SUBMISSIONS

SUMMER 2024 - ISSUE #21 CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS! Theme: Ethical Storytelling

Submissions open for the Summer 2024 Issue (#21) on February 1. 

Final deadline is  11:59 p.m. on April 1st 2024.

We support the Stonecoast community's goal to promote inclusivity, equity, and social justice through writing.

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING BEFORE SUBMITTING:
We accept fiction, pop (genre) fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, dramatic works, experimental, and visual art. We can’t wait to see your best pieces! Stonecoast Review offers feedback on 10% of declined submissions. 

The Summer 2024 Issue, themed Ethical Storytelling, marks the first time in its ten-year history that the publication features a content theme, as well as a new print-online hybrid structure. The issue will feature 48 pages of content in chapbook format, will include four-color art throughout, and will feature a QR code leading to more new content on StonecoastReview.org. 

Contributors will receive a complimentary copy of the issue in which their work appears. Stonecoast Review acquires First Serial Rights and First Electronic Rights for all work published in the journal. Rights revert to the author upon publication.

Our staff is a group of volunteers, all either alumni of the Stonecoast MFA Program or current students. Most of our staff have experience working on numerous Stonecoast Review issues as well as working for other literary journals. We rely upon donations to cover advertising, website, and printing costs. To support the Stonecoast Review, please consider donating or purchasing a copy from stonecoastreview.org! 

Submission Guidelines

• Send submissions via Submittable only.
• Please include a short cover letter and bio (50- and 100-word max. respectively).
• We accept one prose submission, one poetry submission (of up to three poems), or five pieces of visual art per author, per submission cycle.
• Your work must be previously unpublished. (Stonecoast alumni may submit already published work for consideration as reprints.)
• We encourage simultaneous submissions. However, please withdraw your submission immediately if it’s accepted elsewhere. If you submit multiple poems and one is accepted at another publication, please attach a note on Submittable identifying which poem is no longer available. 
• Please adhere to standard manuscript format: double spaced, 12 pt., Times New Roman font. Poetry may be single spaced. (If you tell us that diverging from these rules is integral to your piece, we will consider it.)
• While we love to represent stories with raw, emotional truth, we ask that you refrain from submitting pieces featuring excessive sex, violence, assaults, or suicide. 
• We will reject pieces determined to be written by the use of AI software.

Genre Guidelines

Fiction. Limit submissions to 5,000 words or fewer. In the spirit of ethical storytelling, the fiction editors are searching for stories that invite the reader into radical empathy and exploration. We are looking for stories that push the boundaries of traditional fiction with regard to form and content.

Popular Fiction. Limit submissions to 2,500–5,000 words or fewer. We are open to all kinds of genre/popular fiction: romance, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, dystopian, thriller, horror, or historical fiction, and we encourage genre blending. We’re searching for serious or comedic stories that focus on character, a unique idea, or fun theme.

Creative Nonfiction. Limit submissions to 5,000 words or fewer. We are looking for a diverse array of Creative Nonfiction works that engage with our mission and challenge the boundaries of conventional storytelling. We encourage experimentation with hybrid forms of essay and memoir and are particularly interested in works that are both relevant and personal. 

Poetry. Limit submissions to 3 poems, with no more than 50 lines each. We are seeking poems that speak truth but do not exploit pain, acknowledge conflict while holding on to hope, and call out oppression through celebrations of love. These poems need not be overtly political, but they should strive to decenter, to redirect and decolonize, to ground and set free. It’s the poet’s calling to find worlds not yet imagined and shape the future to hold them. Please send us your best work.

Dramatic Works. Limit submissions to 12 or fewer pages. We accept dialogue-driven plays, scripts, and experimental styles, including but not limited to one-minute plays, 10-minute plays, screenplays, and monologues. We are especially interested in pieces that demonstrate a commitment to questioning the “truths” we take for granted, pushing the boundaries of the status quo, and upholding the dignity of writer and audience in craft. 

Visual Art. Limit submissions to five pieces. We seek visual images for the cover and selected inside pages. We welcome experimental and unusual art forms. We accept 2D digital images of photography, sculpture, painting, and mixed media. Please send high-res digital images (300 dpi or higher) in JPG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, or RAW file format.