While some journals are closing their summer reading periods, others are just opening this month. Either way, it’s a great time to send out your work. Here are a dozen opportunities for writers. Actually, here’s a baker’s dozen. Please feel free to share with other writers. And if you find this list helpful, please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you.
n+1
n+1 is a print and digital magazine of literature, culture, and politics published three times a year. We also post new online-only work several times each week and publish books expanding on the interests of the magazine. We welcome submissions from all writers. New fiction, essays, criticism, and translation may be submitted. We currently do not accept poetry, art, illustration, or interview submissions. We place a strong emphasis on publishing work by and about living authors.
https://nplusonemag.com/contact/
Compose: A Journal of Simply Good Writing
Compose Journal is seeking literary fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, features, and artwork. We read submissions year-round. Fiction and creative non-fiction submissions should not exceed 4500 words. Submit up to six previously unpublished poems, all in one document. We publish work by established and emerging writers, and past contributors have included William Logan, Ada Limón, Robert Vivian, Marion Roach Smith and Ian Duhig.
http://composejournal.com/submissions/
Second Hand Stories
Second Hand Stories is an up-and-coming podcast where we plan to read short works of fiction submitted by our listener community. Our goals are twofold: we would like to give new and under-published writers an opportunity for their works to be heard, and we would like to bring fiction back to its original form as an oral tradition in an affordable alternative to audiobook services. We’re looking for any genre of fiction (no poetry) and our word limit is flexible (preferably between 2,000 and 6,000 words).
http://www.secondhandpodcast.com/guidelines/
Ruminate
Ruminate is reading general magazine submissions through August 14, 2017. We accept pieces that are 5,500 words or less. General magazine submissions are always free—there is no entry fee. We currently pay $15/400 words for prose. Ruminate firmly believes in paying our contributors, and we are working hard to increase the amount we pay them.
https://www.ruminatemagazine.com/pages/submissions?mc_cid=bcf2af3af4&mc_eid=508eb4b613
The Brighthorse Book Prizes
The Brighthorse Book Prize is an annual awards series honoring unpublished novels, collections of short fiction, and poetry collections. Three prizes will be given in 2017. Authors writing in English—regardless of nationality, residence, or publication history—may submit to the competition. Winning manuscripts will be published by Brighthorse Books. In addition to the $1,000 prize and publication in each category, the winning writers will split net profits on book sales 50/50 (most commercial publishers give the writer only 10% of net). The editors reserve the right to offer to publish any manuscripts submitted to the competition in addition to the prize winners. Submissions are accepted through August 16, 2017. Winners will be announced on October 1, 2017. And the winning manuscripts will be published in December 2017.
https://brighthorsebooks.submittable.com/submit
Tinderbox Editions
Tinderbox Editions is currently accepting nonfiction and hybrid manuscripts. Tinderbox Editions is a small, non-profit publisher located in Minnesota. We seek to publish literary prose and poetry and expand books beyond the neat category. Tinderbox is in its second year as a publisher and in addition to the collection of personal essays we’ve published this year (As If Seen at an Angle by Kevin O’Rourke), we are also adding to our line up a poet’s novel by Laynie Browne, a collection of prose poems by Charles Jensen, a lyric essay anthology, and a collection of essays by Carley Moore (among many beautiful books of poetry). Tinderbox will read prose and hybrid manuscripts through the end of August.
https://tinderboxeditions.submittable.com/submit
Qu
Qu is a literary journal, published by the MFA program at Queens University of Charlotte. The Qu editorial staff is comprised of current students. We publish fiction, poetry, essays and script excerpts of outstanding quality. Prose submissions (fiction, essays, script excerpts) should be a maximum of 8000 words. Poetry submissions may include up to 3 poems. Payment upon publication is $100 per prose piece and $50 per poem. Deadline is August 31st, 2017.
http://www.qulitmag.com/submit/
Anomaly (formerly Drunken Boat)
Anomaly is the new (as of May 2017) incarnation of the now-defunct Drunken Boat, founded in 1999, maintaining continuous publication without interruption, with a focus on especially innovative and experimental literature and arts. General submissions in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, comics, and translation are open through September 1, 2017. Submit one story or essay at a time of no more than 5000 words. Submit up to five poems in a single document. We try to respond within two months.
Consequence 2017 Women Writing War Awards in Fiction and Poetry
Consequence Magazine seeks submissions for the 2017 Women Writing War Awards in Fiction and Poetry. $250 Honorarium and Publication. FICTION JUDGE: Siobhan Fallon. POETRY JUDGE: Danielle Legros Georges. The contests are open to women and those identifying as women. Entries must capture the nuances of the cultures and consequences of war. The $10 contest entry fee is non-refundable. SUBMIT: July 1, 2017 – October 1, 2017.
http://www.consequencemagazine.org/contests/
Little Patuxent Review
Little Patuxent Review is a community-based publication focused on writers and artists from the Mid-Atlantic region, but all excellent work originating in the United States will be considered. The submission period for the next issue of Little Patuxent Review will close on October 24th, 2017. The issue is unthemed. You may submit one fiction piece of no more than 5,000 words, one nonfiction piece of no more than 3,500 words, or a maximum of three poems of up to 100 lines each.
https://littlepatuxentreview.org/submissions/
Cream City Review
We devote ourselves to publishing memorable and energetic fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and artwork which represent a broad range of creators with diverse, unique backgrounds. Both beginning and well-known writers are welcome. We are currently reading for our Fall/Winter Issue from now through November 1, 2017. For Fiction and Nonfiction, send fewer than twenty pages. We are interested in dynamic, well-crafted nonfiction, including creative journalism, personal essays, travelogues, flash, and polemics. We seek book reviews of any ccr-published genre and relevant author interviews. Please submit no more than five poems at a time
http://uwm.edu/creamcityreview/submit/
Bat City Review
BCR is published annually. We accept and read submissions from Aug 1 to May 1, with responses sent primarily in late autumn. We are interested in poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction (personal essays, memoir, commentary) that experiments with language, form, and unconventional subject matter, as well as more traditional work. Send us writing that plays, that strikes out, that enjoys itself, that makes its own rules.
http://www.batcityreview.la.utexas.edu/guidelines.php
Exit 7
Exit 7 accepts unsolicited submissions of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry from August 1—May 1 of each year. We ask that your fiction and nonfiction submissions not exceed 5,000 words. Please send 3—6 poems.
http://westkentucky.kctcs.edu/Student_Life/Exit7/Submit.aspx
Denton Loving 