Submission Guidelines

Once you have read the guidelines below, you can submit your work through our submission form.

Starting with the Autumn 2022 issue contributors, we pay a £3 honorarium per acceptance after print publication.

Compulsory Submission Guidelines:

Your submission will be considered invalid if you do not adhere to the following guidelines.

  • One submission is permitted per quarterly. This means that you may only enter your work into one category. Your submission will be considered for the upcoming issue only.
  • Within each category, you may only submit one piece of work, unless you are submitting poetry or artwork. Please note that we are unlikely to accept more than one work per poet or artist.
  • We do not consider previously published or self-published submissions. This includes work that is on sale and/ or displayed on websites/ social media channels at the time of submission.
  • We do consider simultaneous submissions. However, you must inform us immediately if your work gets published anywhere else so that we can withdraw your submission.
  • We do not accept work containing gratuitous/ offensive language, erotic detail, radical/ overly didactic religious or political commentary.

Written Work Guidelines:

Compulsory:

Your submission will be considered invalid if you do not adhere to the following guidelines.

  • Works must be written primarily in English. Translations are acceptable and should be accompanied by a copy of the original text.
  • Submit all written work as a singular .doc/.docx/.odf attachment. Do not send your work as a .pdf.
  • Please name your file names as the title of your work, regardless of the file extension.

Optional:

We really appreciate it if you adhere to the following instructions, but it is not essential for you to do so.

  • All works should be typed in 12 point font and single-spacing.
  • Centre your title and number the pages of your document.

Compulsory Category Guidelines:

Your submission will be considered invalid if you do not adhere to the following guidelines.

Your work should not exceed more than 10% of the maximum total word/ line/ page count, as detailed below.

We are unable to read more than the permitted number of works per category.

  • Poetry:
    • Maximum of 40 lines per poem.
    • Maximum of 2 poems, all submitted in the same document.
    • Note: Free verse, formal verse and anything in between is welcome.
  • Fiction:
    • Short Stories
      • Maximum of 3000 words.
    • Flash Fiction
      • Minimum of 100 words.
      • Maximum of 1000 words.
  • Nonfiction:
    • Creative Nonfiction
      • Maximum of 3000 words.
    • Flash Creative Nonfiction
      • Minimum of 100 words.
      • Maximum of 1000 words.
  • Drama:
    • Stage plays
      • Maximum of 5 A4 pages.
    • Screen plays
      • Maximum of 5 A4 pages.
      • Formatting should be as close to Final Draft as possible.
    • Note: Play extracts and monologues are welcome.
  • Artworks:
    • Our form does not support file sizes larger than 10MB. Feel free to use our contact form to let us know in case you are interested in submitting larger works.
    • Submit all art work in PNG, JPEG or JPG format. For your artwork/photo to be considered for the cover art please submit in A4 format or aspect ratio 1:√2.
    • Maximum of 3 works, each submitted individually.
    • Note: Paintings, Drawings, Digital Art, Collages and Photographs are welcome.

Important information

  • If your work is accepted, we may make editorial changes. We will inform you of any changes that are made so that you can approve these prior to publication.
  • If your work is accepted, please note that we are unlikely to accept more than one work per writer or artist within one calendar year.
  • If your work is rejected, please wait for two submission cycles before submitting again. 
  • Our print magazine is published in A5. Please consider this if you have a specific intention regarding the formatting of your work.
  • Please wait for our response regarding your submission before submitting another one. We read all submissions once our submission window closes, and we aim to respond within a month after that.
  • We ask for first-time publication rights, but all rights revert back to the author after publication. We kindly ask that if your piece is published elsewhere in the future, that you please credit Spellbinder with its initial publication.