Submitting your writing is one of those things that always feels scarier than it is. Worst case, you get a polite “not this time.” Best case, your work is out in the world being read by strangers instead of gathering dust in your Google Docs.
I've compiled a list of 10 cool places to submit your writing, including a magazine (a print magazine!) that I'm making with some friends. If you want more information on that, you can follow our page here.
If you're unsure how to go about submitting your work, check out these free guides:
- How to Write a Standout First Line
- How to Self-Edit Your Writing
- How to Write a Literary Bio
- How to Submit
For all 10 mags I included, I included Instagram links because deadlines slip by fast and following the mags is the easiest way to see the next call when it pops up. Plus, a lot of them post fun snippets of work and behind-the-scenes stuff.
Postcards Magazine
Print magazine exploring culture, travel and tourism. We curate stories and art too weird, too niche or too mundane for travel magazines. Nothing is too niche or obscure. I’m a bit biased because I’m on the team for this one. The goal is to create a really cool physical magazine you can hold in your hands, flip through and smell. We've got some fantastic artists and writers on board already so please throw your hat in the ring!
Deadline: September 12th
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/POSTCARDS.MAG
Link to Submit: https://tally.so/r/wQ9DPk
After Dinner Conversation
This one is incredibly cool. They're a magazine focused on philosophy and ethics driven short story fiction, and they're "looking for The Trolley Problem in short story form." Even if you don't have anything to send them, check out their Substack and have a read. They have loads of examples in their submissions page.
Deadline: Always open
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afterdinnerconversationseries/
Link to Submit: https://www.afterdinnerconversation.com/submissions
In The Mood Magazine
An online pop culture journal looking for submissions on the theme of “endings and beginnings” for their 14th issue. For example, they’d love to see pieces on iconic opening or closing credits, debut/final films and hotly debated endings.
Deadline: August 31st
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inthemood.magazine/
Link to Submit: https://www.inthemoodmagazine.com/about
Jardin Zine
This print and digital zine is looking for personal essays, short stories, poetry, and visual media that explore what it means to linger on the aftermath, tenderness, and quiet longing. Their design is always so creative and they post a wide range of cool writing, check them out!
Deadline: September 1st
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jardinzine/?hl=en
Vellichor Literary
This digital magazine runs a monthly poetry competition, and August’s prompt is "When you cut a hole into my skull, do you hate what you see?" They have a place in my heart mostly because they’re really cool but also because they published one of my weird little poems a while back. Wahey!
Deadline: August 31st
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vellichorliterary/
Link to Submit: https://app.dapplehq.com/submit/cme27uqha0003ib04bcdejg5a
Ode to Death Review
Ode to Death is a digital youth magazine, and it's the perfect place to submit if you're a young writer. They accept work from writers aged 12-20. This issue's theme is "seed", and they wrote, regarding the theme, "after the body's death, after the soul's echo, it has taken the form of a seed. it exists but it still cannot live. / and to do the latter it must choose first; vines or veins. / vines, a symbol of growing beyond one's circumstances. veins, a symbol of using ones current situation to shape oneself. / what will you choose?"
Deadline: October 30th
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/odetodeathreview/
Link to Submit: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSceQ8pN-PHISRKJpKM2IU8o0WJo3k2cYWOBKK5uRvOyJslRCQ/viewform
Food and Feeling Zine
They wrote "For this third issue, we’re thinking about Drink & Gathering: the drinks that anchor our rituals, inspire our stories, and shape our connections. Drinks can celebrate beginnings and soften endings, toast successes and mend heartaches. They can be communal or solitary, comforting or chaotic. Sometimes, it’s less about the drink itself and more about what it brings out—the memories, the stories, the conversations." Again, I have a soft spot for this one because they've published a little poem of mine.
Deadline: August 31st
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/food_feeling_zine/?hl=en
Link to Submit: https://foodandfeelingzine.substack.com/p/call-for-submission-issue-iii-drink
Moss Puppy Magazine
Moss Puppy is a print and digital magazine for literature and visual arts. I love love love their little mascot, and they've nominated some cool stuff for the Best of the Net anthology. The theme for this issue is "Echoed Howls", and contributors are encouraged to explore longing, connection, isolation, and the unknown. Their submissions call is really specific with imagery and themes (like forests at dusk and wolves).
Deadline: October 1st
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mosspuppymag/?hl=en
Link to Submit: https://www.mosspuppymag.com/submissions/theme
COOP: chickens of our poetry
They have one main rule: All submissions should be at least tangentially related to chickens. While they're mostly versed (badum tss) in poetry, they're also looking for flash (<350 words) fiction or nonfiction. As long as it's about chickens.
Deadline: Rolling basis
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coopzine/?hl=en
Link to Submit: https://coopzine.com/submit/
The Ivy Magazine
This youth-led magazine is releasing a very cool mini issue. They want fiction, nonfiction, poetry, visual art, or something hybrid that “explore[s] gluttony as both vice and survival instinct, gorging until you’re sick of it, and the hunger that always returns.”
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.ivy.magazine/?hl=en
Link to Submit: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSclt5WmlfSNgDtjLMOTbzhr7Z-FKjS_idkHVI34LPeRYsHhjA/viewform
