Submission Guidelines

• Please send only one submission per genre during our reading period. If you choose to submit work in multiple genres, send them in separate emails.

• Only submit using a Word Document.

• Include a maximum 50-word bio written in the third person within the body of your email.

• Do not include your name anywhere on the document. Do not plagiarize or submit AI-generated writing.

• We accept simultaneous submissions, but if your work gets accepted elsewhere, email us right away.

• If you are submitting a stand-alone excerpt of a longer work, let us know in your email that it’s an excerpt.

• We accept previously unpublished work, but we are open to reprints if your piece hasn't been published in its full form before.

Fiction

• Send a Word document with 1.5 spacing, font size 12 serif, and include page numbers.

• Our sweet spot word count: 5,000-25,000. When submitting, include the total word count in the body of your email.

• We love all fiction that's imaginative, from the fantastical to the mundane. We’re looking for pieces that bring a fresh perspective or put a meaningful spin on established narratives, themes, and subgenres.

• Email your submission to lastsyllablelit@gmail.com with the subject line format of “Last Syllable_Fiction_LastName.

Creative Nonfiction

• Send a Word document with 1.5 spacing, font size 12 serif, and include page numbers.

• Our sweet spot word count: 5,000-25,000. When submitting, include the total word count in the body of your email.

• We want your creative work. Please do not submit scientific reports or purely analytical pieces.

• Email your submission to lastsyllablelit@gmail.com with the subject line format of “Last Syllable_CNF_LastName.

Poetry

• Send a Word document with 1.5 spacing, font size 12 serif, and include page numbers.

• We’re looking for linked poems and long poems. Send us your crown of sonnets, your slam winner, your numbered sections, your double sestina, etc.

• Each poem or set of linked poems should be a minimum of two pages long. Submit a maximum of three long or linked poems in one Word document.

• If you are concerned with the preservation of a poem because of a special shape or format, please provide a note in your submission email.

• Email your submission to lastsyllablelit@gmail.com with the subject line format of “Last Syllable_Poetry_LastName.

Open Genre

• Does your work of text refuse to be defined by genre? Consider submitting it here!

• We accept song lyrics, multimodal stories, comics, and other experimental forms. Visually integrative pieces and innovative structures are encouraged.

• We love pieces where the story being told is unmistakably linked to the mode of storytelling.

• Open genre submissions should be sent in whatever format best showcases the work.

• Email your submission to lastsyllablelit@gmail.com with the subject line format of “Last Syllable_Open_LastName.

If you have been affiliated with PLNU within the last 5 years, you are not eligible for publication in our journal. We welcome you to return and submit to us once 5 years have passed.

We pay contributors $20 upon publication. We ask for first publication rights and acknowledgement as the first place of publication upon future reprints. All rights remain with the author upon publication. The work will be archived on the Last Syllable website indefinitely.

If you have any questions, please email us at lastsyllablelit@gmail.com

To stay up to date with our submission periods, our social media links are below where we post regular announcements:

Additional Information