SUBMITTING TO BROKEN PENCIL



We accept submissions of zines, chapbooks, comics and books for review.

Broken Pencil commissions and publishes fiction, non-fiction articles, essays, arts commentary and journalism, and regularly occurring comics. See below.

We commission original illustrations, photography, and other art. See below.

All fiction submissions must go through our Submittable page. We do not publish poetry or unsolicited art.

Below is everything you need to know about submitting to Broken Pencil.

How to Submit Zines & Books for Review in Broken Pencil

Broken Pencil accepts zines, books, comics, videos/films, mail-art and other cool stuff for review. There are no deadlines for submitting review material to Broken Pencil. We do not accept fiction submissions through the mail or email. See below for fiction guidelines.

Mail us your zine to review! To submit through Canada Post, mail your work to us at Broken Pencil, PO Box 203, Station P, Toronto, ON, M5S 2S7 Canada. Or, for international submissions, you may use our US address: Broken Pencil, PO Box #177, Sanborn, NY 14132 USA. We get this mail every 8-10 weeks.

NOTE: If using a courier such as UPS or FedEX, send to c/o #177 — 2901 Niagara St., Sanborn, NY 14132 USA

If you are mailing us something to review, please include on a separate piece of paper the following information: name of publication, name of the creator, name of the distro/publisher (if applicable), page number, price, and your primary contact info: website, social media, mailing address or email.

We aim to feature a diversity of publications and to show the broadest range of DIY publishing we can.

We often include excerpts from zines we review. Please let us know if you’d rather we don’t.

We look forward to seeing your work, but keep in mind that Broken Pencil can not review every publication.

We can’t really review material that does not have contact information.

The meatier your submission, the more likely we are to review it. Minicomics, one-sheeters, and sketchbook zines are wonderful but it is hard for us to assign these for review. It is not fair to ask a reviewer to give meaningful feedback for zines that clock in under 4 pages or that don’t have a theme, question, arc or topic. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule.

Unless requested against, we will add you to our e-newsletter list. It has calls for submissions, coupons, zinester news, reviews and opportunities. Let us know if you’d rather we do not.

Please only send us zines you’ve made within the past year or so.

Send any questions regarding zine reviews to Jonathan, [email protected]

Send any questions regarding book reviews to Anisa, [email protected]

How to Submit to the Broken Pencil Zine Awards

For information on submitting to the Broken Pencil Zine Awards, please check out the How to Enter page at BPZineAwards.com

Submission Guidelines for Writers and Illustrators

Articles: In each issue of Broken Pencil, we publish news pieces, how-to and resource guides for creators, investigations, thematic spreads, political screeds and other features and pieces that appeal to our community of talented and politically engaged zine/comic/DIY creators, supporters and aficionados. We frequently commission illustrators to create work to accompany these pieces.

If you are an illustrator, especially an illustrator based in or borne out of the zine community, please send us some samples of your work! We keep a list of awesome artists on hand and will reach out when the right story, piece or event pops up.

If you are a writer who knows how to write about these topics, please reach out and introduce yourself so we can keep you in mind when topics and opportunities arise. We’d love to see one or two samples of strong arts or political writing when you contact us as well.

We also sometimes accept pitches. We are always interested in pieces that ask “how?” “why?” and “to what effect?” when covering trends or themes in the independent arts, and less interested in simple profiles, accounts of things that have happened, and articles where we already know the answer to the main question or premise.

To submit ideas to Broken Pencil or introduce yourself, email [email protected], or write to us at PO Box 203, Stn P, Toronto, ON, M5S 2S7 Canada.

Don’t submit anything until you have read at least one issue of the magazine. Poke around this website or order a copy from our online store. You can also find Broken Pencil in stores across North America, and, in some cases, you can find it at your local library.

Poetry: We do not publish poetry, ever. There are tons of amazing zines, journals, literary magazines, websites, chapbook presses and anthologies that publish poetry. When you send us poetry to publish, it just shows us that you haven’t bothered to read our magazine. We get it, it’s hard out there and maybe you are taking the “spray and pray” approach to submitting your work to different publications. We always encourage all writers to consider also putting energy into publishing your own work! We do review chapbooks and poetry zines regularly.

Fiction: Please submit fiction only through Submittable, not by snail-mail and not by emailing any editor directly. We are seeking original, never before published fiction pieces of up to 3000 words. Broken Pencil reads fiction submissions between March 1st and September 15th.

Selling Broken Pencil Magazine



If you are a store or distributor however small or large interested in carrying Broken Pencil email [email protected] and we’ll set you up!

Change of Address

If you have a subscription to Broken Pencil and would like to change your address, please email [email protected].