academic norms, is accepting submissions at all times and is open to poets of all experience levels. Submit work via email to either Olivia Suchs at oliviasuchs@gmail.com or Thomas Vaultonburg at vaultonburg@gmail.com. Editors will respond to submissions promptly.

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Peacock Journal a daily online literary & arts magazine highlighting beauty in all its forms, seeks original submissions of Fiction, Art, Photography, Translations, Non-Fiction and Poetry from emerging and established writers and artists. We want to see your most beautiful work, however you define the term. Submissions are read year round. For more details please visit our Guidelines page, and for our aesthetic preferences, please read our About page. Submit work here.

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Pithead Chapel, an online journal of gutsy narratives, seeks essays (personal, memoir, lyric, experimental, etc.) under 4,000 words. For detailed submission guidelines and to submit, please see here.

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A Quiet Courage is an online literary journal that publishes microfiction and poetry 100 words or less (titles not included). “We seek your absolute best writing. No deadlines, submissions rolling. No submission fees. We are a non-paying market. We consider writing in Spanish too, with exact English translations. We have a special affinity for Holocaust-related writing, but we consider writing about all kinds of subjects and topics.” For more information and specific submission guidelines, please click here.

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Raising Mothers seeks well-written, original first-person essays (1,000-2,000 words max) about anything and everything related to motherhood. All are welcome, but an effort is made to highlight the voices of multiracial/multi-cultural families and mothers of color. Essays should have a literary quality: strong, engaging work without it being at all academic. Excerpts of larger works and poetry (up to 3 poems) also accepted. At this time, they are specifically looking for pieces on step-parenting, raising a child with special needs, and adopting children of color. Submission details can be found here.

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SmokeLong’s Global Flash Series is now open to stories 600 words or fewer in French, Spanish, Danish, and German. Submit here.

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Storm Cellar, a national literary arts magazine with a special emphasis on the Midwest, is open to submissions of unpublished, amazing writing (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, flash) and images. They’d love to see more art, photos, diagrams, graphic narratives. For more detailed information, please visit their Submittable page.

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Tethered by Letters launched Dually Noted, an online group writing project. New and established writers from around the world come together to create one ongoing story through weekly installments. Those interested in adding the next section of the story should submit their 500-word addition before the next Friday night deadline. The editor will publish the best submission at the beginning of each week. For submission specifics and formatting information, please click here, and submit here.

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Under the Gum Tree is a quarterly literary arts magazine that seeks creative nonfiction submissions year-round. For details, see here.

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Vela publishes nonfiction written by women. They are particularly interested in narrative nonfiction, essays with a research and/or reporting component, and literary journalism with a unique, compelling voice. For more detailed information, please see their submission guidelines.

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Waxwing is reading submissions of poetry, short fiction, and literary essays until May 1; translations of poetry and literary prose are read year-round. Poets should send one to five poems, and prose writers one story, essay, novella, or novel chapter (or up to three short-short stories or micro-essays). Submission details here.

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Willow Springs is open to nonfiction submissions all year. Contributors paid $100 per published long-form prose piece, $40 for short prose. $3 reading fee for all submissions. More info here.

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If you have information on calls for submissions not listed here that you think Literary Mama readers would appreciate, please e-mail us at lmblogcontact (at) literarymama (dot) com. —