Submission Calls – Women Who Submit

May 26, 2021May 26, 2021

Breathe and Push: Prompts for Gathering

By Noriko Nakada

Maybe you’ve heard, but in case you haven’t, Women Who Submit is celebrating 10 years! I mean, even Poets & Writers took notice of this badass organization and the women and nonbinary writers who are pushing against the patriarchy by supporting one another in our creative journeys.

As part of our first decade anniversary, we invite you to submit to our second anthology: Gathering. The first Women Who Submit anthology, Accolades highlights previously published work by Women Who Submit members, while Gathering celebrates how, in 2020-2021, “we continue to gather across the country, support one another, and find joy in the midst of our trauma.”

Gathering “welcomes submissions of both unpublished and previously published poems, essays, stories, plays, and hybrid work from all WWS members. Our goal is to gather work in response to the current conditions of our world. It is an opportunity to share the trauma and celebrate the joy.”

If you have already submitted, claps, claps, claps!

If you are still looking through your drafts for the right piece to submit, keep the May 31^st deadline in mind.

If you don’t think you have anything written yet, here are some prompts for each of our genres. Go for it! You have a whole three-day weekend to draft, revise, re-read, revise, edit again, and submit something for Gathering. Or, just write to the prompts because it’s like improv and a fun exercise to jump into a different genre and write for fun for a bit.

PROMPTS

DRAMA: Write a scene between characters with an unresolved past who find themselves unexpectedly stuck in line together.

POETRY: Using recycled lines from poems you’ve drafted throughout the pandemic, write a new poem and incorporate specific flora and fauna. Maybe try a villanelle or a duplex!

FICTION: Capture a scene of post-pandemic bacchanalia where a character gets lost.

NONFICTION: Write three different brief scenes capturing various points of a relationship or a place. Weave them together into an essay.

Remember to read the submission guidelines and then, we hope you will breathe and push submit.

Noriko Nakada writes, parents, and teaches middle school in Los Angeles. She is the author of the Through Eyes Like Mine memoir series. Excerpts, essays, and poetry have been published in Kartika, Catapult, Meridian, Hippocampus and elsewhere. She edits Breathe and Push for Women Who Submit.

March 6, 2019March 6, 2019

Writing on a Budget: Put on Your Oxygen Mask First

By Lisbeth Coiman

Most writers I know, including myself, are activists or behind-the-scenes supporters of several causes. When the political conjuncture we are living through in America threatens everybody’s sanity, writers struggle to focus before stepping up. Facing a myriad of social issues hurts these writers both emotionally and financially.

Vintage typewriter next to an iPad covered with pins and stickers from different social and political causes

Creativity dilutes in the stream of information/petitions/demonstrations, and the ordinary responsibilities of work. I can’t even come close to imagine what it is like to live through these times with children to take care of. The emotional load seems to grow by the minute. The writer feels like borrowing a “welder’s mask” to look at the blinding reality without hurting, without revealing tears.

With the emotional burden of political activism comes the added weight of financial demands. Bills can pile up easily on top of donations and contributions. The line between urgency and necessary disappears in the mists of a stream of crisis. We wake up to news of mass shootings, racial violence, and sexual violations of immigrant minors in detention. At work, fundraisers and pot-lucks drain the bank account. Add to that a humanitarian crisis in a homeland and you wish going to sleep on the eighth day of the month and wake up on payday.

When my budget became unbalanced, like a flight attendant, I told myself, “put on your own oxygen mask before helping others, even your family.” My livelihood depends on my mental health. Without money, I can’t write. Since writing is therapeutic for me, my sanity is at risk.

That’s when I jumped at the opportunity to take a scholarship for a social consciousness poetry class online, Poetry for Survival taught by Xochitl Bermejo. Through this class, I’m learning that I can’t see the page through tears. By detaching myself emotionally from the issues dearest to me – Venezuela and immigration – I hope to bring my unique perspective of the devastating reality of which I’m both a witness and a subject.

Perhaps the only advise I have for my readers tonight is to take a social consciousness vacation before taking a stand. Disconnect, put the check book in a locked box and forget where you hide the key. Go for an extended walk by the beach. Only then, your voice will sound clear.

This month, the short list includes some free submission opportunities.

1.The Booklist – seeking reviewers of diverse backgrounds
The Booklist is part of the American Library Association.
Genre: All
Languages: English and Spanish
Application Fee: $0
Submission Guidelines

2. Green Linden Press
Genre: Poetry, interviews and reviews
Submission fee: Up to $12.50
Deadline: March 20, 2019
Submission Guidelines

3. Catapult
Tiny Nightmares: An Anthology of Short Horror Fiction
Genre:                         Short Horror Fiction
Payment:                    $100
Submission fee:      0
Deadline:                    May 1, 2019
Word count:              Under 1200 words
Submission Guidelines

4. Ripples in Space: Flash Fiction for Weekly Podcast
Gener:                         Flash Fiction
Submission fee:     $6
Deadline:                   Open
Word count:             Max 1500 words
Submission Guidelines

5. Dusk and Shiver Magazine
Genre:                         Fiction, Poetry, Artwork
Submission fee:     $0
Deadline:                   April 13, 2019
Word count:    5,000 to 7,000 words (Fiction)
Submission Guidelines

Writer Lisbeth Coiman from the shoulders up, standing in front of a flower bush

Lisbeth Coiman is an emerging, bilingual writer wandering the immigration path from Venezuela to Canada to the US. She has performed any available job from maid to college administrator, and adult teacher. Her work has been published in Hip Mama, the Literary Kitchen, YAY LA, Nailed Magazine, Entropy, and RabidOak. She was also featured in the Listen to Your Mother Show in 2015. In her self-published memoir, I Asked the Blue Heron (Nov 2017), Coiman celebrates female friendship while exploring issues of child abuse, mental disorder, and her own journey as an immigrant.
She lives in Los Angeles, where she teaches at Harbor Occupational Center and speaks for NAMI about living with a mental disorder.

January 2, 2019March 6, 2019

Writing on a Budget: Support Fellow Writers

By Lisbeth Coiman

For a cost-conscious person, I have little self-control when it comes to books. I browse bookstores inhaling the sweet aroma of the unread pages; then, I bring out my credit card at the counter to pay for two or three books. At literary readings, I listen to the writers carefully, and then choose one or two books to bring home with me. It’s my way to support fellow writers, but also a form of self-indulgence. As the cost of my rent increases, and the stack of unread books keeps piling up on my bedside table, I am aware that I need to do something about my book-buying habit.

Because it is that time of the year when we set goals and decide, mostly without success, to break old habits, I’ve resolved to find a solution to this conundrum: how to support emerging writers while minding my small writing budget. Observing my peers at readings and bookstores, I noted some writers using one of the following three strategies

1. Request and borrow books from the library.

My friend Shelly never buys books despite expressing a life long love for words and all things lit. I used to see her at readings, in the city where we met, her eyes closed to recreate in her mind the stories or poems she heard. She took time to chat with the writers, and then left without spending a cent.

“It’s not for you. We must support each other,” I told her once.

“I don’t have space, and I move frequently. Instead of buying, I request the book at the local library, then borrow it.”

“Clever and inexpensive,” I admitted.

2. Exchange books with fellow writers

At one particular reading, I observed another friend, Cruz, approach another writer and ask if she was interested in exchanging books. “What a creative notion,” I thought. Both women are well-known and respected in their own communities and were interested in reading each other’s work. They signed copies, promised to read, and presented their business cards. The whole experience lasted a few minutes, with pleasantries and all. And they saved at least $20

3. Look out for review requests

Mary never buys books either. She browses FB groups searching for review opportunities. Mary submits the reviews to magazines and journals. When she can not land a submission, she posts a shorter version of her review in Goodreads, and Amazon, helping the writer with the promoting efforts. Not a bad idea if the reader is also trying to build her own name.

Submission Calls
The new year is bursting with submission opportunities. These are only a few for writers on a budget.

1. Waxwing Magazine
Genre: Poetry, short fiction, literary essays, translation of poetry or prose, and art.
No payment
Submission Fee: 0
Deadline: May 1
Word count: up to five poems, 3 short-shorts, or micro-essays, up to three images
Submission Guidelines

2. Brain Mill Press: 2018 Driftless Unsolicited Novella Contest
Genre: Fiction
Prize: $250 and Publication
Submission fee: $0, but they appreciate $12 will give the writer a copy of the winning novella.
Deadline: 01/23/19
Word count: 20 to 45,000 novella or novella-length collection of short stories.
Submission Guidelines

3. City Lights Booksellers and Publishers
Genre: Memoir
Submission fee: $0
Word count: Sample of 10-20 pages, book proposal, outline and table of contents, letter with summary and resume.
Submission Guidelines

Writer Lisbeth Coiman from the shoulders up, standing in front of a flower bush

headshot of Lisbeth Coiman Lisbeth Coiman is an author, poet, educator, cultural worker, and rezandera born in Venezuela. Coiman’s wanderlust spirit landed her to three countries—from her birthplace to Canada, and finally the USA, where she self-published her first book, I Asked the Blue Heron: A Memoir (2017). She dedicated her bilingual poetry collection, Uprising / Alzamiento, Finishing Line Press( Sept. 2021) to her homeland, Venezuela. An avid hiker, and teacher of English as a Second Language, Coiman lives in Los Angeles, CA.

October 3, 2018September 1, 2019

Writing on a Budget: Time Management

By Lisbeth Coiman

The first hard truth I learned as an emerging writer is that it will take years of dedication and hard work before I can live off my writing. Whether through my established career as a teacher, or through a series of small gigs, as an emerging writer I must make a living outside of writing, while seeking every opportunity to write and submit my work. Therefore, effective time management stands out in my writing tool box.

Continue reading “Writing on a Budget: Time Management”

July 4, 2018October 7, 2018

Writing on a Budget: The Cost of a Self-Promotion Trip

Bookmockup with Blue Heron standing on green background By Lisbeth Coiman

My promotional budget began with a plan and the specific goal to take my book to several cities in North America. A book club from Mississauga, ON had contacted me at the beginning of the year to let me know they were reading my debut memoir I Asked the Blue Heron. I was elated. So I decided to start in Canada with a budget of US$1000.

Continue reading “Writing on a Budget: The Cost of a Self-Promotion Trip”

May 6, 2016

May Submission Deadlines: 9 under $15

By Lisbeth Coiman

Here is our submission call list for May. Today I bring you five deadlines and five open calls all but one under $15. Polish your piece, submit, and track. Find support in your community to celebrate each other’s success, but make time to hold your writing buddies through rejections. Keep writing. Submit hard.

1.Gloom Cupboard

Deadline: May 15, 2016

Submission Guidelines:

http://gloomcupboard.com/https://gloomcupboard.com/submission-guidelines/

Reading fee: $3 Continue reading “May Submission Deadlines: 9 under $15”

April 1, 2016

Ten Small Presses Under $25

By Lisbeth Coiman

As if you didn’t gather enough information at the AWP, here is a bit more, a short list of publications to send your best work to. This time I rounded up ten small presses names with their contact information and a short review. They all have open reading periods. They all do exceptional work at bringing emergent voices on print.

1. 2Leaf Press
Reading Period: Opening date January 1.
Submission Guidelines
What They Like: NY-based nonprofit that promotes literature and literacy. They look for new voices, and produce quality work in a wide variety of genres by culturally diverse authors. Focus on literary fiction and cultural non-fiction.

2. Alternative Book Press
Reading Period: Not listed
Submission Guidelines
What they like: They are looking for work that can stand time, not just for a sale hit.

3. Cinco Puntos Press
Reading Period: Not listed
Submission Guidelines
What They Like: Although they have a focus on the US / Mexico border region, they also publish great writers from other parts of the countries with stories located in other settings. Submission starts with a phone call.

4. C&R Press
Reading Period: Now accepting
Submission Guidelines
Reading fee: $25
What They Like: They are interested in supporting authors whose thoughtful and imaginative contribution to contemporary literature deserved recognition and support.
5. Diversion Press
Reading Period: Opens May 1
Submission Guidelines
Reading fee: 0
What They Like: Academic non-fiction, slice of life, how-to, history, and other non-fiction works. They also publish a poetry anthology and sponsor a poetry contest.
6. Outpost19
Reading Period: Not listed
Submission Guidelines
Reading fee: 0
What They Like: Looks for innovative projects and provocative reading. Uses submittable.
7. Pink Fish Press
Reading Period: Not listed
Submission Guidelines
Reading fee: $0
What They Like: Try to destroy the stigma of “poor quality work” that accompanies independent authors. They believe in talented voices, and gifted writers are the forefront of popular culture. Isn’t that nice?
8. Red Hen Press
Reading Period: Open till September
Submission Guidelines
Reading fee: $20
What They Like: Red Hen Press is committed to publishing work of literary excellence, supporting diversity, and promoting literacy in our local schools. They seek a community of readers and writers who are actively engaged in the essential human practice known as literature.
9. Wild Embers Press
Reading Period: Not listed
Submission Guidelines
Reading fee: $0
What They Like: Looking for experimental stories of love and liberation from marginalized place in all genres, fiction, creative non fiction, and poetry. Welcomes art included with narratives. Query via email at wildemberseditor@gmail.com. Only PDF files.

10. Willowbooks
Reading Period: Open from April 1 to September 1
Submission Guidelines
Reading fee: $0
What They Like: Their mission is to develop, publish, and promote writers typically underrepresented in the market, and the reading period is open to all writers from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Lisbeth Coiman is a bilingual writer standing (unbalanced) on a blurred line between fiction and memoir. She has wandered the immigration path from Venezuela to Canada, to the US, and now lives in Oakland. Her upcoming memoir The Shattered Mirror celebrates friendship among women and draws attention on child abuse and mental illness. She also writes short fiction and poetry, and blogs “irregularly” at www.gingerbreadwoman.org

March 4, 2016

March Submission Deadlines: 20 under $20

By Lisbeth Coiman

As part of our ongoing effort to encourage women to submit to top tier literary journals, Women Who Submit has put together a monthly submission call round up, hoping women writers find it useful and come back to it again and again. For our first list, we have included 19 publications with under $20 submission fees, and one publication with a slightly higher fee.

General

The Indiana Review

Reading Period: Opening date not listed – March 10

Submission guidelines

What They Like: They’ve received a ton of stories about cancer, so he could do without seeing any of those for a while and would prefer to see stuff that’s “different.”

James Franco Review

Deadline: March 31

Submission guidelines

Genre: Poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction

Rotating Editors

Blind reading

The Masters Review

Reading Period: January 15 – March 31

Submission guidelines

What They Like: Emerging fiction from new writers. They run year-round New Voices online editions and additional contests judged by the magazine editors and other writers.

The Cincinnati Review

Reading Period: August 15 – April 16

Submission guidelines

What They Like: Realistic fiction, some humorous pieces
Responses: One submission, one form rejection

Room Magazine

Deadline: for issue 39.4 : April 30

Submission guidelines.

Cost: $0

Featured: Sookfong Lee and Betsy Warland

Editor: Chelene Knight

Canadian publication. Recommended to read a couple of issues to get the feel of what they publish @ www.roommagazine.com/magazine. They are interested in poetry, short stories, and creative non-fiction by women. They pay from CA$ 50 up to CA$120 depending on the number of pages. They accept one submission per genre per quarter and publish 80 to 100 pieces from a 2000 submissions slush pile.

The Sun Magazine

Deadline: Open Call

Submission guidelines

Cost: $5

Hardcopy submissions only sent to

Editorial Department
The Sun
107 N. Roberson St.
Chapel Hill, NC 27516

They publish personal essays although they also accept interviews, fiction and poetry. Your immaculate personal essay competes against thousands of other great essays in the slush pile every month. They take up to six months to reply. The nicely printed rejection letters make for a good keepsake too. They pay from $100-200 for poetry up to $2000 for interviews. SASE required.

It is highly recommended to read at least a couple of issues to get a feel for the magazine content and what the editors expect.

Arcadia Magazine

Deadline: Open Call

Submission guidelines

Cost: $3

Genre: Fiction, Poetry, Non-fiction, drama, and blog

Query before submitting. Online submission only.

Red Light Lit

Deadline: Open Call

Submission guidelines

Genre: Poetry, prose, and art for events and for the magazine.

Editor: Jennifer Lewis

Submit to: Jennifer@redlight.com also

Oakland based reading series and quarterly journal since 2013 publishes emerging writers and artists who delve in the senses with sophistication, humor, and wit.

Short Fiction Only

The Paris Review

Reading Period: All year, but do not accept more than four submissions per year

Submission guidelines
What They Like: They seem a fair bit eclectic

10. The Atlantic

Reading Period: All year

Submission guidelines
What They Like: I’ve seen a little bit of everything, but they seem to prefer realism

11. The New Yorker

Reading Period: All year

Submission Guidelines: http://www.newyorker.com/about/contact
What They Like: I’ve seen a little bit of everything, from realism to magical realism to a few other types of fiction, but not too much “genre”
Responses; If you haven’t heard from them within three months, you’re just supposed to assume you’re rejected

Glimmer Train

Reading Period: Open year-round, but with general submissions in January, May, and September

Submission guidelines

What They Like: Rural stories, coming-of-age stories

The Mid-American Review

Reading Period: Open year-round

Submission guidelines

What They Like: I’ve read everything from the fantastical to the dystopic to the realistic to the WTF-how-did-this-get-published, so they seem rather eclectic

The Missouri Review

Reading Period: Open year-round, as far as I can tell, but don’t quote me on that

Submission guidelines

What They Like: I haven’t been overly impressed with what I’ve read, but they seem to like realistic, rural, small-scale stories

Anthologies

Tayen Lane Publishing

First Annual Articulated Press Short Story Anthology

Deadline: March 31

Cost: $0

Submission guidelines

Editors: Nora Boxer and Kelly Luce

Submit to

Chosen contributors receive $100, publication, and two hardcovers, two softcovers, and an eBook edition.

Procyon Science Fiction Anthology

Deadline: March 31

Cost: $0

Editor: Jeanne Thornton

Chosen contributors receive $100, publication, and two hardcovers, two softcovers, and an eBook edition.

Submit to

Ideate Publishing

Where is My Tiara? Anthology

Deadline: March 31

Genre: Short fiction

Theme: Stories that feature multilayered female protagonist that illuminate and celebrate the many facets and complexities of being a woman

Submit to

Selected stories will receive a copy of the anthology and a stipend of $100.00

Masters Review

Anthology Volume V

Deadline: March 31

Submission guidelines

Cost: $20

Genre: Fiction, literary non-fiction (7000 words)

Prize: $500

This yearly anthology is composed of 10 stories by emergent writers. Last year, the Masters Review won the Silver Medal for Best Short Story Collection through the INDIEFAB Awards. (Among the past judges: Lauren Groff and Lev Grossman; current judge is Amy Hempel.)

Contests

James Jones Fellowship Contest

Deadline: March 15, 2016
Submission guidelines

Cost: $33

Genre: Fiction (novels) only.

Prize:

$10,000
$1,000 x 2

Submit to: James Jones First Novel Fellowship

c/o M.A./M.F.A. in Creative Writing

Wilkes University

84 West South St.

Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766

Our most expensive publication on the list. This contest is seeking emergent fiction writers who have yet to publish a novel. The award honors the cultural and social values exemplified by late James Jones, author of From Here to Eternity. Contestants can’t have previously published novels, but are eligible with published short fiction and non-fiction work.

Writers Community of Simcoe County

Word by Word – WCSC Short Fiction Contest

Deadline: March 31

Submission guidelines

Cost: CAN$15

US$20

Judge: Literary Agent, Hilary McMahon of Westwood Creative Artists

Award: Publication on WCSC website and

$500 and commentary by Ms. McMahon
$250
$100

Solstice, A Magazine of Diverse Voices

Solstice is a tri-quarterly magazine, with a response time of two to four months. It publishes fiction, non-fiction (essays and memoirs), poetry, and photography. It publishes both emergent and established writers of diverse backgrounds.

Solstice Annual Literary Contest

Deadline: April 20, 2016

Submission guidelines

Cost: $18

$500 Stephen Dunn Prize in Poetry

Judge: Richard Blanco

$1000 Fiction Prize

Judge: Celeste Ng.

$500 Non-Fiction Prize

Judge: Michael Steinberg

Winners will be published in the Summer Award Issue in early August.

This is all for now. Hope to see you back next month, when we will try to compile another list of journals with plenty of details to help you plan and budget your submissions.