Send us your Fiction (short stories, flash fiction, novel excerpts up to 7,000 words), Poetry (up to five poems), Essays (up to 7,000 words), Screenplays (full-works or excerpts up to 20 pages), and Stage Plays (full-works or excerpts up to 20 pages).
Generally preferred formatting (where applicable): Word Doc files, single or double spaced, justifiedmargins, 12pt font (Times New Roman, Garamond, or Georgia).
Note to submitters: In addition to A Common Well’s mission of encouraging the continuous plunge into the powers of personal language to express that which is wholly universal, we are endeavoring a grand experiment in good-faith trust between author and publisher: All submissions, regardless of acceptance status, will receive a direct response from the Editor-in-Chief, with the intention of providing all submitters the considered feedback that is so often unavailable to writers working outside institutions and workshops. The further intention behind this experiment is to develop a community of correspondence and critique among writers who would never seriously encounter each other’s work, even given the connective technologies of social media. To aid in this effort, submitters are being asked to donate a $5 reading fee.
With issue #4, WTJ experimented with adding images to our virtual pages, black and white photos of New York, and we loved the results so much that we decided to try something similar every issue! To that end, we have opened up our Submittable portal to image submissions: photographs, paintings, collages, drawings, etchings, scrimshaw, spinart, color-by-numbers, etc.
What we want:
Each issue will feature the work of a single visual artist. So, we are looking for around 20 hi-res images from each artist, along with a short bio and (optional) artist’s statement. The images will be threaded through the issue, one on every page, but readers should be able to see clearly that all the images are stylistically and/or thematically linked.
To submit, combine all images into a single PDF, and upload the PDF.
The same aesthetic guidelines apply visually as they do to the writing we crave: weird, devious, melancholy, smart, experimental, and playful are all good. To which we might add, terrifying or dystopian or breathtaking or subversive, in response to the unrelenting insanity that swirls around us. (Sexy is fine, but no porn!)
- If you’re communicative and willing to do a little back-and-forth with the editors around layout time, that would be a plus.
- We love diverse voices.
- We have no time or tolerance for bigotry or monotony.
- We don’t give a fuck, flying or otherwise, about your MFA.
We like:
Weird, devious, melancholy, smart, experimental, and playful.
We aim:
To publish diverse voices. To publish work that responds to the mad world around us. To publish work that’s literary, but not your usual literary fare.
We accept submissions through:
Submittable. Simultaneous submissions are fine. Please let us know if work is accepted elsewhere.
We dislike:
Bigotry, monotony, and people who don’t read the submission guidelines.
We retain:
First North American Serial Rights. You can read more about what that means here.
Send us:
- Fiction (up to 5,000 words)
- Flash fiction (up to 600 words)
- Non-fiction/memoir up to 5,000 words
- Poetry (up to four poems)
- Hybrid genre pieces are welcome
We’ll respond within two months. If you haven’t heard from us after that time, please query.