Happy Friday!
Just like that, another week has flown by. With September nearly halfway over, many submission deadlines are fast approaching—don’t miss your chance to share your work! And keep an eye out for our monthly eLitPak newsletter, arriving next Wednesday afternoon—packed with extra literary goodies and submission calls.
Remember to take a break, stay hydrated, and indulge in that movie marathon or back-to-back album binge while catching up on your reading list. When you’re ready, NewPages is here with our weekly roundup of submission opportunities and inspiration to help keep your writing flowing and your submission goals going strong.
Inspiration Prompt: When it Rains, it Pours
The phrase “When it rains, it pours” usually suggests that trouble rarely comes alone. But what if it meant something more?
I recently fell back into an Asian drama binge, and one Japanese series stuck with me. In it, one character can’t sleep when it rains—the sound keeps him awake. Another loves the rain, but his home muffles the sound. Though their personalities clash, their lives begin to mirror each other, forming a bond deeper than any long-time friendship or romance.
In the show, “When it rains, it pours” echoed throughout—not just as a warning, but as a symbol of emotional deluge, unexpected connection, and the way one small moment can change everything.
So what if the long-awaited rain after a drought brings not relief, but a flood?
What if a streak of bad luck snowballs into something monstrous—or flips into a windfall so absurd it feels suspicious?
Maybe the sound of rain tempts you into texting a stranger, only to discover they’re closer than you imagined.
Maybe the rain brings relief. Maybe it’s laughter after a long silence. Maybe it’s the sound of something new beginning.
What if the rain never stopped?
What if it only fell on certain people?
What if it whispered secrets no one else could hear?
Whether your medium is narrative or abstract, visual or verbal, let the rain guide your form.
What does a downpour look like in collage?
What does a flood sound like in a song?
What does emotional weather feel like in a script, a sculpture, or a lyric essay?
The rain is falling—let your words rise to meet it. Let your stories pour, and your creativity flood the page.
📬 Want even more writing prompts?
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Submission Opportunities: Verified & Ready
Submission opportunities have been verified as open when listed. Please check the journal and press websites for updated guidelines and deadlines. Submission periods can change or end early due to various factors.
📬 Newsletter subscribers get early access to these opportunities before they’re posted on our site. Consider subscribing or upgrading today to stay ahead of the curve!
🌱 New to submitting? Visit our Guide to Submission Opportunities for more information on several of these opportunities.
✏️ Have young writers at home? Don’t miss our Young Writers Guide for contests tailored to grades K–12 and a handy list of publications open to work by young writers.
September 2025
- The Louisville Review Spring 2026 | fiction, poetry | Free | Deadline: September 12, 2025
- The Branches Fall 2025 Issue: VOICE | Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, screenplays, graphic narratives, graphic novels, reviews, art, photography, audio, video | Free | Deadline: September 13, 2025
- Inlandia Fall 2025 | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art | Free | Deadline: September 14, 2025
- Asterales October 2025 | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art | Deadline: September 15, 2025
- Bat City Review | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art | Free | Deadline: September 15, 2025
- Bramble “What America Means to Me” | poetry | Free | Deadline: September 15, 2025
- Penumbric | speculative fiction | Free | Payment: $10 | Deadline: September 15, 2025
- Right Hand Pointing October 2025 | fiction, poetry | Free | Deadline: September 15, 2025
- Unbroken October 2025 | prose poetry | Free | Deadline: September 15, 2025
- Up the Staircase Quarterly November 2025 | poetry, art | Free | Deadline: September 15, 2025
- Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, academic papers, field notes | $7.50 fee | Deadline: August 16 – September 16, 2025
- Hedgerow #150 | poetry, art | Free | Deadline: September 17, 2025
- Middleground | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, photography | Free | Deadline: September 21, 2025 | Must identify as mixed-race/multiracial/mixed-heritage (or any other term you feel comfortable with)
- Rust+Moth Winter 2025 | poetry | Free | Deadline: September 21, 2025
- Sunspot Lit | fiction, nonfiction, graphic novel | $5 fee | Deadline: September 23, 2025
- Alaska Quarterly Review Fall/Winter 2025 | nonfiction | $3 fee | Deadline: September 20–29, 2025
- Ariel Chart | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, reviews | Free | Deadline: September 30, 2025
- The Big Book of Quantum Fiction | fiction, poetry, cross-genre, art, photography | Free | Payment: $24 and 1 contributor copy | Deadline: September 30, 2025
- DuFrank Lit. Fiction | Free | Deadline: September 30, 2025
- Granta | fiction, nonfiction, poetry | £2.50 (offers free submissions for low-income writers) | Deadline: September 30, 2025
- The Kenyon Review | fiction, nonfiction, poetry | Free | Payment: $0.08 per published word of prose (minimum $80, maximum $450) and $0.16 per published word of poetry (minimum $40, maximum $200) | Deadline: September 30, 2025
- The Letter Review Prize |fiction, nonfiction, poetry, reviews, interviews | $15 – $25 fee | Prizes: 12-16 winners share $4,000 USD prize pool and are published | Deadline: September 30, 2025
- Livingston Press Open Reading Period | Novels, linked story collections, narrative poetry | Free | Deadline: September 30, 2025
- Nashville Review | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translation, comics | Free | Payment: $25 for poetry $100 for prose and art | Deadline: September 30, 2025 (or until cap reached)
- Presence #83 | haiku, tanka, haibun, rengay | Free | Deadline: September 30, 2025
- Silly Goose Press #6 | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, photography | Free ($5 quick response option) | Deadline: September 30, 2025
- Split Lit Magazine Free Submission Period | fiction, poetry, memoir, art, photography | Free | Payment: $75 | Deadline: September 30, 2025
- Sunspot Lit | flash, poetry, graphic novel, art | $5 fee | Deadline: September 30, 2025
- Watershed Review | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art | $3 fee (Free for students/financial need) | Deadline: September 30, 2025
- The Yale Review | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translations | $3 fee | Payment: $500-$1,500 (print prose), $200-$500 (online pieces), $150 (poetry) | Deadline: September 30, 2025
October 2025
- Cherry Tree Issue 11 | fiction, nonfiction, poetry | $3 fee | Deadline: October 1, 2025
- Gordon Square Review | fiction, nonfiction, poetry | Free | Deadline: October 1, 2025
- Gordon Square Review Flash Contest for Midwest Writers | fiction | $10 fee | Prize: $500 and publication | Deadline: October 1, 2025
- Iowa Review | fiction, poetry | Free (postal), $4 (online) | Payment: $1.50 per line of poetry, $0.08 a word for prose | Deadline: October 1, 2025
- The Missouri Review 35th Annual Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize | Fiction, nonfiction, poetry | $25 fee | Prize: $5,000 and publication awarded per genre | Deadline: October 1, 2025
- Quartet Winter Issue | poetry | Free | Deadline: October 1, 2025 | Open to women aged 50+
- Same Faces Collective Fall/Winter Issue | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, photography, film, animation, performance | Free | Deadline: October 1, 2025
- Willow Springs Surrealist Poetry Prize | Poetry | $15 fee | Prize: $1,000 and publication | Final Judge: Michael McGriff | Deadline: October 1, 2025
- Willow Springs Books Spokane Prize for Short Fiction | Entry fee | Prize: $2,000 + publication | Deadline: October 1, 2025
- Winning Writers Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest | poetry (can be previously published) | $25 fee | Prize: $3,500 for a poem in any style, $3,500 for a poem in a traditional/rhyming style + online publication | Final Judge: Michal ‘MJ’ Jones. Deadline: October 1, 2025
- Jerboa Lit 500: A Flash Contest | fiction | $25 fee | First Prize: $1,000 | Registration Deadline: October 3, 2025 | Submission Deadline: October 5, 2025
- Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop A Hotel Room of One’s Own | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, cross-genre, plays, screenplays, comics, graphic narratives, graphic novels | $30 fee | Prize: travel, meals, lodging, and some pocket money for uninterrupted writing at University of Dayton Marriott, complimentary registration to 2026 Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop | Deadline: October 6, 2025
- The Louisville Review Cornerstone: Poetry by Young Writers in grades K-12 | poetry | Free | Deadline: October 7, 2025
- Blank Spaces Prompt Contest | flash fiction | Free | Prize: Publication and complimentary print and digital copy | Deadline: October 10, 2025 | Open to Canadian writers only
- The Journal Wheeler Poetry Prize | poetry | $23 fee ($11.50 for BIPOC) | Prize: $2,500 and book publication
- Euphemism 21.1 | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, spoken word, sound installation, music, video, comics, sequential art, graphic narratives | Free | Deadline: October 10, 2025
- Blink-Ink Museum-themed Issue | fiction | Free | Deadline: October 15, 2025
- Harpur Palate | poetry, art | Free ($3 expedited response) | Deadline: October 15, 2025 (or until 500 submissions reached)
- Jet Fuel Review Fall 2025 | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art | Free | Deadline: October 15, 2025
- Kelp Journal Issue 13 | fiction, nonfiction, poetry | Free | Deadline: October 15, 2025
- Kings River Review. Fall 2025 Issue (all genres + art) | Free | Must be a 2-year college student | Deadline: October 15, 2025
- Little Patuxent Review January Issue | fiction, nonfiction, poetry | Free | Deadline: October 15, 2025
- The Loch Raven Review | fiction, nonfiction | Free | Deadline: October 15, 2025
- Phoebe 55.1 | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art | $3 fee | Payment: $30 | Deadline: October 15, 2025
- Santa Clara Review The California Edition | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art | $2 fee | Deadline: October 15, 2025
- Global City Review Impermanence of Home issue | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, cross-genre, comics, graphic narratives, art, photography | Free | Deadline: October 16, 2025
- Arcturus | fiction, nonfiction, poetry | Free (Tip Jar available) | Deadline: October 31, 2025
- Blue Mesa Review Fall 2025 | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art | $3 fee | Payment: $25 | Deadline: October 31, 2025
- Cloudbank Books Vern Rutsala Book Contest | fiction, poetry | $25 fee | Prize: $1,000, publication, 50 author copies | Deadline: October 31, 2025
- The Dolomite Review Issue One “Firsts” | fiction, nonfiction, poetry | $3.50 fee | Deadline: October 31, 2025
- FENCE No. 44 | fiction, translation, poetry, “other” | $5 fee | Payment: $50 and 2-issue subscription | Deadline: October 31, 2025
- Grist: A Journal of the Literary Arts | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art | $3 fee (Free for current subscribers) | Deadline: October 31, 2025
- Inlandia Blacklandia Anthology on Black Mental Health | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art | Free | Editor: Romaine Washington | Deadline: October 31, 2025
- Inscape 2026 | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art | Free | Payment: Copies | Deadline: October 31, 2025
November 2025
- Iowa Review | nonfiction, visual literature | Free (postal), $4 (online) | Payment: $0.08 a word for prose, $40 per page of visual literature | Deadline: November 1, 2025
- The Louisville Review Frederick Smock Poetry Prize | poetry | $25 fee | Prize: $1,000, book publication, 25 author copies | Deadline: November 1, 2025 | Open to Kentucky-affiliated poets
- Qua Magazine Fall 2025 Issue | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, photography | Free | Deadline: November 2, 2025 | Must live in the state of Michigan.
- Alaska Quarterly Review Fall/Winter 2025 | poetry | $3 fee | November 1-9, 2025
- Hedgerow #151 | poetry, art | Free | Deadline: November 5-19, 2025
- Black Fox Literary Magazine. Winter Issue | Fiction, nonfiction, poetry | Free | |Deadline: November 30, 2025
- Blueline 2025 Open Reading Period | Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, photography | Free | Payment: Copies | Deadline: November 30, 2025
- The Headlight Review Mighty Micros Issue | fiction, prose poetry | $5 fee | Deadline: November 30, 2025
December 2025
- L’Esprit Literary Review 2026 Leopold Bloom Prize for Innovative Narration | fiction | $10 fee | Grand Prize: $500 and publication | Deadline: December 7, 2025
- Alaska Quarterly Review Fall/Winter 2025 | fiction | $3 fee | December 10-19, 2025
- Doubly Mad | fiction, nonfiction, poetry | Free | Guest Poetry Editor: Thomas Townsley | Deadline: December 31, 2025
- Girls Right the World Issue 10 | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, cross-genre, art, photography | Free | Deadline: December 31, 2025 | Must be a girl or young, gender-fluid writer or artist aged 14-21
- Press 53 Award for Short Fiction | fiction | $30 fee | Prize: $1,000 advance, publication, 53 author copies | Judge: Kevin Morgan Watson | Deadline: December 31, 2025
January 2026
- The Emerson Review 2026 Issue | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, photography | Free | Deadline: January 1, 2026
- Magazine 1 PoetryLife Poetry Contest | poetry | $5 fee | First Prize: $150 Bookstore1 gift card, invite to read at PoetryLife, publication | Judge: Rick Hilles | Deadline: January 10, 2026
- Driftwood Press In-House Poem Contest 2026 | poetry | $25 fee | Prize: $300, publication, 5 copies of the journal, interview opportunity | Deadline: January 15, 2025
- Driftwood Press In-House Short Story Contest 2026 | fiction | $30 fee | Prize: $400, publication, 5 copies of the journal, interview opportunity | Deadline: January 15, 2025
- FLARE: The Flagler Review Spring 2026 | fiction, flash fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art | Free (Tip Jar available) | Payment: 1 contributor copy | Opens September 30, 2025 | Deadline: January 15, 2026
February 2026
- Doubleback Review April 2026 Issue | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art | Free | Deadline: February 15, 2026 | Work must have been previously published in a defunct journal.
March 2026
- Colorado Review | fiction, poetry | $3 fee | Payment: $300 for short stories and nonfiction; $100 for poetry and cover art | Deadline: March 31, 2026
- National Indie Excellence Awards | fiction, nonfiction, genre fiction, memoir, writing for children, writing for young adults, poetry, graphic novel, comics, photography, cookbooks | $75 fee | Cash Prizes & Sponsorship Awards | Deadline: March 31, 2026 | Open to self-published, independently-published, & university-published books
April 2026
- Blood Orange Review | fiction, nonfiction, art | $3 fee | Deadline: April 1, 2026
- Talking River Review | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, photography, art | $3 fee | Payment: one contributor copy, 1-year subscription, and 1-year gift subscription | Deadline: April 1, 2025
- West Branch | poetry, fiction, nonfiction, translation | $3 fee | Payment: $100 for poetry, $0.10/word for prose up to $200, two contributor copies, and one-year subscription | Deadline: April 1, 2026
- Winning Writers Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest | poetry (can be previously published) | Free | Prize: $2,000, two-year gift certificate to Duotrope, online publication | Final Judge: Jendi Reiter | Deadline: April 1, 2026
- Abandoned Mine | poetry | Free | Deadline: April 30, 2025
May 2026
- Winning Writers Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest | fiction, nonfiction (can be previously published) | $25 fee | Prize/genre: $3,500, two-year gift certificates to Duotrope, online publication | Final Judge: Mina Manchester | Deadline: May 1, 2026
- The Georgia Review | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, book reviews | Free (postal), $3 (online) | Payment: $50 per printed page for prose and $4 per line for poetry, up to $800, two copies | Deadline: May 15, 2026
Year-Round Opportunities
- Arkana | fiction, poetry, nonfiction, scripts, illustrated narratives, translations, art | Free
- Blue Mountain Review | Prose, poetry, music, visual art | Fee: $5
- The Capra Review | All genres + multimedia | Free
- Changing Skies | Creative nonfiction, poetry, art | Free
- Decolonial Passage | Fiction, nonfiction, poetry | Free
- Driftwood Press | All genres + graphic works | Fees vary
- Fahmidan Journal | All genres | Free | Payment: $15
- Feels Blind Literary | All genres + comics | Fee: $3 (free on Mondays)
- Gambling the Aisle | Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, cross-genre | Free
- Hindsight Journal | Art, photography, nonfiction, poetry | Free
- Jewish Fiction | Fiction, translation | Free
- Kaleidoscope | Articles, fiction, poetry, reviews, visual art | Free | Payment: $10–$100
- New Verse News | Current-events poetry | Free
- Palooka | Magazine & chapbook submissions | Fee: $3 (magazine), $8 (chapbook) | Payment: copies
- Philly Poetry Chapbook Review | Excerpts, interviews, reviews | Free
- Pictura Journal | fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art | Free (tip jar) | Payment: $5 (open until quota reached)
- Plant-Human Quarterly | Poetry, essays | Free
- Stone Circle Review | Poetry | Free
Ready to submit? Bookmark your favorites, mark your calendar, and good luck sharing your work!
Where to Submit Roundup: September 5, 2025
Looking for places to send your work? Our Where to Submit Roundup for September 5, 2025, features fresh calls for submissions, contests, and opportunities for writers and artists. Plus, this week’s inspiration prompt—“The Color That Stayed”—invites you to explore the colors that linger in memory, emotion, and art.
Where to Submit Roundup: August 29, 2025
What if your life were a musical? Imagine the opening number, the show-stopping finale, and all the harmonies in between. Would it be a glittering Broadway spectacle, a gritty rock opera, or something entirely unexpected? When you’re ready to take center stage, we’ve got 94 submission opportunities waiting for your next big piece.
Where to Submit Roundup: August 22, 2025
Feeling stuck or uninspired? This week’s Where to Submit Roundup features 85 places to share your writing—plus a thought-provoking prompt exploring the chemistry of words. Get inspired, get submitting!
Where to Submit Roundup: August 15, 2025
t’s Friday — and the weekend is calling! Whether you’re stepping away from your desk for one last summer hurrah or leaning into the cooler weather with a fresh burst of creative energy (indoors or out—laptops travel well!), NewPages has you covered with this week’s submission opportunities for August 15, 2025 (featuring ways to share […]
