WRITING A NEW WORLD
Sunspot Literary Journal offers an Editor's Prize of $10 for each digital edition and an Editor's Prize of $35 for the annual print edition. Artwork selected for a digital or print cover will be paid $20. Visit SunspotLit.com to download digital editions for free.
We welcome prose from flash fiction and poetry to stories and essays, including scripts and screenplays, up to 49,000 words. Genre categories are accepted along with literary works. Poetry can be up to 1,250 lines. Translations welcome. Please note the word count in your cover letter.
Please take careful note of the submission deadlines. Open calls for longer works of prose and poetry close earlier. Submit early to avoid missing a deadline.
One piece per submission (except flash, poetry, or art). Use the correct form according to the length of your prose and poetry. Works longer than allowed by the form you select will be declined unread.
The Fast Flux options offer a one-week turnaround for short prose and art. Poets and longform prose receive a two-week turnaround, with most responses being sent within one week.
All submissions must be unpublished (except on a personal blog). Simultaneous submissions welcome. Submit as many times as you like.
Scroll to the bottom to receive feedback on a poem, a genre story or novel excerpt, order print copies, or leave a tip to keep art alive.
Need to hear back quickly? Use this form to receive a response in one week for prose or art, or two weeks or less for poetry. Submit any category or type of work here.
The lowest fee allows you to submit artwork (a total of two images) or very short prose and poetry. Longer prose and poetry submissions, up to novella form, can also be submitted by selecting the appropriate fee from the dropdown menu.
Be sure to select the correct fee option based on length. Incorrect fee selection will result in rejection without consideration.
Sunspot Lit is launching a new initiative to explore the intersection of artificial intelligence and creativity in prose, poetry, and art. For a limited time, the journal’s usual open calls will include an open call specifically for works created with the assistance of AI software, chatbots, or other programs.
“Assistance” is being defined as moderate to significant reliance on AI to generate creative works: using programs or generators to create paragraphs or entire works of prose; lines of poetry or entire poems; and artwork. Minor assistance by any software program such as title generators, character name generators, or grammar correction is not considered to have been assisted by AI.
Please note that Sunspot does not allow AI assistance for any of its standard open calls or contests; AI-assisted works will only be considered under this specific call.
The cover letter must describe the type of AI assistance as well as the creator’s individual contribution to the final work (revisions, light editing, digital manipulation, etc.). Submissions for this open call will be considered for publication in the quarterly digital and annual print editions alongside non-AI assisted works. Published results will include a note that clarifies the work was created with AI assistance.
The lowest fee allows you to submit artwork (a total of two images) or very short prose or 3 pages of poetry. Longer prose and poetry submissions, up to novella form, can also be submitted by selecting the appropriate fee from the dropdown menu.
Be sure to select the correct fee option based on length. Incorrect fee selection will result in rejection without consideration.
We accept all types of prose including essays, memoir, travel, teleplays, film and stage scripts. Using this form, submit:
One or two pieces of flash fiction or nonfiction; total length of submission not to exceed 1,000 words
OR
Up to three poems, with each poem starting on a new single-spaced page; max 40 lines of poetry per page; total submission not to exceed three pages
OR
A graphic novel of 1 to 4 pages
OR
Artwork; total of two images
In your cover letter, please indicate length and whether the piece is fiction, nonfiction, or poetry.
Please do not mix submission formats (for example, provide one poem and one flash piece as a single entry). Mixed submissions will be rejected without review.
Note that submissions that do not meet the guidelines will be declined without review.
Do feel free to submit in separate categories by using the same form any number of times.
We accept all types of fiction and nonfiction including essays, memoir, travel, teleplays, film and stage scripts. Using this form, submit a single work of fiction or nonfiction, no longer than 3,500 words. Graphic novels should run 5 to 10 pages. In your cover letter, please indicate length and whether the piece is fiction, nonfiction, or poetry.
Note that submissions that do not meet the guidelines will be declined without review.
Do feel free to submit in separate categories by using the same form any number of times.
Single works of fiction or nonfiction, including scripts and screenplays, between 3,501 and 7,500 words can be submitted here.
Graphic novels should run 11 to 25 pages.
A single poem of 4 to 10 single-spaced pages (40 lines per page) is accepted here.
Please do not mix formats (for example, submitting a graphic novel and a poem in the same file). Also note that collections are not accepted in this open call.
Submissions that do not meet these guidelines will be declined without review.
Sunspot Lit's Angel Leya is now offering feedback on genre fiction, with a particular emphasis on novel excerpts. She specializes in fantasy and paranormal, with experience in light sci-fi, contemporary romance, and YA.
For works up to 5,000 words, you will receive a few paragraphs (about half a single-spaced page) of comments intended to strengthen your work. For works up to 12,500 words, you'll receive around a full single-spaced page of comments. NOTE: Please do not request advice on where or how to submit work for publication, as this type of guidance is beyond the scope of the feedback on offer.
Submissions are capped each month, and the form will shut off once the cap is reached.
Angel Leya is the coauthor of the USA Today bestselling book, Shifted (Siren Prophecy series), with over 12 additional novels, novellas, and short stories to her name. She’s been published in several anthologies, including Fiddlehead Press and The Alliance of YA Authors.
She reads avidly (and writes) in the fantasy and paranormal genres, but she also has a soft spot for a good light sci fi or contemporary romance. Angel specializes in giving practical advice, with a bent toward characterization and dialog, as well as word flow, breaks in logic, and hooks.
Using this form, submit one story or excerpt. Submit as many times as you like using a new submission form for each story or excerpt.
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Shipping available to foreign addresses for additional fee. Only pay the extra shipping fee once for up to 10 copies.
If you would like to order more copies than shown in the drop-down menu, please contact us at sunspotlit@gmail.com so we can arrange your payment through PayPal or other methods.
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