NewPages Guide to Calls for Submissions
In the NewPages Guide to Submission Opportunities, find announcements of current and upcoming calls for submissions from literary magazines, independent and university presses, anthologies, and more. Looking for writing and book contests? You can find them here.
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The Shade Chronicles Podcast Seeking Sci-Fi and Horror Short Stories
Deadline: October 1, 2026
The Shade Chronicles is seeking stories (under 5,000 words) for our 2026 podcast season! Selected stories will receive a full audio production with a dramatized reading, music, and sound effects. Authors will review the final cut before airing. Please provide brief, self-recorded audio introduction detailing story inspiration. Previously published stories are acceptable. Details: You retain all rights; submission grants us broadcast rights. There is no financial compensation. Stories must translate well to audio. Contact us for submission instructions! You can listen to The Shade Chronicles podcast at open.spotify.com/show/2cs7wADvHQOooPsfzlRYvS or on any podcast app.
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Thorn & Bloom Magazine Seeks Submissions on Postcards from the Past
Deadline: August 15, 2026
Thorn & Bloom Magazine Issue 07 explores the past, not as a place to stay, but as a landscape to revisit, re-examine, and reimagine. Our theme for this edition is titled ‘Postcards from the Past’, and we are looking for writing that reckons with memory, inheritance, and the patterns we are still learning to break. What we carry. What we unlearn. What we reclaim. What we leave behind. This is not nostalgia. It is honest reflection on what is worth keeping and what is ready to be let go. Any genre, any style. Your voice, your truth. Deadline: 15 August 2026. Submit at redrosethorns.com/thornandbloom
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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS to SPANK the CARP
Open year-round
SPANK the CARP. Funny name, serious literature. We’re looking for flash fiction, short stories, CNF, and poetry, including shape poetry. If your work is thought-provoking, sophisticated, yet not pretentious or obscure, we’re interested. We’re also accepting images and photos that depict Carp and Koi in artistic and natural settings and have a strong artistic element. For submission guidelines and more information visit www.spankthecarp.com.
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Split Rock Review Invites Submissions for Issue 23
Deadline: August 1, 2026
Split Rock Review seeks poetry, short fiction, creative nonfiction, comics, graphic narratives, hybrids, photography, and visual art that explore place, environment, and the complex relationship between humans and the natural world. We’re particularly drawn to emotionally resonant work—work that lingers, questions, disrupts, and reveals. We offer 100 FREE submissions during this reading period. General, Tip Jar, and Expedited submission options are also available for a nominal fee. Simultaneous submissions are welcome. Whether your work explores wilderness or urban landscapes, climate grief or ecological wonder, we want to read it! For more information, visit: www.splitrockreview.org/submit.
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The Headlight Review Seeks Flash Fiction and Prose Poems of 400 Words
Deadline: August 31
The Headlight Review seeks flash fiction and prose poems of 400 words or fewer for our second volume of “Mighty Micros.” Read the first volume here. We will review submissions until August 31. We are open as to what a story or poem looks and feels like to each writer. We love to be surprised. Submit up to 3 pieces in a single document. We aim to expedite review in two weeks or less. For this reason, we will not be offering fee waivers for this project. Pieces will be published on a rolling basis. Submission fee $5. www.theheadlightreview.com
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Fifth Stanza Press is Accepting Full-length Poetry Manuscripts
Deadline: July 31, 2026
Fifth Stanza Press is dedicated to publishing debut and second collections of poetry by writers in midlife or later. The open reading period for our first publication will run from May 1 through July 31, 2026. All poets will receive a response by the end of October. The selected manuscript will be announced in the fall and published in early 2027. The poet chosen for publication will receive author copies and an honorarium. Find more info about our submissions guidelines and a link to our Duosoma submissions page at www.fifthstanzapress.com/submissions.
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Seeking Submissions on Mental Illness and Recovery
Deadline: Year-round
The Awakenings Review publishes poetry, short stories, nonfiction, art, and photography by writers with lived experience of mental illness—either their own, a family member’s, or a close friend’s. Based in the Chicago area but international in scope, we’re one of the nation’s leading journals in this genre. While we acknowledge mental illness as troubling and painful, we seek works of hope, renewal, and healing—positive messages gained from suffering. We avoid publishing angry, alarming, vulgar, or demoralizing content. We’re still accepting submissions for our Fall 2026 issue. First, read our guidelines at www.awakeningsproject.org.
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Kings River Review Call for 2-Year College Student Submissions
Deadline: Rolling
The Kings River Review publishes artwork, creative nonfiction, short fiction, and poetry of current 2-year community college students. Submission Deadlines: March 15 for the spring issue and October 15 for the fall issue. Submission requirements: up to 5 pieces of artwork and photography sent as .JPEG files; creative nonfiction and fiction of up to 3,000 words; and up to 5 poems. Go to kingsriverreview.com for full submission guidelines.
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The New Verse News Seeks Current Events Poetry
Deadline: Year-round
Since 2005, The New Verse News has covered the news of the day with poems on issues, large and small, international and local. It relies on the submission of poems (especially those of a politically progressive bent) by writers from all over the world. The editors update the website every day with a poetic take on a current and specific headline. See the website for guidelines and examples. Then paste your non-simultaneous submission and a brief bio in the text of an email (no attachments, please) to nvneditor(at)gmail.com. Write “Verse News Submission” in the subject line of your email.
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Mountain Jay Books: Call for Submissions for Online Journal
Deadline: Year-round
Steller’s Weekly is the online literary journal of Mountain Jay Books—a Colorado-based publishing and bookbinding company. Our mission is simple: to elevate literature by championing new voices and hand-binding works of literary art. If you are an emerging fiction writer, we’d love to help build your writing resume! Please submit your short story (between 1,000 and 6,000 words) via mountainjaybooks.com/submit. At the end of each year, twelve stories will have the opportunity to be published in our annual paperback anthology, so send your best work!
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Our Doors are Open
Deadline: Year-round
The Blue Mountain Review launched from Athens, Georgia in 2015 with the mantra, “We’re all south of somewhere.” As a journal of culture, the BMR strives to represent all life through its stories. Stories are vital to our survival. What we sing saves the soul. Our goal is to preserve and promote lives told well through prose, poetry, music, and the visual arts. We’ve published work from and interviews with Jericho Brown, Kelli Russell Agodon, Robert Pinsky, Rising Appalachia, Turkuaz, Michel Stone, Michael Flohr, Lee Herrick, Chen Chen, Michael Cudlitz, Pat Metheny, Melissa Studdard, Lyrics Born, Terry Kay, and Christopher Moore. bluemountainreview.submittable.com/submit
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Palooka Seeks Chapbooks, Prose, Poetry, Artwork, Photography
Deadline: Year-round
Palooka is a global literary magazine of daring prose, art, photography, comics, and chapbooks drawn exclusively from unsolicited submissions. We champion underdog voices, read anonymously, and only publish what we love. Bold voices. Brave stories. palookamag.com