Calls for Submissions

Calls for Submissions: April 2024

If you have a call for submissions or a contest of interest to Sonoma County writers, send it to editor@socolitupdate.com. Calls for submissions are listed in chronological order (earliest deadlines first).

For a current list of calls for submission from around the country, as well as deadlines for writers’ contests and awards, conferences and residencies, and literary magazine and small press databases, visit the Poets & Writers website.

Submittable maintains a list of current calls on its Discover tab at https://manager.submittable.com/opportunities/discover. Many publications only accept submissions via Submittable. To do so, you will need to sign up for a free Submittable account.

Duotrope is a searchable database of over 2100 current markets for short fiction, poetry, and novels/collections in all genres. Available to paid subscribers only ($5/month or $50/year).

The New Pages Big List of Literary Magazines. Focuses on literary print and online magazines, listed A to Z. Also check the Calls for Submissions page.

Everywriter Resources. This site is packed with articles on how to get published and other writing resources, and a searchable database for journals and magazines, literary or genre, with submission opportunities. Everywriter also publishes articles, fiction and poetry on the site. (Register to submit.) https://www.everywritersresource.com

Facebook Groups Dedicated to Literary Calls for Submission (updated 7/1/2023):

Be sure to check the ONGOING calls below. A number of journals accept submissions year-round (listed in alphabetical order).

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Poetry Catalog’s First Annual Spring Poetry Contest

Submission deadline: April 10, 2024
Winners announced: May 10, 2024

This year’s topic is – cheese. Write a poem on the topic of cheese. It may be of any length and poetry of any style. 

No submission fees (general submissions are always open). Detailed guidelines and link to submissions page: poetrycatalog.com/spring-poetry-contest-2024

Please note at the top of the “Poem text” field that your submission is for the “First Annual Spring Poetry Contest – 2024” – otherwise your poem will be considered a general submission.

Serious submissions will be considered for publication.
$100 to first place.
$60 to second place – and $40 to third place.
Guest judge, Hiram Larew, will choose the winners.

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Paper Dragon

Paper Dragon is the literary journal of Drexel University’s MFA in Creative Writing program.

Accepting fiction, nonfiction and poetry through April 15, 2024 for summer 2024 issue.

Fiction should be under 2,000 words; nonfiction, under 1,000. Poetry:. Up to 3 poems per submission.

No fee to submit.

More details at: drexelpaperdragon.com/submit

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Michigan Quarterly Review Mixtape—Rage

Now accepting submissions via Submittable! Submissions close April 22.

This issue seeks to hold space for the “ugly feelings” we are often told to tame, to clean up, and to quiet: our rage, our annoyance, our frustration. We aim to honor the wisdom of unruly emotions. We understand that feelings cannot be boxed and separated from one another, and we acknowledge the muddling of it all. Rage with a side of grief? Anger with a dash of paranoia? Vexed yet anxious? We get it. Rage comes in different forms, tempos, and decibels and we want to amplify it!

For this issue, please submit:
Prose: up to 4,000 words
Poetry: up to four poems

More details: sites.lsa.umich.edu/mqr/submit

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The Rush

The Rush is a literary magazine in the Creative Writing MFA graduate program at Mount Saint Mary’s University, Los Angeles. The Rush encourages and welcomes aesthetic risks to take our audience to a multitude of places and people. Seeking poetry: sonnets & blank verse, plus fiction: micro fiction, non-fiction: social justice essays, vignettes with photography, & photography stories for its ongoing publication. Deadline: April 27, 2024

Poetry: Sonnets and Blank Verse: 6 pages
Fiction: Micro/Flash fiction: 300-500 words
Non-Fiction: Social Justice essays: 1000 words

therushmag.submittable.com/submit

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New England Review

Open for submissions until May 1.

They welcome submissions in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, dramatic writing, and translation in all genres.
Submission fee, via Submittable, is $3. Payment: $20 per page.

Details and Submittable link: nereview.com/ner-submissions

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American Literary Review

American Literary Review welcomes submissions of previously unpublished poems, short stories, and essays through May 1.

Fiction submissions should be less than 8,000 words; essays, less than 4,000 words. Submit up to 5 poems at a time. Submission fee, via Submittable, is $3.

Details and Submittable link: americanliteraryreview.com/submit

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The Raven Review

The Raven Review is a quarterly literary magazine that publishes extraordinary poetry and short fiction centered around the deep, dark, and emotional. Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis, but they will be considered for the issue closest to the time in which the work was submitted.

Deadline for Summer issue: May 15. Fee: $3
Fiction submissions should be less than 2,000 words.

Details and Submittable link: theravenreview.org/submit.html

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WOW! Women on Writing Spring 2024 Flash Fiction Contest

Deadline: May 31, 2024

Guest Judge: Literary Agent Emily Williamson with Williamson Literary Agency

Seeking short fiction of any genre between 250- 50 words. The mission of this contest is to inspire creativity, great writing, and provide well-rewarded recognition to contestants.

Electronic submissions via e-mail only; reprints/previously published are okay; simultaneous submissions are okay; multiple submissions are okay. Open internationally.

Limit: 300 entries.

Prizes (20 winners!):
1st Place: $400, publication, interview, and $25 Amazon Gift Certificate
2nd Place: $300, publication, interview, and $25 Amazon Gift Certificate
3rd Place: $200, publication, interview and $25 Amazon Gift Certificate
7 Runners Up receive $25 Amazon Gift Cards, publication and interview
10 Honorable mentions receive $20 Amazon Gift Card
Top 10 stories are published in the WOW! Women On Writing e-zine, and contestants are interviewed on WOW’s blog, The Muffin.

Entry: $10 entry fee; critique option for an additional $10

https://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/contest.php

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Blue Light Poetry Prize and Chapbook Competition

Submit your manuscript between by June 30, 2024.

Blue Light Press is dedicated to the publication of poetry that is imagistic, inventive, emotionally honest, and pushes the language to a deeper level of insight. Submission fee: $10. Manuscripts of 40-80 pages of poetry, micro-fiction or prose poems must be mailed to Blue Light in San Rafael (no online submissions unless manuscript is accepted). Submission fee: $20.

Guidelines at: bluelightpress.com/contests.php

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20th Annual Voices of Lincoln Poetry Contest

The 20th Annual Voices of Lincoln Poetry Contest officially begins in April, as part of the celebration of National Poetry Month. The contest theme is “HAPPY LEAP YEAR! . . . Leap Into Poetry.” The five (5) new contest categories include the following: Leap Into Love Leap Into Action Leap Into The Unknown Leap For Joy Look Before You Leap. Poets may submit a maximum of three poems, no more than one in each of three of the five contest categories.

Poems may be in rhyme, free verse, Haiku or other accepted poetry forms and of any length, up to a maximum of 60 lines.

Everyone is encouraged to enter the contest. Poets do not have to live in Lincoln, CA to be eligible. There is no entry fee. Young Poets, 18-years of age or under, are encouraged to submit poems and will compete in a special “Young Poets” category.

The “Rules and Entry Form” also can be downloaded from the following blog:

https://slolowe44.blogspot.com/2024/03/2024-voices-of-lincoln-poetry-contest.html

Entry forms and poems must be received no later than Thursday, July 18, 2024. Early submissions are appreciated. If you have questions, please contact Alan Lowe, Contest Coordinator, at slolowe@icloud.com for assistance.

Winners will receive a commemorative chapbook of the winning poems.

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ONGOING CALLS:

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The Bloom: Open Call for Poetry, Stories, CNF

Started in 2018 by David and Trudy Wakefield, The Bloom is based in Lake County, northern California and dedicated to showcasing all the good parts of life. If it’s good news, you’ll probably find it here. That includes creative writing!

Creative submissions to The Bloom:
Submissions are open to all authors, not just residents of Lake County, CA. We’re currently interested in poetry, prose, fiction, creative nonfiction, local history, human interest stories, and restaurant/winery reviews. Authors are paid.

Guidelines and a content release form are available at www.lakecountybloom.com/submit. Email the completed form along with your submission to Poet Laureate Georgina Marie Guardado: georginamarie@lakecountybloom.com

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Blue Mountain Press Accepting Book Manuscripts

Blue Mountain Press, the book division of Blue Mountain Arts, is accepting manuscripts in the following categories: gift books, personal growth, teens/tweens, family, relationships, motivational, and inspirational. Mail manuscripts to: Blue Mountain Press, P.O. Box 4219, Boulder, CO 80306. Request proposal guidelines or e-mail queries to BMPbooks@sps.com. Please add Sonoma somewhere in the subject line so we know you found this posting on the Sonoma County Literary Update website.

Please note: We are not accepting works of fiction, rhyming poetry, children’s books, chapbooks, memoirs, or books that promote a specific religion.

There is no deadline for submissions.

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C&R Press: Call for Full-Length Manuscripts

C&R publishes fiction, short stories, poetry, essays, memoir and mixed genre work, with an aim to highlight female, minority, LGBT,  immigrant, progressive and submerged voices. Recent titles include While You Were Gone by Sibyl Baker, Ivy vs. Dogg: With a Cast of Thousands! by Brian Leung and Dark Horse by Kristina Marie Darling, as well as a collaboration with the Women’s National Book Association on Women in the Literary Landscape.

Our website is www.crpress.org, and you’ll find the link to our
submissions guidelines here: http://www.crpress.org/submissions/.

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California Quarterly: Call for Poetry Submissions

California Quarterly is the poetry journal produced by the California State Poetry Society, with 50 pages of poetry per issue. The publication features a rich variety of work from poets nationwide as well as from other countries. Published four times a year, submissions are accepted year round. Guidelines are as follows: Submit up to 6 poems at one time, include name and address on all pages of poems (with 2-page maximum), SASE for response, unpublished poems only, and foreign poems with translations encouraged. Simultaneous submissions accepted. Send poetry submissions to:

CQ Editors
Post Office Box 4288
Sunland, California 91041

CQ is now accepting poetry submissions year-round through Submittable. See the submissions page at: www.californiastatepoetrysociety.org/publishing-with-us

You may also order a copy of the latest issue at www.californiastatepoetrysociety.org.

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Send your Essay, Poem, or Short to The CHILLFILTR Review

The CHILLFILTR Review strives to bring the best new art to a worldwide audience by leveraging best-in-class technology to create a seamless and immersive web experience. We welcome submissions from all walks of life, and all perspectives. We are committed to inclusivity and kindly welcome work from marginalized voices. All featured works will receive an honorarium of $20 per 1000 words and will be published online at The CHILLFILTR Review as well as on our Apple News Channel. Readers can vote for their favorites, and year-end “Best Of” winners will receive an additional $100 cash prize. Submissions accepted year-round.

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COVID LIT: Spread Art and Philanthropy by Submitting to COVID LIT

Deadline: Rolling
COVID LIT is a new online lit mag that gives the middle finger to COVID-19 by publishing, promoting, and spreading art, poetry, and prose using the disease’s name. What sets us apart from other magazines? Simple: instead of paying us a submission fee, all submissions must be accompanied with a minimum $3 donation to a nonprofit of the artist’s choosing. Our goal is to publish weekly online content and, eventually, a print anthology, so send your best work and use your creative superpowers for good! Visit www.covidlit.org today and help those who desperately need it.

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Flash Fiction Magazine

Flash Fiction Magazine champions original, creative and engaging works of fiction, which run between 300-1000 words in their entirety. The stories can be of any genre but the emphasis should be placed on a complete story, where there is conflict and character development. FFM is always open for submissions. It is free to submit and although they are based in California they accept stories from anywhere in the world.

There is no payment for stories published on the website but they pay $40 per story accepted for their anthologies and the best story of every month receives $100.

For guidelines and to submit your story please use the link: https://flashfictionmagazine.com/subs

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Flash Fiction Online

Beginning in January 2021, our submission portal for original and reprint stories will be open from the 1st to 21st of each month.

We are looking for complete 500- to 1000-word stories with crisp prose, well-developed characters, compelling plots, and satisfying resolutions. We want stories that engage our minds and emotions.

We publish across many genres, including speculative (science fiction, fantasy, slipstream, and horror) and literary fiction. For more information on the type of stories we enjoy, please read a few issues and check out our “What We’re Looking For” page.

Flash Fiction Online pays $80 per story for first electronic rights for original (previously unpublished) fiction, with 6 months exclusivity, as well as a non-exclusive one-time right to publish the stories in an anthology

Submissions: https://ffo.submittable.com/submit

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Ginosko Literary Journal’s Call for Submissions

Accepting short fiction & poetry, creative nonfiction, interviews, social justice concerns, spiritual insights for GINOSKO LITERARY JOURNAL.

Editorial lead time 1-2 months; accept simultaneous submissions & reprints; length flexible, accept excerpts. Receives postal submissions & email—prefer email submissions as attachments in Microsoft Works Word Processor or Rich Text Format. Copyright reverts to author. Read year around.

Publishing as semiannual ezine. Check downloadable issues on website for style & tone: www.ginoskoliteraryjournal.com
 Use latest version of Adobe Reader.

ezine circulation 6000+. Website traffic 500-750 hits/month.

Also looking for books to post on website, spoken word recordings, and links to exchange.

Ginosko (ghin-océ-koe) To perceive, understand, realize, come to know; knowledge that has an inception, a progress, an attainment. The recognition of truth by experience.

Member CLMP.

Ginosko Literary Journal
Robert Paul Cesaretti, Editor
PO Box 246
Fairfax, CA 94978

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Harvard Square Editions Accepting Novel Manuscripts

Harvard Square Editions, an alumni run independent press, is accepting manuscripts. There is no deadline for submissions. Guidelines: http://harvardsquareeditions.org/contact-page-2. Email queries to: submissions@harvardsquareeditions.org

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HeartWood Literary Magazine Call for Submissions

Brand new online literary magazine, in association with the Low-Res MFA at West Virginia Wesleyan College, publishes twice yearly in April and October.

We accept submissions year round through Submittable, and welcome previously unpublished poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, from both established and emerging writers.

Please note: We do love Appalachian voices, but we enthusiastically encourage writers from all backgrounds to submit.

We are interested in writing that pushes into, dares to reveal, its own truth, that takes emotional risks, that gets to the heart of the matter. Simultaneous submissions are fine, provided you notify us if the work is accepted elsewhere.

Complete Submission Details can be found on our website: http://www.heartwoodlitmag.com/

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Murderous Ink Press — Crimeucopia Anthology Series

Proposed series of crime fiction anthologies initially slated on a quarterly publication.

Submission windows are: January 1 to February 28, April 2 to May 31, July 1 to August 31 and October 1 to November 30, 2021. Length between 1,000 and 10,000 words. Novel extracts considered, but pitch first.

Cover art — size is B-Format/Regular UK Paperback (129 x 198mm + bleed) — see website for vague theme details. High Res 300 dpi only for accepted work.

Please ensure that all submissions are of publication standard (i.e., not 1st/2nd raw drafts). This is not our day paying job, therefore do not have the spare time to line edit every piece.

Multiple submissions welcome (within reason), though simultaneous submissions not so much.

Reprints considered, but you must be able to show full ownership.

No real hard & fast themes — all publications will be on a ‘First Filled – First Published’ basis.

As we are self-financing, the payment isn’t great. However, it is payment on acceptance, rather than payment on publication. Payment is via PayPal, and a One Time Use Licence agreement.

Publication will be via IngramSpark and Amazon so as to cover as wide a distribution set as possible – based on 1 x paperback, and 1 x ebook – and artwork 1x paper cover, 1 x ebook cover, 1x thumbnail for website.

For more details see our website at https://www.murderousinkpress.co.uk/crimeucopia.html

Submissions via email attachment to submissions@murderousinkpress.co.uk with a subject line of SUBMISSIONS_Crimeucopia_<Your Name>_<Story Title>

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Occidental Center for the Arts (OCA) Book Launch Series Guidelines: Call to All Writers

1)  All genres considered: Fiction (Novel, Novella or Short Stories), Non-Fiction, Poetry
2)  Preference given to local Sonoma County writers or material about Sonoma County.
3)  Books should be published within past twelve months. Author may read from and sell other previously published pieces.
4)  Preference given to authors with hard copy, rather than e-book.
5)  Application Procedure: Send sample of 2-3 chapters of prose; 5-10 pages of poetry. Include brief bio and any writing credits. Send to Occidental Center for the Arts website: occidentalcenterforthearts.com, and/or hard copy to OCA, 3850 Doris Murphy Way, Occidental, 95465, with “Attention: Book Launch Committee”.
6)  This is an on-going series: Submitted work will be reviewed by Book Launch Committee. Writers are notified as soon as possible.
7)  One or two writers are featured at each reading. Short reading along with book sale and signing. Each author is encouraged to create his/her launch with its own unique signature.
8)  If self-published, author provides books for the Book Launch/signing event. Authors with major publishers will arrange with OCA on how books (those sold at launch) will be obtained.
9)  Authors agree to donate a percentage of book sales (at least 10%) to Occidental Center for the Arts.
10) OCA will publicize the event but writers are expected to publicize through their social networks and e-mail lists.

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Pacifica Literary Review—General Submissions

Pacifica Literary Review accepts submissions of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction year round. Prose submissions must be under 5,000 words. Flash fiction submissions must be no more than 1000 words individually. Novel excerpts are acceptable, but must be able to stand alone. For poetry, please submit no more than three poems in a single document. For flash fiction, please submit no more than three pieces in a single document.

Our general submission period is open year-round with periodic closures in September, January, and May for editorial production. If the submission portals are down, we’re putting a new issue together and will re-open shortly. Simultaneous submissions are fine, as long as Pacifica Literary Review is notified immediately if the work is accepted elsewhere. We accept online submissions through our online submission system on Submittable: https://pacificaliteraryreview.submittable.com/submit

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PANK Magazine and PANK Books

[PANK] — PANK Magazine and PANK Books, Pankmagazine.com, the Little Book and Big Book series, fosters access to emerging and experimental poetry and prose, publishing the brightest and most promising writers for the most adventurous readers. To the end of the road, up country, a far shore, the edge of things, to a place of amalgamation and unplumbed depths, where the known is made and unmade, and where unimagined futures are born, a place inhabited by contradictions, a place of quirk and startling anomaly, [PANK], no soft pink hands allowed.

Please visit our page for submission info: https://pankmagazine.com/submit-2

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Pithead Chapel: A Monthly Online Journal of Short Fiction

Pithead Chapel is a small, independent journal out of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, run by people who love to read and write fiction.

At Pithead Chapel, we’re looking for engaging stories told in honest voices. Most of all, we want to feel something. We want to reach the last word and immediately crave more. We want your story to leave a brilliant bruise. Send us your best work and we’ll do our best to get your voice heard. Sorry, we’re not into genre pieces (e.g., science fiction, horror, fantasy, and romance).

If you write short fiction, please consider visiting us and submitting some of your work: http://pitheadchapel.com

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Postcard Poems and Prose Magazine: Open Call

Postcard Poems and Prose Magazine seeks tight, gripping prose and poetry.
We use Submittable and all submissions need to come through that system so our first-reader staff can evaluate them as a team.
https://postcardpoemsandprose.wordpress.com/

Postcard Poems and Prose publishes 8-10 poems and 4-5 flash fiction features online each month (120-200 poems and short prose pieces annually).

Reading period—January 1 thru December 31. (Open submission call)
We judge each piece on its merit rather than author biographical information.

TO SUBMIT: https://postcardpoemsandprose.submittable.com/submit

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The Rain, Party, & Disaster Society

The Rain, Party, & Disaster Society is a workshop-based online literary publication that strives to give representation to new ideas and thoughts, to challenge the reader and to question commonly accepted opinions, values, etiquette and ideas. Within our pages, you may find: works that tackle hot-button issues, works presented in a style that is out of the ordinary, works that present the reader with a question or debate, and works that break mainstream rules within their genre. All of the pieces you find on this site have been through our workshop process, during which the RP&D editorial staff works closely with contributors to hone their voice and help them to produce the best possible work for you, the reader, to experience.

We currently accept works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry every month between the 1st and the 15th. Please view our guidelines page for more information on submission requirements.

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Straylight: Call for Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction

Straylight, the literary journal of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, is calling for submissions of fiction and poetry for both our print magazine and for publication on our website. Our online edition (The Villa) is also calling for novellette and novella-length fiction submissions for serialization. We will consider any genre, but are looking for high-quality work. Submissions may be made electronically at https://straylight.submittable.com/submit. Find us on the web at www.straylightmag.com.

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The Sunflower Collective: Call for submissions (Rolling — all round the year)

The Sunflower Collective is looking for submissions. We celebrate the personal and the political — which we believe to be one and the same thing — in art. We would like to mention at the outset that we are not interested in art that does not take risks. We do not mind if you have a degree but we are unlikely to be impressed by it. Nor do we care which journals have published your work before. All we are interested in is something that sings for itself without any props, something that grabs us by our throat and refuses to let go, something that shakes us out of our complacent stupor. Give us something hungry, not bellyful; something beat, if you get our drift. We express our inability to publish anything that propagates either left-wing or right-wing fascism.

Please send us your poems, prose, artwork and photographs in the body of the mail at thesunflowercollectiveindia@gmail.com with the subject line mentioning your genre of Submissions. Do read the submission guidelines before sending your work.

Submission Guidelines:

1) Poetry: 1-5 poems (Around 5 pages of poetry in total)
2) Prose: 2000-3000 words ( Fiction/ Non Fiction/ Experimental/Memoirs)
3) Art work and Photographs/ Photo Essays (5-10 in JPEG format and must not exceed 250K in size )
4) Format: Poetry and Prose submissions to be sent in the body of the mail, unless there are specific formatting requirements from the author (Needs to be mentioned in the mail). Photos and scanned Artwork in zipped folders. Photo essays in MS Word with zipped folders of JPEG images separately attached.

Please send us your work in a single mail only.
http://sunflowercollective.blogspot.in/p/about.html

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Transfigured Lit – Open Call for Flash Fiction

A new Flash Fiction Journal Rooted in Christ seeks stories of 1,000 words or less by Christian writers. All genres are welcome. Stories don’t necessarily have to be “religious,” but must not have any cussing, sex, etc. We are especially interesting in reading flash with a literary quality to it. Submit by email, no fee. See our submission guidelines for more info: transfiguredlit.wordpress.com/submission-guidelines

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whimperbang

whimperbang, an online journal of artistic commentary, published three times a year, invites the submission of serious, directed artistic expressions that reflect or comment upon today’s world. All literary and visual genres will be considered. See our “Submission Guidelines” at http://whimperbang.com/submissions.

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WILDNESS

WILDNESS wants work that evokes the unknown. Now seeking poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Submissions on a rolling basis.
URL: readwildness.com

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Responses

  1. […] Sonoma County has several open calls for submissions. Take a look and see if there’s anything you’d be interested in writing or submitting. Remember, you might get a rejection, but you might just get the chance to see your work in print. […]

    By: Sonoma County Calls For Submissions | Hungry Freelancer on March 21, 2014
    at 4:30 pm