Submission guidelines

LFLM is a quarterly, no fee/no payment publication. Our issues are released online and in PDF in the first month of each quarter. Little Free Lit Mag looks for submissions from writers who value the generosity, accessibility and inclusivity of community spaces. We seek work from and about a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. We look for writing that is accessible/enjoyable by a broad audience. We are not looking for anything in particular in terms of form or style, other than our commitment to publishing short form works (like poetry, flash fiction, tiny essays, etc.). We’re eager to showcase all kinds of tiny work. 

Please submit your work to [email protected]

Thank you for trusting us with your work!

We are open for submissions and publish the first month of each quarter. Submissions are open in July, October, January, April, from the first day of each month to the last. 

• We welcome work on any subject, including and beyond works celebrating reading, libraries, and books. 
• New and established writers are welcome. 18 years or older, please.
• Simultaneous submissions are expected and welcome. Please email [email protected] with WITHDRAW as the subject line to let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere.

• All material must be original (written by yourself, and without the use of AI). It cannot have appeared in another publication. This includes social media and personal blogs.
• We request that work that is “after” another author not only attribute the name of the writer they are responding to, but the title of the original piece as well. Additionally, if a submitted work quotes lines from another piece, we ask that the source text be properly attributed as an endnote.
• Please include any appropriate content warnings or trigger warnings in both your cover letter and in the document with the work you’re submitting.
• We will always reject submissions with racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, classist, religious hatred or otherwise bigoted content. We will not publish work like this, and we do not want to read it. 

Length: Your submission can be poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or somewhere in between. We welcome hybrid pieces, so long as they abide by the 350 word limit.

• Poetry: Please send us up to three poems (24 lines max for each poem.) Prose poems should be under 350 words each.
• Visual poetry: Please send us up to three pieces, which can include photographs and photographs of three-dimensional pieces. The images need to be as high-quality as you’re able to send. They must include language of some kind. Please do not send us images which do not manipulate language on the page somehow. We are not looking for other kinds of visual art at this time.
• Prose: Please send up to three pieces, no longer than 350 words each. 
• Please submit only once per submission period. 
• If you have appeared in a prior issue, please wait 6 months before submitting again.

Format: Please submit each piece separately in a Word document. Please reach out if your piece has special formatting which must be preserved, and you prefer to use a PDF. (Visual poetry, collage and other forms which rely on image may appear only as an online exclusive, because of the constraints in publishing the PDF issue in booklet size and black and white.)

• Email your submission to [email protected] with the word “Submission” in the subject.
• Please attach each poem as a separate file, named using this format:
• “Title of piece_First letter of last name1 (or 2 or 3)” (The # is the order you attach them to the email.)
• For example, a submission from Lucille Clifton might look like this:
  • BlessingtheBoats_C1.doc
  • WontYouCelebrateWithMe_C2.doc
  • CuttingGreens_C3.doc
• For a piece without a title, please use a few words from your first line as the title for your doc. For example, a submission from Emily Dickinson might look like this:
  • Hopeisathing_D1.doc
  • Foreveriscomposedofnows_D2.doc
  • Successiscounted_D3.doc
• *Please do not send us any files entitled UNTITLED. If you submit an untitled piece, we will rename your file with the first three words of your piece.
• In the body of your email (instead of a cover letter):
  • Please list the titles of each of your pieces in the body of your email. 
  • Please be sure to include up to 3 separate files, one per piece, using our naming convention when you submit.
  • Please do not put your name anywhere in your submission.
  • Please DO include your last name’s initial in your file name, and its order in the pieces you sent (Ex: D1, D2, D3. See above.). *This helps us read without bias as much as possible.
  • Please also include an originality statement in your cover letter that affirms the work is your own, and that AI was not used in its creation.
  • No bio required (We will reach out for one if we accept your work for our next issue.)

If you do not hear from us after 3 months have passed, please send a query to [email protected]. Include the season you submitted your work in the subject line. Ex “query Fall issue.” Our managing editor, Gregory Luce, will be happy to assist.

We’re fully volunteer staffed, and like small book exchange boxes, our hard work is freely given. While we can’t offer a payment, we’re so grateful for the chance to publish your work. LFLM will be nominating for Best of the Net, Pushcart Prize, Best Small Fictions, and Best Microfiction in 2025.

RIGHTS:  We ask for first North American Serial rights. LFLM will archive all published pieces online at LittleFreeLitMag.com and in a print version of the magazine, available to download. All rights revert to the writer after work is first published online. Please acknowledge Little Free Lit Mag in any future publications (congratulations!) of your accepted poems.