CRAFT explores the art of prose, celebrating both emerging and established writers. We focus on the craft of writing and how the elements of craft make a good story or essay shine. We feature new and republished fiction and creative nonfiction, as well as critical pieces on craft, interviews, book annotations, and much more.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

FICTION & CREATIVE NONFICTION

Our entire fiction library can be found in our Fiction Section. Our creative nonfiction library is found in the CNF Section.

Our creative categories are open year-round to any emerging or established author. We accept submissions from international writers. We review simultaneous submissions but ask that you inform us immediately and withdraw your work if it is accepted elsewhere. We pay our authors $100 for original flash and $200 for original short fiction and creative nonfiction. We do not charge submission fees, but are highly selective in what we choose to publish.

We will also consider previously published creative work, as long as the writer retains the rights or second-publication rights can be obtained. We do not pay for reprints.

Each published creative piece will include an editor’s introduction as well as a craft essay (author’s note) by the writer. These essays will be requested upon acceptance. To read the author’s notes of previously published stories, please see CRAFT Fiction or CNF.

To see a list of our most commonly asked questions about submitting to us, please visit our FAQ page. If you have additional questions after reading our FAQ, please send an email to: contact (at) craftliterary (dot) com.

Flash Fiction, for work up to 1,000 words

Short Fiction, for work up to 6,000 words

Flash Creative Nonfiction, for work up to 1,000 words

Creative Nonfiction, for work up to 6,000 words

Please review the guidelines in the submission form you choose for specifics about the genre. We’ve added some limits in an effort to improve our response time. We no longer allow multiple submissions—please send only one piece per genre at a time. If your creative work is declined, we ask that you wait three months before submitting again to the same genre. You may have one piece of fiction (either short or flash), one piece of creative nonfiction (flash or creative essay), and one craft piece under consideration at one time.

CRAFT

We accept submissions of critical pieces on craft, book annotations, and interviews. For a look at the type of content we publish, please visit our Craft Section. All work in this section is concerned with fiction or creative nonfiction. Please do not send critical work about poetry. Please do not send personal essays. We pay between $50 and $100 for original craft content.

Critical essays and craft talks range from 1,500 to 2,500 words concerning the craft of fiction or creative nonfiction. The most common type of essays we publish consist of a careful examination of an element or elements of craft in a piece or pieces of fiction/CNF. We recommend familiarizing yourself with our archive.

For interviews, we are interested in conversations with fiction and creative nonfiction writers/novelists focusing on the craft of writing. You may query at contact (at) craftliterary (dot) com.

Our book annotations generally focus on fiction or creative nonfiction writers/novelists who explicitly explore craft in their work. These pieces are typically between 1,500 and 2,000 words. We recommend familiarizing yourself with our archive.

We no longer allow multiple submissions—please send only one piece per genre at a time. If your craft submission is declined, you may submit again to the craft genre immediately. You may have one piece of fiction (either short or flash), one piece of creative nonfiction (flash or creative essay), and one craft piece under consideration at one time.

EDITORIAL FEEDBACK

Are you looking for feedback on a piece of short fiction? Whether you’re applying to workshops, residencies, or MFA programs, or polishing a piece to submit to lit mags or writing contests, or seeking notes for any reason, we are so pleased to offer editorial feedback on flash fiction and short stories up to 6,000 words. Learn more here.

CONTESTS

For all contest information, including submission guidelines, please visit our Awards, Calendar, and Submit pages, and our Submittable.

Other questions? Send to contact@craftliterary.com

Submission questions, concerns, and inquiries can be sent to: contact (at) craftliterary (dot) com

To submit a piece or learn more about our guidelines, click the submit button.

Author’s Rights

CRAFT holds first serial publication rights for three months after publication. Authors agree not to publish, nor authorize or permit the publication of, any part of the material for three months following CRAFT’s first publication. For reprints we ask for acknowledgement of its publication in CRAFT first.