Magazines open for spring submissions

The surest sign of spring? Lit magazines are opening up again for their spring and summer issues! This month’s list includes many fledgling magazines looking for fresh takes from up-and-coming writers just like you.

Note: We are a creative writing school and compile these lists for the benefit of our students. We’re happy to answer questions about our courses but please don’t send us your publishing queries or submissions :). Instead, click on the green links to go to the publication’s website and look for their submissions page. For more great places to submit as well as our best tips on getting published, check out our other lists and resources.

The Fabulist is running a short fiction event through April 2023, with special week-long submission windows each centering on a specific fantastical fiction theme. The final window, from 2 – 8 April 2023, will be ecology & solarpunk, though the editors note that any fantastical fiction is welcome even if it doesn’t quite fit the theme. Keep submissions to 3,000 words or less, and feel free to submit from any speculative genre as long as your story includes a fantastical element.

Arboreal Literary Magazine is a new magazine that wants to help writers “see the forest for the trees” and enjoy their writing again. Submissions for their second issue, focusing on the theme of perseverance, are open until 15 April 2023. Submit your poetry (up to 5 pieces), nonfiction (up to 2,000 words), and short fiction (flash fiction up to 1,000 words, short fiction up to 3,500 words).

Cosmic Daffodil: if you’re looking for a home for your stories of spring and new beginnings, submit to Cosmic Daffodil, a fledgling magazine currently accepting submissions for their second issue on the theme Buds and Blooms. They’re looking for poetry (up to 5 poems/10 pages), flash fiction (up to 500 words), and flash nonfiction (300-500 words). Submissions are open until 24 April 2023.

Wordpeace publishes two issues per year focused on social issues, with the goal of “promoting peace and hope for all people.” They are currently accepting submissions to their summer/fall issue—Bodily Autonomy—and accept fiction (flash fiction up to 1,000 words, short stories up to 3,000 words), nonfiction (reviews and articles up to 3,000 words), and poetry (3-5 pieces per submission). Submissions close 10 April 2023.

Muleskinner Journal says “the journey is long, and the road is often hard, but that’s why we love it.” They want your stories about movement, change, and driving forward, and accept fiction (flash fiction up to 1,000 words, short stories and novel excerpts up to 5,000 words), nonfiction (essays and other CNF up to 5,000 words), and poetry (up to 3 pieces). The submission period for their current issue, “Mirrors,” closes 15 April 2023.

Author: Beka Bevans