SUBMISSIONS DUE 31 MAY @ MIDNIGHT
WRITERLY ISSUE 05
Whether or not you are ready to submit today, we advise that you pre-order your spot. All pre-orders come with several extras, including past issues of the magazine to help you choose what to submit!
Click the button to pay the submission fee, then you will be redirected to the submission form. You can submit any time before the deadline.
Your purchase includes:
One submission to Writerly Magazine
One digital copy of Issue 05 of the magazine, whether or not your submission is selected ($10 value)
Digital copies of Writerly Magazine Issue 01, 02, 03, & 04 ($40 value)
Recordings of our two workshops “Submitting Poetry & Prose to Literary Magazines” and “Break into Journalism,” to help you land future pieces ($60 value)
Option to upgrade to our Editorial Package for hands-on revision assistance (this guarantees acceptance - only 5 spots available)
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Please submit by Midnight in your time zone on the day of the deadline. We usually allow a grace period of a few hours.
All genres are accepted (personal essays, short stories, poetry, creative nonfiction, etc.)
We accept all themes/topics, and greatly enjoy the diversity we receive each issue! We have also listed some optional themes below
Submissions must be in English, but we accept writers from anywhere in the world (and we will also honor whatever English dialect is your mother tongue!)
2000 word limit per submission (this can include up to three poems or short stories, as long as the cumulative total is less than 2000 words)
After booking your spot, you’ll receive an email with instructions on how to submit your piece
You may withdraw your submission at any point by reaching out via email
We reserve a handful of $5 submissions for authors needing financial assistance, please get in touch if you are in need
While we do not provide refunds if your piece is not selected (or for any other reasons), we will provide you with the digital magazines & workshop recordings whether your piece is accepted or not
We do accept reprints and/or simultaneous submissions!
You may also submit an excerpt of a larger book/novel, as long as it is a standalone piece
Unlike most other lit mags, you retain full rights to your work at all times, before and after we publish your piece—we would never want to hold an author back from publishing opportunities elsewhere, and encourage you to submit your work to as many places as possible!
Optional essay theme: “On Creativity” — any sort of reflections on what it means to be a creative, the life of an author, the creative process, what drew you to the craft, etc.
Optional essay theme: “On Being Human” — capturing something distinct to the human experience, such as grief, or relationships, or some other aspect of human life
Optional essay theme: “Modern Society” — What are we getting right? What are we getting wrong? What are some of the joys or ills of this very specific time we’re living in?
Optional fiction theme: “Coming of Age”
Optional poetry themes: “Love” or “Loss”
Other theme ideas: We’d love to receive pieces about Palestine & Israel, Climate Change, Social Justice, & other conflicts or causes around the world. We believe writing is a powerful force for talking about these important issues, and necessary for positive change in the world.
Please note that as an emerging, independent literary journal we are not able to offer monetary compensation at this time. We do strive to provide as much “in kind” compensation as possible, & to go back & forth on edits more than a typical journal would, to place as many emerging writers as possible. We are actively seeking advertising partners so that we can pay writers in the near future—if you or anyone you know would like to advertise, please get in touch. Thank you & we look forward to reading your work!
Questions? Email writerlyeditors@gmail.com.
Please note that we receive over 100+ DMs on instagram every day. If you have any urgent customer service needs, do email us at the address above, so that we may attend to your query in a timely manner. Thank you!
F.A.Q.
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This magazine was founded by fellow writers—which means we know how much of a blessing a deadline can be. All too often (🙋♀️) we plan to submit our work to magazines & journals, but then life gets in the way and it doesn’t happen.
We like to think of our pre-orders as helping you bet on yourself—a little insurance policy to help you follow through, that offers cheaper pricing to boot.
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Like many lit mags, we do charge for submissions. This allows us to employ an editor who can go back and forth on revisions much more than a normal journal would (so as to help more emerging writers get published). We also donate all profits above our production costs to charitable causes.
That being said we do offer a reduced rate submission for any writers needing financial assistance, which is just $5. Simply shoot us an email if you need this!
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After a few months of running our writing community, we realized how being a published author can be a bit of a gatekeeper in the literary world—and set out to help more emerging writers have the opportunity to do so.
We LOVE when we can be the first magazine to publish a new author, and to give them that first stamp of approval before they go on to accomplish bigger things!
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We accept all genres to both magazines—from fictional stories to personal essays to poetry etc.
Whether or not short-form is your go-to, becoming a published writer can unlock a lot of doors. It will help you capture the attention of agents, build your reputation for self-publishing, & grow that all-important author platform, so it’s definitely something we recommend all writers focus on. Typically, you want at least 3 published pieces before you query.
Lastly, if you have trouble finishing story ideas, submitting to magazines is a fabulous way to get comfortable with this process. Start committing to deadlines & soon you will move with confidence through the stages of drafting, revising, & submitting.
GIVING BACK
This year we’ve committed to donating 100% of our profits to charitable causes around the world.
This means after we’ve covered the VERY basic costs of producing this magazine—we’ll donate every dollar we make to the causes of your choosing.
Simply select which organization you’d like a percentage of your submission fee to support during checkout.
Please note that we are not affiliated with the above organizations in any way, we have simply chosen to donate in support of these causes. We will rotate which causes we support with each issue.
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