The Literary Hatchet is a journal devoted to provocative fiction, poetry and prose. We are interested in well-written but digestible works in any genre (except erotica).

We will consider previously published material but prefer original works.

We accept short fiction, flash fiction, first-person narratives, speculative fiction, short stories, poetry, photography, art, cartoons, and illustrations.

We’re interested in new angles on old ideas, or topics that don’t get covered frequently. We like to showcase articles that don’t just sum up some issue but make us think and make us want to read further.

The above is not exhaustive. If you don’t have an immediate idea for a piece, but you’d really like to write for us, let us know and be prepared to show us work you’ve done. We can always think of subjects!

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WHAT WE DON’T WANT

We do not accept erotica, either as articles or images
We do not accept articles or images with excessive crude language or outlandish sexual humor
We cannot consider partial or incomplete stories or essays
We do not accept Haiku poetry, unless as a part of a collection of five or more

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GUIDELINES BY TYPE OF SUBMISSIONSHORT STORIES:

We accept short stories from 500-6,000 words in length. Feel free to contact us with inquiries about the type of stories we might be interested in if you are in doubt. We appreciate the well-written work, and acceptance is determined by whether the piece grabs the editor and holds their interest. We consider works of general fiction as well as horror, dark subjects, detective fiction, and stories about monsters, either real or imaginary.

POETRY:
We are looking for high-quality extraordinary poems (both serious and humorous) that explore the darkness that resides in each of us. Personal pieces that offer a self-reflection are acceptable.

ART, PHOTOGRAPHY, CARTOONS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS:
All submitted art and illustrations must be in 300 dpi, JPG or GIF formats and no larger than 1200 X 1200 pixels.

INTERVIEWS:
If you would like to interview someone our readers would find interesting (including, but not limited to, authors, celebrities, relatives of Borden case members, experts in a related field of study), you can submit your idea to us for approval.

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COMPENSATION, RIGHTS, AND LENGTH

RIGHTS: By submission of your work, you are agreeing to The Hatchet and its publisher PearTree Press holding exclusive first-printing world rights for a period of 6 months. While your piece is online, it may not appear anywhere else on the Internet, in print, or sold for profit. Rights revert back to the writer/artist at the end of 6 months.

We ask, but do not require, that you then give us non-exclusive electronic rights to include your work in our archives after it is rotated off the issue. You have the right to remove your article from the archives at any point after 6 months.

COMPENSATION AND LENGTH REQUIREMENTS: We pay compensation for almost all work accepted for publication. Payment is made upon publication. Checks are sent by mail. Foreign contributors can choose to be paid by check (US dollars), PayPal or Amazon Gift Card.

FICTION, SHORT STORIES:

INTERVIEWS and REVIEWS:

POETRY:

ART/ILLUSTRATIONS:

FIRST PERSON STORIES:

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HOW TO SUBMIT

We buy exclusive first-printing world rights for 6 months.

Submissions must be made via Submittable.com

Electronic submissions should be as an attached MSWord or AppleWorks file. Do not include the text of your submission within the email.

Multiple submissions are accepted.

No simultaneous submissions accepted.

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RESPONSE TIME

Average response time is about 30 days. If you don’t hear from us in 30 days, please query.

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EDITING POLICY

We prefer not to edit heavily. If we like your idea, but feel that your article needs significant editing, we’ll send it back to you with lots of suggestions and recommendations. We will correct all typos, grammatical errors, and adjust punctuation to our house style. If we make any substantial changes we will contact you first for approval well in advance of publication.

If we cannot contact you or you do not return our emails, we will assume that you have withdrawn your submission. Feel free to resubmit it at a later date.

We prefer poetry under 100 lines. Please don’t send us poetry unless you have thoroughly proofread it. Accepted submissions may be edited for clarity or to correct minor errors. Poetry submissions which do not meet minimum standards for correct spelling will be rejected.

HOW TO CONTACT US

SUBMISSIONS: Submissions must be made via this link: Submittable.com

or write us at

PearTree Press
328 French Street
Suite #2
Fall River, MA 02720

The Literary Hatchet is open for submissions and we financially compensate our authors and artists for their works.

You can submit more than one work per issue, but please send each submission individually.

SUBMISSION DEADLINES:
March 1 (publication date April/May)
July 1 (publication date August/September)
November 1 (publication date December/January)