Guidelines for Poetry and Flash Fiction

We are open to poetry and flash fiction year-round.

We only consider pieces from disabled and/or neurodivergent writers.  All creative writing sent to us must have disabled/neurodivergent characters or themes.

We do not accept anything racist, transphobic, fatphobic, etc.
Appropriate trigger warnings must be included.  Vulgar language permitted if essential to the piece.  No excessive violence or explicit sex.

Genre work (not just literary) is welcome here.  We aren't snobs.

We consider simultaneous submissions if clearly marked as such.  If accepted elsewhere, inform us immediately.

Fiction:

• Story length:  750 words maximum (soft limit) with no true minimum.
• You may submit two stories at a time in separate emails.
• Your piece must be in the body of the email with double-spacing between paragraphs (not between every line).  If your story requires odd formatting, query before sending an attachment.
• Subject line should read:  "Fiction Submission".
• A cover letter section is optional.
• Send submissions to:  handyuncappedpen[at]gmail[dot]com

Poetry:

• Poem length:  100 lines maximum (hard limit) with no minimum.  Stanza breaks don't count as lines for us.
• Submit up to three poems at a time in one email.
• All poems must be sent in the body of the email unless they require special formatting.  Query before sending an attachment.
• Subject line should read:  "Poetry Submission".
• A cover letter section is optional.
• Send submissions to:  handyuncappedpen[at]gmail[dot]com

Rights, Payment, and Miscellaneous:

We request first electronic rights for new work, reprint rights for previously published work, and archival rights.  We will also excerpt pieces on our social media account.  Work appearing on your personal blog or elsewhere in its entirety counts as previously published.  

Payment for previously unpublished work is $3 per poem or flash fiction piece via Paypal.  We can't mail checks.  We don't pay for reprints.  

Response time is between two and four weeks.  Feel free to email if a month goes by!

If your piece is accepted, we'll ask for a third-person biography of 100 words maximum.  Photographs are nice... but optional.

Plagiarism will not be tolerated, and we will take every accusation of plagiarism seriously.  

If you write something that could get you sued, please don't send it here.