drafthorse welcomes unsolicited literary manuscripts and visual art. Work submitted in February, March and April will be considered for the summer issue. Work submitted in August, September and October will be considered for the winter issue. We read manuscripts on a rolling basis during these submission periods only.

What we're looking for:

We seek original fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry and visual art that explores our constant theme of “work and no work.” While we’re open to various interpretations, we expect the subject to be fundamental to your submission in some way. We are interested in how work, or the absence of it, affects people and communities on an intimate level. While politics are inescapable, the magazine is not a platform for partisan blunderbussing. We will not consider submissions that do not relate to our theme in any way, so we strongly encourage you to read our About page and look through prior issues before you submit. We are excited to feature known writers and artists who wish to lend their voices to the important subject of work, but we are just as excited to discover new and unknown writers and artists. So much the better if drafthorse provides the first publication for a strong writer or visual artist. What we don't know we're looking for:

If you’re a writer, artist, musician, filmmaker, etc. and have a submission that you believe is relevant for drafthorse but doesn’t fit within the guidelines stated above, we encourage you to query us. We’re interested in various material that may be difficult to classify. While we don’t accept reviews in their traditional form, we’re open to essays that include in-depth analysis of relevant books, albums, films, etc. We want to incorporate more music and film in the future, and we’re open to your ideas about how to do that. Logistics: drafthorse accepts submissions through Submittable:

Creative Non-Fiction Creative nonfiction may include essays, memoirs, literary journalism, interviews, and opinion pieces (but nothing overtly political, please, even if we agree with you). We will read one long piece, or up to three short pieces, at a time per author. The total word count should be under 3000 words, although we will consider exceptional longer works. Submissions may include short excerpts from longer works, but an excerpt must stand alone as a discrete work. Prose submissions should be double-spaced and use a standard 12-point font, such as Times New Roman. Please upload your entire submission as one MS Word file. PDFs are accepted, but Word is preferred. Be sure to include your name and contact information on the first page. Fiction We will read one long prose piece, or up to three (3) short pieces, at a time per author. The total word count should be under 3000 words, although we will consider exceptional longer works. Submissions may include short excerpts from longer works, but an excerpt must stand alone as a discrete work. Poetry We will read up to five (5) poems at a time per author. Poems should be single-spaced and use a standard 12-point font, such as Times New Roman. Please upload your entire submission as one MS Word file. PDFs are accepted, but Word is preferred. Be sure to include your name and contact information on the first page. Visual Arts and Media Visual arts submissions should include a brief artist statement along with 5-10 representative sample images (resolution dpi, dimensions on longest side 1000 pixels) and/or link to a web portfolio. If you’re an artist, musician, filmmaker, etc. and have a submission that you believe is relevant for drafthorse but doesn’t fit within these guidelines, we encourage you to query us. We’re interested in material that may be difficult to classify. Please contact us at [email protected]. It is our policy to only accept previously unpublished work unless solicited. Please do not submit previously published material, which means published in other journals—print or online, as well as in blogs, personal websites or anywhere accessible to the general public. We're happy to consider simultaneous submissions with the understanding that you will inform us if a piece is accepted by another publication. Should this occur, let us know at [email protected]. We recognize that literature’s job is to examine in an honest, intimate and authentic way how people live and how they respond to obstacles and adversity. In most cases, without that intimate and believable relationship, neither characters nor readers would have the room required to discover potential for redemption or an opportunity to achieve an epiphany. Sometimes that close look requires the inclusion of violence, sexual content or strong language in a piece of writing. We are not, however, interested in work that uses these elements gratuitously or for the sake of shock value. Response Time We strive to respond to every submission in a timely manner, hopefully within four months. If you have not heard from us by that time, feel free to send us a query via email. Please do not send additional submissions until you’ve heard back from us. Rights drafthorse acquires first rights for publication. Upon publication, all rights revert back to the author. We reserve the right to keep any work that we’ve published available in the drafthorse archives on our website. Should a piece first published in drafthorse be reprinted in another work, we request the later publication include an acknowledgment of drafthorse. Thank you for your interest in drafthorse!







