This page is updated approximately every 2-3 weeks. Check back mid-July and you’ll find more opportunities for upcoming months.
Seeking writing submissions? Click on the Contact button on the home page. We believe that writers are a community and will list any reasonable contest or opportunity.
New Opportunities Without Deadlines
Discovered in Late August– Should Be Good in September
Special thanks to https://writingdeadlines.com
Please scroll through and see all that we have here.
The Drift is a magazine of culture and politics
The Drift aims to introduce new work and new ideas by young writers who haven’t yet been absorbed into the media hivemind and don’t feel hemmed in by the boundaries of the existing discourse.
Seeking: Socially engaged cultural criticism; class-sensitive analysis; pieces that point out what’s being avoided or talked around in politics, media, arts, or even academia; upbeat cynicism; un-self-serious screeds; generous takedowns; entries from the margins; fiction; poetry; 1-3 sentence book/ movie/ TV/ art reviews.
Send pitches to:
Describe what you’d like to write about in the body of an email. No essay drafts. Poetry or fiction should be sent in an attached Word document with the author’s name in the title. Use this form to pitch on Mentions.
Payment is reported to range between $300 and $500 per piece.
OPPORTUNITIES
Autofocus Submissions
Seeking various forms and genres of artful autobiographical writing, including but not limited to personal essay, memoir, confessional poetry, curated journals/diaries, curated letters/e-mails, and hybrid explorations of the self.
They will try to respond to lit mag submissions within 30 days. Any questions about the status of a submission after that period, or for any other questions regarding Autofocus, email: autofocuslit@gmail.com.
Submit here.
Payments and rights discussed on acceptance.
OPPORTUNITIES
Reason Magazine
Queries are preferred to unsolicited manuscripts. Queries should give a good idea of the proposed article’s content and, where applicable, sources. Please tell us your relevant background and send samples of your published writings.
- Reason covers politics, economics, culture, and science from a broad-minded libertarian perspective. Seeking original analysis and research and do not like simple rehashes of well-worn libertarian positions. Writers should read recent issues of Reason to get a feel for the subjects covered and the style of writing preferred.
- Reason magazine runs short columns as well as longform articles ranging from 600 to 5,000 words in length. Reason.com articles tend to be shorter.
- Fees vary. Payment upon publication.
- Manuscripts and queries for Reason magazine and Reason.com may be submitted to Senior Editor Brian Doherty at submissions@reason.com
- When submitting a query include an idea of your proposed article and applicable sources together with a note on your relevant background and samples of published work.
OPPORTUNITIES
Sweet Cherry Publishing
Sweet Cherry Publishing are considering submissions for children’s books! Sweet Cherry Publishing specialise in sets and series, and are unlikely to take on a book if it is a stand-alone title. Seeking middle-grade and picture books.
Please send the first two chapters or 3000 words of your manuscript along with a synopsis, author biography and cover letter to: submissions@sweetcherrypublishing.com
Please note that Sweet Cherry Publishing do not accept postal submissions.
The preference is for UK authors but overseas authors may be considered.
Info available here.
OPPORTUNITIES
Strange Attractor
Predominantly a non-fiction publisher, key interests are previously neglected or rejected areas of research and investigation. Ideally your research will be breaking new ground, or presenting new perspectives on a story that has been told previously. Books that present their author’s depth of research through engaging and accessible writing. Strange Attractor are not an academic publishing house, though we are distributed via MIT Press, but research is expected to be credible, backed up by evidence and fully referenced.
Strange Attractor has published a handful of novels and short fiction anthologies and shall continue to do so. Broadly speaking this will be fiction that sits uneasily alongside other strange tales of science fiction, fantasy or the supernatural.
Please send a brief summary, about 800 words long, of what you have written, or intend to write. A separate breakdown of chapters is useful if you have one.
Please do not expect an advance. Authors are offered a very generous share of profits.
For book or journal article proposals use proposals@strangeattractor.co.uk
Please read these guidelines before sending your submission.
OPPORTUNITIES
Factor Four Magazine
Science Fiction – Fantasy – Supernatural – Superhero
Factor Four publish flash fiction in the genres of speculative fiction, specifically science fiction, fantasy, supernatural, super hero, or any combination of these. Seeking stories that are engaging to readers in such a short word count. Please take note of these factors (pun intended) when submitting stories to us.
Accept Story Length: Up to 1,000 words.
Payment: Fiction is paid at a rate of eleven (11) U.S. cents per word based on our word processor’s word count and excludes title, author information, etc. Payments can be made by check or PayPal.
Submit: To submit your works of fiction, use this link to access our Submission Manager database. You can log in here to track the status of your story. Factor Four Magazine Submission Manager
Write for a Podcast
If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt an audience of ~150k monthly listeners, then The Other Stories want your stories! If accepted, you’ll get their fantastic narration team to lend their voices, their editor will sprinkle some magic pixie dust on the track, and you could have your story heard by thousands of listeners each week.
Payment for each accepted story is £15.
Stories should be 2000 words long although there is a 10% tolerance on either side of this. If your story has been published elsewhere, give details.
Upcoming themes are:
(Vol 77.) Victorian England II; deadline 1st January 2022
(Vol 78.) Metamorphosis II; deadline 1st February 2022
Submit via this form. If, this form isn’t working, then please email your submission to keztheeditor@gmail.com as a last resort. But please let them know why as they are hoping to use the form going forward.
OPPORTUNITIES
Zibby Books
Zibby Books, a new book publishing company, is seeking to re-conceptualize the connection between authors and readers.
Zibby Books will publish twelve books a year, one per month, with a specific focus on fiction
and memoir from debut and established authors with a commitment to diverse literary voices.
The goal is to produce exceptional, accessible (“book club”) stories that move and connect
readers. Zibby Books are seeking original works with a ‘strong sense of place’.
Zibby Books is turning the influencer model on its head. Instead of relying on celebrities to
promote books, Zibby is calling on other bestselling and established authors to give back and lift up individual titles from inception to publication. Dubbed “Book Champions,” those bestselling authors will get an equity stake in their Zibby Book and mentor the author along the way.
To further reflect the importance of author collaboration, Zibby Books has created a Profit
Sharing Bonus Program: 75% of all net profits in each calendar year of Zibby Books will be split
in equal share between every employee and the publishing program’s authors who, in addition to
receiving advances and author royalties, will receive the profit bonus for both their year of
publication and their first year of backlist, as well as any years during which their book has
outsized sales results.
Zibby Books titles will be released starting January 2023.
For more information about Zibby Books, visit www.zibbybooks.com.
To interview Zibby Owens or Leigh Newman, please email laura.rossi@zibbybooks.com.
General info requests, please contact info@zibbybooks.com.
August Deadlines
Cleaver’s Summer Lightning Flash Contest for Fiction & Nonfiction
Deadline: August 1, 2022. I’ve taken several classes with the judge. She’s quite good.
Deadline August 2 (must be received by this date; don’t enter before May 1). Recommended free contest gives $5,000 top prize to a US resident age 18+ for a writing sample of a work-in-progress (all genres compete together).
The 2022 Best Spiritual Literature Awards
Deadline: August 1, 2022
| 4thWrite Short Story Prize | 08/14/22 | Short Fiction | Active | Recommended | ||
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| Bruce Piasecki and Andrea Masters Award on Business and Society Writing | 08/15/22 | Creative Nonfiction Scholarly Essay Published Prose Book |
Active | Recommended | ||
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Society of Classical Poets Haiku Competition — Due August 15 — Haiku only
Deadline: August 20, 2022
Diana Woods Memorial Award in Creative Nonfiction seeks an unpublished creative nonfiction essay, 3,500 words maximum. Due August 31.
MORE OPPORTUNITIES COMING SOON. WATCH THIS SPACE. In the meantime, look below for some opportunities without deadlines.
Debra E. Bernhardt Labor Journalism Prize –Due August 30
Kindle Storyteller Award — Due August 31 — Prose and poetry
Contests With No Deadlines Specified
The Fictional Cafe a virtual coffee shop and multi-media arts magazine created especially for writers, artists, and podcast lovers, seeks new material year round.
Make a Living at Writing–Lists 161 markets divided into a variety of categories. Peruse. Let me know if you find dead links and I’ll add that info here, okay? Thanks!
Chill Subs is a new website to help poets and writers find the right home for their work “without wasting too much energy, losing your shit and hating yourself for being unproductive.” You can browse magazines or search with a variety of helpful filters, such as magazine name, contributors, response times, genres, specific demographics, and one of my favorites–vibe.
Poets Reading the News, founded in 2016, publishes original poetry about current events from around the world. We are currently open to submissions.
CHESTNUT REVIEW seeks submissions year round.
- Vita Poetica Journal Seeks Creative Work Explored Through a Spiritual Lens
- Deadline: Year-round
The Vita Poetica Journal is an online quarterly publication of creative work explored through a spiritual lens. This may be engaging directly with religious faith or a broader inquiry into meaning and the human experience. Submissions of fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, essays, and visual art are welcome year-round. Please see our submissions guidelines at www.vitapoetica.org/journal/submissions.
Markets Seeking Personal Essays
ongoing deadlines posted with thanks to The Write Life
Boston Globe
The Boston Globe Magazine Connections section seeks 650-word first-person essays on relationships of any kind. It pays, though how much is unclear. Submit to magazine@globe.com with “query” in the subject line.
You can also submit to Boston Globe Ideas, which accepts pitches and submissions for first-person essays ranging from 650 to 1,000 words. All pitches and submissions should be sent to ideas@globe.com.
Dame Magazine
“For women who know better. Smart, fast-paced news and opinions on what matters most in our lives — That’s DAME.”
If you’re up for the challenge, send your pitch to editorial@damemagazine.com. Aimed at women in their 30s, the publication covers politics, race, civil rights, disability, class, gender, sex, reproductive rights, LGBTQ issues and much more. Rates are based on type of features, but they typically pay $200 for essays.
The Christian Science Monitor
Have an upbeat personal essay between 400 and 800 words on everyday life, like travel, parenting, home, family, gardening, neighborhood, or community?
Submit to The CS Monitor’s Home Forum. Send your completed essays to homeforum@csmonitor.com. They accept essays on a wide variety of subjects (and encourage timely, newsy topics), but steer clear of topics like death, aging and disease.
Kveller
Want to write for this Jewish parenting site? To submit, email submissions@kveller.com with “submission” somewhere in the subject line. Include a brief bio, contact information, and your complete original blog post — you can either attach it as a Word document or paste it into the body of the email. Suggested word count: 500-800. Per a well-loved private Facebook group for freelance writers, pay is about $50.
The Sun Magazine
Publications in The Sun Magazine have won Pushcart Prizes and been selected for Best American Essays — so if your story gets chosen, you’ll be in good company. And since the editors “tend to favor personal writing,” that I-driven nonfiction essay might just be the perfect fit. (Fiction and poetry are also accepted.)
Pay ranges from $300 all the way up to $2,000 for accepted personal stories and fiction prose. The easiest way to send your story is online through Submittable, but check the guidelines first before submitting.
Creative Nonfiction Magazine
One unique aspect to Creative Nonfiction Magazine is their high acceptance rate of unsolicited pitches. It’s a great stop for blossoming writers, as well as those with more experience.
To submit online, a $3 reading fee is charged to non-subscribers (and the magazine no longer accepts paper submissions). The fee ensures you will be paid if your work is accepted, which typically adds up to a $125 flat rate plus $10 per printed page. Plus, they often run essay contests with prizes ranging from $1,000-$10,000 per winning entry, and reading fees help offset that expense. Read over their submission calls before pitching since each issue sticks to a theme and may have different guidelines.
