Hump Day Submission Carousel 21

#21: 6/23/21

It's Wednesday, so you know what that means! HUMP DAY SUBMISSIONS! Because it's easy to fall off the submission train during the week I'm presenting you with 3 cool and very different small journals currently open for submissions to save you research time! Pick one of the three journals presented and read some of the pieces in your genre. If you're not digging them, check the next journal. Don't agonize over it, if you're not enjoying the writing or you don't feel your writing would fit in there move along to the next journal. If none of them seem to fit... maybe next week?

Journal 1: The Maine Review. "The Maine Review (MeR) is a triannual online literary journal that publishes culturally significant and innovative writing by writers living in Maine, across the country, and around the world." They read $3 submissions via Submittable until July 31, 2021—and they definitely have a great and informative list of what they want on their Submittable page. As always I recommend reading the most recent issue in your genre before submitting to them. And absolutely, definitely check out the submission guidelines at Submittable.

"What we’re looking for: Send us writing that you’re excited about. Send us work that took courage to begin and tenacity to complete. Send us your personal essay, your classic short story, your reboot of the villanelle, or your weirdest experimental text. Send us your flash fiction or nonfiction. Send your epistle, erasure, hybrid, prose poem, or micro memoir."

Journal 2: Gulf Coast. Since 1986, Gulf Coast has made a mission of publishing up-and-coming poets, essayists, and fiction-writers from around the world alongside the bigger names of today. We feature writers of all styles and aesthetics, but potential contributors are urged to pick up a copy to judge for themselves. They are mainly a print journal but right now they are only reading for contests and their online features in all genres via Submittable for a $3 fee. Check out their submission guidelines here. As always it's important to read their newest issue's samples and also their recent online exclusives in your genre. 

From their website: "Gulf Coast is committed to supporting the authors who publish in our journal. This support takes many forms, including offering editorial guidance, exposing new work to the widest possible audience, and providing competitive honorariums for that work. We believe this financial support is vital to maintaining a vibrant literary culture."

Journal 3: Muzzle Magazine. Muzzle Magazine is a funky home for quirky flash prose and 'one sentence stories', or as they put it "Poems from Muzzle have been selected for Best American Poetry, The Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Verse Daily. Muzzle accepts poetry submissions twice per year and publishes semiannually.." BE SURE TO CHECK out their submission guidelines here—They ask for content warnings for potentially triggering content. And of course, as usual, read their most recent issue in your genre to get a good idea of what they're looking for. They read no fee submissions via Submittable until August 1, 2021. Also check out their editor's interview with Duotrope to help further get an idea of what they're looking for.

From their page: "For the past decade, Muzzle Magazine has published writing of revolution and revelation, and in 2020, on the precipice of a new decade, we will continue seeking submissions that move us not just in feeling, but also in intention. We resist the notion that a journal must have a fixed aesthetic, or that submissions for a new issue should mimic the style or approach of poems in previous issues. Instead, we are looking for poems that move (us) beyond.."

Get your writing out there! You got this! I know it's mid-week, but spending just a little bit of time with reading well-crafted creative writing in the middle of the week it can keep your creativity a little fresher when the weekend comes around. I think, at least.

Also a gentle reminder that Sparked is reading submissions of writing from Notebooking Daily prompts, so send them work now! And if you thought this post was helpful, consider shooting me a buck or two for my own future submissions or to help pay writers for Sparked (which comes out of my pocket). No pressure though. I'm just trying to get better with the begging for pennies, submission fees in 2020 are pretty monumental and 2021 is shaping up to be just as bad!