What We Publish

LITMAG PRINT

Fiction
Short stories, novellas

Nonfiction
Creative nonfiction; essays on literature, art, culture, and music; biography, memoir

Poetry
No restrictions on style or form

LITMAG ONLINE

Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry
Up to 4,000 words.

LITMAG CONTESTS

LitMag‘s Virginia Woolf Award for Short Fiction 
First Prize: $3,500, publication, and agency review by Sobel Weber Associates (clients include: Viet Thanh Nguyen, Richard Russo, Laura Lee Smith). The contest is now closed. Winner and finalists will be announce on March 31, 2018.  Full contest guidelines will again be available again on Submittable when the next contest period opens. Full guidelines are also available on our blog.

Work that moves and amazes us.
We are drawn to big minds, large hearts, sharp pens

Word Count Limits
Print: 15,000 words
Online: 4,000 words

What to Send
One story or essay at a time, up to five poems.
Please wait until you have heard back from us before submitting again.

Previously Unpublished
We do not consider work that has previously been published either in print or online (including personal blogs etc.)

What We Pay
LitMag Print: Upon acceptance, we pay $1,000 for fiction or nonfiction; $250 for a poem, a group of short poems, or (the rare) short short

LitMag Online: Upon acceptance, we pay $250

What We Acquire
LitMag acquires First English-language print and electronic rights.
Copyright reverts to the author upon publication.

When to Submit
Regular submissions:

Fiction is open: 10/1/17 to 11/30/17; 2/1/18 to 7/31/18*
Poetry is open:  9/1/17 to 11/30/17; 3/1/18 to 7/31/18
Nonfiction is open: 8/1/17 to 11/30/17; 1/1/18 to 5/31/18
LitMag Online is open: 9/1/17 to 11/30/17; 2/1/18 to 6/30/18

*There is a submission fee for fiction only. There will be a window of free submissions for fiction from 6/1/18 to 6/15/18.

Submissions in all other categories are free.

Contest Deadlines:

LitMag’s Virginia Woolf Award for Short Fiction. No longer open. We’re reading.

How to Submit
Online. We use Submittable. (Saves trees, prevents paper cuts.) We do not consider emails with attachments or snail mail.

Multiple Submissions
Please submit only once in each category and wait until you receive our response before submitting again. (A contest is its own category.)

Simultaneous Submissions
Yes, of course. But please withdraw your submission immediately via Submittable if another publication beats us to your work.

Response time
We try to respond to submissions as quickly as possible and strive to send a decision within two months, but please understand that the volume of submissions may require us to take longer, especially for work under serious consideration.

SUBMIT VIA SUBMITTABLE