Short Beasts Submission Guidelines

Short Beasts welcomes submissions from writers at all stages of their careers. Please thoroughly read our submissions guidelines.

Short Beasts is currently accepting new unpublished submissions.

Short Beasts publishes on a developing schedule of “as often as possible,” which may mean weekly, monthly, quarterly, or something else. We will update this just as soon as we figure it out.

As a small startup journal, we rely on the generosity of writers. Our editorial staff is entirely volunteer-based. We read every submission, and endeavor to respond to submissions within five months (sometimes much sooner). We do not currently provide financial compensation. There are no submission fees.

Submissions under 1000 words are welcome. We particularly enjoy micro-flash fiction, which garners equal consideration. For longer pieces, check out our sister publication, TEXT+Lit. Please do not submit longer pieces here—time limitations will not allow them to be considered.

We do not accept any ai-generated or ai-edited stories. We do not accept stories which, through usage, promote brand names, nor do we accept any form of advertorial. If your story contains brand names, we encourage you to be creative in using fictional brands.

At the top of your submission, please include your name, email, and word count. At the end of your submission, please include a short 100-word or less bio, written in the third-person (include your X handle, if applicable, and website).

Optimal formatting: Format your stories as you see the text on this page, without indents, paragraphs separated by carriage returns.

We are currently accepting submissions in the following categories:

Flash Fiction – Short stories and excerpts from unpublished novels, typically 50-1000 words.

Micro Flash Fiction – Short stories, typically 5-50 words.

• We accept exclusively online submissions using the form below.

• Please submit up to two submissions at a time in one file. Wait for a response before making another submission.

• Simultaneous submissions are accepted, as long as you immediately notify Short Beasts editors if your piece has been accepted elsewhere.

• We accept exclusively original, unpublished manuscripts. This precludes works published on a personal blog or other website.

• We do not accept poetry, children’s stories, or pieces on writing craft.

• Short Beasts is an all-volunteer publication of TEXT+Lit. Please be patient, allowing up to five months for a response.

• Short Beasts will hold exclusive print and digital rights to your piece for 90 days, after which you will retain all rights. Your story will remain archived with Short Beasts online.

• There are currently no submission fees.

• We will be in touch if your piece is selected for publication.

We utilize our own submissions system, using the simple one step form below.