CRAFT Fast Response
While our submissions for short and flash fiction are always free and always open, we are currently offering a fast response option for free to BIPOC writers and other historically mis- and underrepresented writers (this category was open exclusively to Black writers until November 2020).
We will respond to your piece within four weeks of submission. If we decline your work, we’ll offer a few lines of actionable feedback.
We pay $200 for accepted short stories and $100 for flash fiction. To serve our aim of exploring the art of fiction, each published story includes an editor’s introduction as well as a craft essay (author’s note) by the writer. This essay will be requested upon acceptance.
At this time, we are only offering fast response for fiction.
Two choices for BIPOC and other underrepresented writers:
- Free fast response for flash fiction (fewer than 1,000 words)—please use this form.
- Free fast response for short fiction (short stories and standalone excerpts between 1,000 and 6,000 words)—please use this form.
Other Opportunities:
Black Lives Matter. Whenever possible, we will open fast response categories for all fiction writers, offered in exchange for proof of donation ($12 minimum) to an organization in support of Black lives. Check Submittable to see if the form is currently open.
We also offer full editorial feedback at rates based on guidelines from the Editorial Freelancers Association. Please follow us on Twitter for news of monthly free opportunities for Black writers.
General Guidelines:
- International submissions are allowed
- Previously unpublished fiction only
- Fiction only
- Please submit work in English only
- 6,000 words maximum for short fiction; 1,000 words maximum for flash
- We review literary fiction, but are open to a variety of genres and styles—our only requirement is that you show excellence in your craft
- We allow simultaneous submissions—writers please notify us and withdraw your piece if your work is picked up elsewhere
- We no longer allow multiple submissions—please submit only one piece until you’ve heard back from us
- Please, please, double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12 pt font
- Please send your story as a Word doc
- Please include a brief cover letter with your publication history (if applicable)
- We do not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, disability, family status, gender identity or expression, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation, or for any other reason
- Additionally, we do not tolerate discrimination in the writing we consider for publication: work we find discriminatory on any of the bases stated here will be declined without complete review