Submit your writing & art

General Submission Guidelines

All submissions should be doc or docx files, double spaced, 12pt, and in either Times New Roman, Arial, Verdana, or Georgia font. Experimental pieces can be flexible regarding font and size.
All submissions must include a short 3rd person bio.
Simultaneous submissions are accepted. Make a note of it in your bio, and if your piece is accepted elsewhere, let us know as soon as possible via Submittable.
- If you submitted more than one piece, you do NOT have to withdraw your whole submission.
We do not accept previously published or AI-generated work.
Authors may submit to any and all categories at once, but cannot submit more than allowed for any one category.
Page or word count limit applies to a single piece.
Works in other languages are welcomed. Author MUST provide an English translation.

Print Submissions

We are interested in diverse works that speak to your individual experience, narrative, and culture. We especially welcome contributors whose work exceeds the boundaries of traditional literary journals and aims to showcase underrepresented voices and issues.

Poetry

Submit up to three poems per submission.

5 pages max. per poem

Fiction, Nonfiction & Essays

Submit up to one piece per submission.

Fiction - 15 pages max.
Nonfiction - 15 pages max.
Essays (Personal, Narrative, Craft, etc.) - 10 pages max.
Literary Criticism - 15 pages max.
Screenplays - 1 act or 15 pages max.
Book Reviews - 5 pages max.
Experimental Work - 10 pages max.

Flash & Micro-Fiction/Nonfiction

Submit up to three pieces per submission.

Flash Fiction and Nonfiction - 750 words max.
Microfiction and Nonfiction - 100 words max.
Experimental Work - 750 words max.

Visual Art

Submit up to two pieces per submission.

2-D Art (Drawings, Paintings, Digital, etc.)
Photography
Comics

Online Submissions

Submissions to our online publication, Refractions, are featured on our website and are separate from submission to our print volumes. Online submissions have the added capability of being visually and technologically dynamic, so get creative! Refractions calls are generally centered on a theme.

Additional Online Guidelines

In addition to a short 3rd-person bio, we recommend including a contributor photo and social media handle(s).
Photos/media to accompany written submissions are encouraged but not required.
Contributors may submit to any and all categories or genres at once (e.g., submitting a piece of poetry, micro-fiction, and photography at once for the given theme).
Page limit applies to a single piece (i.e. each fiction submission can have up to 15 pages max).

Submit up to three pieces total across the following genres:

Poetry & Prose

Fiction & Non-fiction - 15 pages max.
Poetry - 5 pages max.
Screenplays - 1 act max.
Book Reviews - 5 pages max.
Literary Criticism - 15 pages max.
Personal/Narrative Essays - 10 pages max.
Flash Fiction/Nonfiction - 750 words max.
Microfiction/Nonfiction - 100 words max.

Art & Multimedia

Art submissions may be an individual part of a continuing series (e.g., a comic panel, 3-part video essay, etc.). Inform us of this intent. At your discretion, such submissions may be submitted in full and published gradually.

2-D Art
Photography
2-D Comics - 5 pages max.
Videography (video essays, blogs, performance art, etc.)

Art & multimedia submissions must include titles for each piece of work.

Experimental

Any works that do not adhere to traditional labels or artistic genres.
Within these classifications, we do not exclude nor prefer any particular genre and look forward to receiving a variety of works!
Avoid explanation of your entire work—part of the fun is exploring the mix between genres—but do make us aware if you consider your work experimental.

Contributor's Rights

iō Literary Journal acquires First Serial Rights for accepted work(s) for print and online publications. Upon acceptance(s) of publication, iō Literary Journal retains the right to be the sole publisher of the work(s) for the first year from the initial date of publication. Thereafter, contributors may republish their work(s), with iō Literary Journal credited as the initial publisher.

Contributor's Rights

Questions about the submission process?

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