Ninth Letter Print Edition Submissions
Ninth Letter is published semi-annually in print at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. We are interested in prose and poetry that experiment with form, narrative, and nontraditional subject matter, as well as more traditional literary work.
We do not accept previously published work, including self-published work on websites, blogs, etc. Simultaneous submissions are welcome! Please send a message withdrawing your poem(s) or flash piece(s) immediately upon acceptance elsewhere. Please only send only one submission per genre at a time. We ask that previous contributors wait three years from your publication date before submitting again.
We accept electronic submissions via Submittable. We do not accept submissions by email attachment. Email submissions will not be read.
To see what we publish, you can purchase our current issue or a subscription via Submittable. All issues (including back issues) can be purchased here.
General Print Submission Guidelines
Submission Period:
Ninth Letter accepts submissions to our print issues between Sept. 1 - Feb. 28.
For poetry, please submit 3-5 poems (max. 8 pages) at a time.
For fiction and creative nonfiction, submit one story or essay up to 8,000 words at a time. For flash, you may submit up to 3 pieces with a total word count totaling no more than 4,000 words.
If you classify your work as "hybrid," please submit to the genre category you feel your submission most closely applies. You are welcome to leave a note in the cover letter field with any details you think our reading team would find helpful. We will make sure your submission gets to the right team and receives the attention and consideration it deserves.
Submission Fee:
We charge a $3 reading fee to pay for Submittable and to contribute to our author payments. Fees are waived from December 1-31 or until we hit our cap of 300 submissions per genre.
Fee Waivers:
A limited number of fee waivers are available for writers for whom the submission fee would present undue financial hardship. Please send a short email to ninthletter9@gmail.com to request a fee waiver. No proof of income or other sensitive information is required.
Publication Terms & Payment:
Ninth Letter pays $25 per poem and $100 for prose upon publication and two complementary copies of the issue in which the work appears. Contributors also receive an exclusive subscription discount offer at the time of acceptance. Ninth Letter acquires First North American Serial Rights (FNASR). We ask that you acknowledge Ninth Letter upon reprint of your work.
Response Time:
We strive to respond to your submission within six months. Please wait until that time has elapsed before querying about the status of your submission.
Web Edition Submissions
Ninth Letter will be accepting submissions of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for our winter web issue to be published at ninthletter.com. Submissions will be open from September 1 to November 1 and February 1 to April 1 .
Submissions are free and will remain open until we hit our cap of 325 submissions per genre.
We are reading for our next web edition: Reversal.
The theme for this issue is “reversal”. In this winter of transition send us stories, essays and poems that portray the speaker’s u-turn, characters making their about face or the self coming full circle. We welcome reversals big and small, tragic or fortunate, long coming or sudden. We’ll be on the lookout for reversals of structure and form, theses refuted or contradictions embodied. In the best submissions, readers should feel the pull of two directions – in space, or time, or spirit.
Submissions are free and will be capped at 325 subs per genre. Once we hit the submission cap in any genre, that genre will close automatically in Submittable.
General Guidelines:
You may submit up to three poems, or one piece of short prose (fiction or nonfiction) of up to 3500 words; please also include a cover letter that briefly explains how you see your work connecting to the theme. Note: work submitted without this information may be withdrawn. Acceptable file formats are .doc, .docx, .rtf, and .pdf.
Submit your work for this special feature at ninthletteronline.submittable.com. Submissions sent via snail mail will not be considered for this issue. Email submissions are not accepted and will not be read.
Unless otherwise requested, please submit only once per reading period. We do not accept submissions of previously published work (including work published on personal blogs or social media sites). Please do not send multiple submissions within the same genre.
Formatting Note: Our website does not allow justified text, so works with a strict justify will not be considered for publication.
Publication Terms and Payment:
Authors whose work is selected for this web issue will be offered payment of $25 per poem or $75 per piece of prose, plus an exclusive discount for a one-year print subscription.
Response Time:
We strive to respond to your submission to our web issues within four months. Please wait until that time has elapsed before querying about the status of your submission.
Subscription includes 2 print issues per year. All subscriptions beginning with current issue unless otherwise requested. S&H is free for domestic mailing addresses. International subscriptions incur a S&H charge which is included in the purchase price. Email ninthletter9@gmail.com if you have questions.
Ninth Letter is published semi-annually (fall/winter, spring/summer) in print at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Individual issue purchases are $14.95 + $4.00 S&H.
Our current issue is Volume 21, Issue 01. You can see a preview on our website and read a few selected pieces from the issue.
You can preview back issues here. To purchase a back issue, please order through our traditional order form.
Please submit one piece of short fiction of no more than 3500 words. You may also submit up to three pieces of flash fiction as long as the total word count of the submission is no more than 3500 words.
Please also include a note that briefly explains your work's connection to the theme. Submissions without this note will not be accepted.
Acceptable file formats are .doc, .docx, and .pdf.
Fiction submissions for the web edition are accepted through this link only. Submissions sent via snail mail, email, or our print edition general submissions links will not be considered for this edition.
Please submit up to three poems. Poetry submissions should be no longer than 10 manuscript pages.
Please also include a note that briefly explains your work's connection to the theme. Submissions without this note will not be accepted.
Acceptable file formats are .doc, .docx, and .pdf.
Poetry submissions for the web edition are accepted through this link only. Submissions sent via snail mail, email, or our print edition general submissions links will not be considered for this edition.
Formatting Note: Our website does not allow justified text, so poems with a strict justify will not be considered for publication.
Please submit one essay of no more than 3500 words. You may also submit up to three pieces of flash nonfiction as long as the total word count of the submission is no more than 3500 words.
Please also include a note that briefly explains your work's connection to the theme. Submissions without this note will not be accepted.
Acceptable file formats are .doc, .docx, and .pdf.
Creative nonfiction submissions for the web edition are accepted through this link only. Submissions sent via snail mail, email, or our print edition general submissions links will not be considered for this edition.
Ninth Letter Print Edition Submissions
Ninth Letter is published semi-annually in print at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. We are interested in prose and poetry that experiment with form, narrative, and nontraditional subject matter, as well as more traditional literary work.
We do not accept previously published work, including self-published work on websites, blogs, etc. Simultaneous submissions are welcome! Please send a message withdrawing your poem(s) or flash piece(s) immediately upon acceptance elsewhere. Please only send only one submission per genre at a time. We ask that previous contributors wait three years from your publication date before submitting again.
We accept electronic submissions via Submittable. We do not accept submissions by email attachment. Email submissions will not be read.
To see what we publish, you can purchase our current issue or a subscription via Submittable. All issues (including back issues) can be purchased here.
Print Submission Guidelines
Poetry Guidelines:
Please submit 3-5 poems (max. 8 pages) at a time.
If you classify your work as "hybrid," please submit to the genre category you feel your submission most closely applies. You are welcome to leave a note in the cover letter field with any details you think our reading team would find helpful. We will make sure your submission gets to the right team and receives the attention and consideration it deserves.
Submission Fee:
We charge a $3 reading fee to pay for Submittable and to contribute to our author payments. Fees are waived from December 1-31 or until we hit our cap of 300 submissions per genre.
Fee Waivers:
A limited number of fee waivers are available for writers for whom the submission fee would present undue financial hardship. Please send a short email to ninthletter9@gmail.com to request a fee waiver. No proof of income or other sensitive information is required.
Publication Terms & Payment:
Ninth Letter pays $25 per poem and $100 for prose upon publication and two complementary copies of the issue in which the work appears. Contributors also receive an exclusive subscription discount offer at the time of acceptance. Ninth Letter acquires First North American Serial Rights (FNASR). We ask that you acknowledge Ninth Letter upon reprint of your work.
Response Time:
We strive to respond to your submission within six months. Please wait until that time has elapsed before querying about the status of your submission.
Ninth Letter Print Edition Submissions
Ninth Letter is published semi-annually in print at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. We are interested in prose and poetry that experiment with form, narrative, and nontraditional subject matter, as well as more traditional literary work.
We do not accept previously published work, including self-published work on websites, blogs, etc. Simultaneous submissions are welcome! Please send a message withdrawing your poem(s) or flash piece(s) immediately upon acceptance elsewhere. Please only send only one submission per genre at a time. We ask that previous contributors wait three years from your publication date before submitting again.
We accept electronic submissions via Submittable. We do not accept submissions by email attachment. Email submissions will not be read.
To see what we publish, you can purchase our current issue or a subscription via Submittable. All issues (including back issues) can be purchased here.
Print Submission Guidelines
Creative Nonfiction Guidelines:
For creative nonfiction, submit one essay up to 8,000 words at a time. For flash, you may submit up to 3 pieces with a total word count totaling no more than 4,000 words.
If you classify your work as "hybrid," please submit to the genre category you feel your submission most closely applies. You are welcome to leave a note in the cover letter field with any details you think our reading team would find helpful. We will make sure your submission gets to the right team and receives the attention and consideration it deserves.
Submission Fee:
We charge a $3 reading fee to pay for Submittable and to contribute to our author payments. Fees are waived from December 1-31 or until we hit our cap of 300 submissions per genre.
Fee Waivers:
A limited number of fee waivers are available for writers for whom the submission fee would present undue financial hardship. Please send a short email to ninthletter9@gmail.com to request a fee waiver. No proof of income or other sensitive information is required.
Publication Terms & Payment:
Ninth Letter pays $25 per poem and $100 for prose upon publication and two complementary copies of the issue in which the work appears. Contributors also receive an exclusive subscription discount offer at the time of acceptance. Ninth Letter acquires First North American Serial Rights (FNASR). We ask that you acknowledge Ninth Letter upon reprint of your work.
Response Time:
We strive to respond to your submission within six months. Please wait until that time has elapsed before querying about the status of your submission.
Ninth Letter Print Edition Submissions
Ninth Letter is published semi-annually in print at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. We are interested in prose and poetry that experiment with form, narrative, and nontraditional subject matter, as well as more traditional literary work.
We do not accept previously published work, including self-published work on websites, blogs, etc. Simultaneous submissions are welcome! Please send a message withdrawing your poem(s) or flash piece(s) immediately upon acceptance elsewhere. Please only send only one submission per genre at a time. We ask that previous contributors wait three years from your publication date before submitting again.
We accept electronic submissions via Submittable. We do not accept submissions by email attachment. Email submissions will not be read.
To see what we publish, you can purchase our current issue or a subscription via Submittable. All issues (including back issues) can be purchased here.
Print Submission Guidelines
Fiction Guidelines:
For fiction, submit one story up to 8,000 words at a time. For flash, you may submit up to 3 pieces with a total word count totaling no more than 4,000 words.
If you classify your work as "hybrid," please submit to the genre category you feel your submission most closely applies. You are welcome to leave a note in the cover letter field with any details you think our reading team would find helpful. We will make sure your submission gets to the right team and receives the attention and consideration it deserves.
Submission Fee:
We charge a $3 reading fee to pay for Submittable and to contribute to our author payments. Fees are waived from December 1-31 or until we hit our cap of 300 submissions per genre.
Fee Waivers:
A limited number of fee waivers are available for writers for whom the submission fee would present undue financial hardship. Please send a short email to ninthletter9@gmail.com to request a fee waiver. No proof of income or other sensitive information is required.
Publication Terms & Payment:
Ninth Letter pays $25 per poem and $100 for prose upon publication and two complementary copies of the issue in which the work appears. Contributors also receive an exclusive subscription discount offer at the time of acceptance. Ninth Letter acquires First North American Serial Rights (FNASR). We ask that you acknowledge Ninth Letter upon reprint of your work.
Response Time:
We strive to respond to your submission within six months. Please wait until that time has elapsed before querying about the status of your submission.