Mslexia
Submission Guidelines:
Contributors' Guidelines
Mslexia will get you noticed. In the seven years since the magazine was launched, Mslexia has become the magazine for women writers to submit to.
Publishers, literary agents and BBC radio producers scan Mslexia every quarter on the lookout for fresh talent. Many women have launched their writing careers in the pages of the magazine.
Mslexia welcomes submissions for every part of the magazine. We commission work by prominent authors and artists as well as talented newcomers. For a clear idea of the full range of material we publish, why not take advantage of our TRY BEFORE YOU BUY OFFER. Meanwhile, we’re inviting submissions for the following regular slots:
But if you want to be seen, you have to bite the bullet and send us your work..
Download CONTRIBUTORS' GUIDELINES as a PDF
Click HERE for downloading instructions
This is a substantial section of poetry and prose by published and unpublished authors, selected and introduced by our Mystery Guest Editor. Previous Mystery Guests include Fay Weldon, Michèle Roberts and Wendy Cope. You have missed the closing date for Issue 32, but here are the themes for the next two issues:
Issue 34: Women's Poetry Competition
Poems on any subject, of any length. First prize £1,000, second prize £500, third prize £250. The best 25 poems will be published in the magazine. The entry fee is £5 per entry: each entry may contain up to 5 poems. Please note entries will not be returned. Closing date: 27 April 2007
Issue 35: Mirror, Mirror
Whether you'd like to pen a modern-day version of 'Snow White' or muse on this reflective ornament, this theme is for you. Closing date: 15 June 2007
Poets, send up to four poems (up to 40 lines each). Fiction writers, up to two stories (under 3,000 words apiece). Please label your envelope ‘Poetry Comp’ or ‘Mirror’ as appropriate, and enclose a stamped addressed envelope and your daytime telephone number. We promise a response for 'Mirror' submissions within three months of the closing date.
Stuck for inspiration? Try Mslexia's writing workshops
PLEASE NOTE: we only accept email submissions from overseas writers. If you are submitting by email, please include your land address and telephone number.
OTHER SUBMISSIONS
Mslexia welcomes submissions for every part of the magazine. We commission work by prominent authors and artists as well as talented newcomers. We aim to publish some new voices in every copy of the magazine.
At £25 per poem and £15 per 1,000 words of fiction, Mslexia’s payment rates for uncommissioned work are higher than those of every other literary magazine in the UK. We also pay for commissioned features, reviews and illustrations at market rates.
For a clear idea of the full range of material we publish, the best way is to subscribe to the magazine. Write, phone or e-mail us for details of our try before you buy offer.
We regret we can only inform you of the fate of your submission if it is accompanied by an SAE. If sending several types of work (eg. two poems, a short story, one feature pitch), please enclose an appropriate number of return envelopes.
Ideas for one-off features are welcome, as a 200-word proposal plus a brief CV and a published or unpublished example of your writing. The writing sample is particularly important. We would never commission someone without seeing their work first. There is no need to enclose an SAE. We will keep your details on file and contact you if we want to discuss a commission.
If you are a published reviewer, please send a sample review and a brief CV. Potential reviewers – published and unpublished – are also invited to submit to our new One I love feature. Please send a 350 word account of how one book has influenced you as a writer, or as a woman. Closing dates for the next two issues are 30 April and 31 July. Don’t forget that CV, but there is no need to send an SAE. We will keep your details on file and contact you if we want to discuss a commission.
Women visual artists, please send non-returnable examples of your work + CV (no need for an SAE). We will contact you if we want to discuss a commission.
We specifically invite unsolicited submissions for Flash fiction (page 4), Curious Incidents (page 5), How I did it (ONLY OPEN TO MSLEXIA SUBSCRIBERS, see page 54).
Flash Fiction: this is a new literary form that is growing in popularity, especially on the web. The ideal piece of flash fiction tells a complete story in as few words as possible. The theme for your flashes of genius? Velcro. The word limit? 150. Please enclose an SAE if you want to know the fate of your submission. For examples and guidance, visit www.writing-world.com/fiction/flash.shtml or www.writerswrite.com/journal/apr02/goodstein.htm.
Closing date: 18 May.
Autobiography: Curious Incidents is a new non-fiction slot that challenges you to mine your memory for true-life events that will touch us or teach us. Issue 34’s topic is Lost & Found – but we will consider Curious Incidents on any autobiographical topic. 800 words only, please, plus CV and a brief biog. There is no need to send an SAE. Your piece will be filed, as a sample of your writing. We will contact you if we want to publish or discuss a commission. Closing Date: 18 May.
Mslexia publishes the only comprehensive literature listings in the UK. If you know of – or are involved in – anything that might be of interest to Mslexia readers, Tell Us by filling in our literature events form and we will try to include it in the magazine or on the website. This service is free of charge.
Issue 33 (APRMAYJUN) Directory deadline: 7 March
for events from 17 April to the end of July
For a more prominent position in the magazine, why not advertise in Mslexia or insert your flier?
Mslexia, PO Box 656,
Newcastle upon Tyne, NE99 1PZ
For further information, call 0191 261 6656
or email postbag@mslexia.demon.co.uk
PLEASE NOTE: we do not accept email submissions, except from overseas writers.
We look forward to hearing from you
Source:
http://www.mslexia.co.uk/menu/submit.html
