$500 Flash Contest Open Now
☞ Subscribers make our ❤️ pound
☞ Check out the latest issue & download the ebook
☞ Full guidelines & FAQ
☛ Seeking unpublished, amazing writing and art — we'd love to see more photos, paintings, drawings, diagrams, graphic narratives, &c. Artists/photographers may email thumbs or portfolio links if the Art category is closed.
☛ We are actively prioritizing work by under-represented people: Indigenous, Black, people of color, lgbtqia+, gender nonbinary, disabled, fat, poor, border-straddling, neuroatypical, and more. For real. You can put demographic info right in the cover letter if you choose. (We are not seeking performances of suffering aimed at a middle-class, cis-het, white audience.)
☛ Our taste is best gauged by reading an issue or at least our archive. This is a journal of safety and danger, in every sense. We want what we have not seen before.
☛ One submission at a time, except contests. Up to four (4) free subs per year per author.
☛ Be respectful of other writers and do not withdraw/resubmit to correct typos, cover letters, make revisions to one paragraph, etc. We can receive only a limited number of free submissions each month.
☛ By submitting you agree to join our (infrequent) mailing list.
☛ Storm Cellar requires first serial rights and nonexclusive, ongoing electronic rights, per our guidelines. Serial rights revert to author upon publication. Contributors receive $10 honorarium by PayPal or Venmo, the ebook, two complimentary copies of the print edition, and a discount on further print copies; plus, we love you forever ❤️
If you don't see a submission form in your genre among the free categories — visual art, creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, flash prose — we've received as many submissions as we can handle this month, and thank you everyone for that. Free submission categories re-open on the 1st of next month.
Regular flash submissions are suspended during the flash contest (January to May).
Don't want to wait?
Send work through this form in accordance with our general guidelines, all in one file; we use the revenue to cover our costs. Or submit and get the latest issue too.
- Fiction/Nonfiction: one, up to 5000 words
- Flash: up to 4 flashes totaling 4000 words
- Poetry: up to 5 poems totaling 15 pages
- Hybrid/genre-less works up to 15 pages, description of genre-ish in cover letter
- Images/graphics: up to 20 pages
Artists & photographers may email thumbnails or link a portfolio / webpage / Instagram / WeTransfer / dropbox / etc. to stormcellar.editor@gmail.com. Please include a short artist bio in the email, if one is not available at the link.
Response time 7 days or fewer.
Don't want to wait? Send anything, all in one file.* Use the cover letter space to note mixed-, no-, and other-genre submissions.
Artists may email thumbnails or a link to a portfolio site/dropbox/wetransfer/etc. — stormcellar.editor@gmail.com — but when doing so, tell us in the cover letter field! If you prefer, drop your images into a PDF or .docx and upload them here.
* We're unlikely to print more than 20 magazine pages (6000 wd./600 ll.) of anything.
You're awesome. The cabbage you're sending will keep us in pencils and rubber for another year.
Also, if you want, upload anything* and we'll consider it for publication.
Add-on purchases include a year's print subscription beginning with the next issue. If you prefer PDF-only, EPUB-only, or no subscription, write your preference in the "Notes" field.
Tips are anonymous by default. Friendship gifts may be credited in the next issue; gifts at the Uplifting, Sustaining, and Sponsor levels may be credited for one year. Gifts to Storm Cellar are not tax-deductible, but they are charitable donations that help cover our production, distribution, and web hosting costs, allowing us to bring this magazine into the world.
* We're unlikely to print more than 20 magazine pages (6000 wd./600 ll.) of anything, but if you're convinced a longer (group of) work(s) is perfect for us, go ahead.
Yes, we can send the issue as a gift!
Submit anything (or nothing).* We'll send you the issue of your choice, print and/or ebook. Choose the appropriate add-on to receive the print edition; check "no ebook" for print-only delivery. ( Current issue info | archive. )
- Ebook arrives by email attachment (up to 10MB) from stormcellar.orders@gmail.com.
- Artists choosing this option may email us a flickr/portfolio/WeTransfer/Google Docs/etc. link, instead of creating a single file for their submission.
Multiple copies? Our store is over here.
* We're unlikely to print more than 20 magazine pages (6000 wd./600 ll.) of anything, but if you're convinced a longer (group of) work(s) is perfect for us, go ahead.
Yes, we send gift subscriptions!
The print and ebook editions of Storm Cellar delivered anywhere. Print subscribers outside the USA, MEX, and CAN should choose the Overseas fee. Ebook-only subscriptions are delivered via email.
- Print subscription free add-on: the ebook sent to your inbox.
- We publish about 2–3 issues per year; subscriptions are by-the-issue.
- Shipping is included.
Just want to read a back issue after you submit? Click this.
- Up to 20 images (files), any medium, subject, style.
- Print edition interior is grayscale on uncoated paper, no larger than 5"x7".
- Ebook edition is color, and larger where appropriate.
Though we want to see things different from what we've published so far, our main criterion is whether we dig what you're laying down. We tend to prefer striking compositions and contrasty texture. We like, but by no means require, series and projects.
We suggest you use the title of the image (if any) as the filename. We can handle most common file formats, but see below about file types.
Friendly advice about file size: Whatever size/format you upload, we suggest having originals available at 300dpi/1800px wide minimum (we prefer at least 600dpi/3000px wide for covers), in a lossless format like .tiff, uncompressed .png, or .ai. If your originals are smaller or .jpeg, that's fine: don't blow them up unless your Photoshop fu is strong.