Submissions

OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS

MAY 15, 2023 – SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

Thank you for your interest in Smoky Quartz, an online journal of literature and art published by the Monadnock Writers’ Group. We seek poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and a diverse selection of art and photography. We welcome submissions from new, emerging, and established writers and artists with ties to New Hampshire.

The Smoky Quartz Editors enjoy a wide variety of styles and subject matter. To get a sense of the type of work we publish, please visit our site to read current and past issues https://smokyquartz.org (click the “Archives” tab for past issues). 

Note: You may now submit up to 3 pieces of flash, 1 longer prose piece, or a combination of flash and longer prose not to exceed 12 double-spaced pages in total. Check below for complete guidelines.

Please read all guidelines carefully (see below). We look forward to reading your work and viewing your art and photography!

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

General Guidelines:

  • Submit your work as an attachment to an email to: mwgsmokyquartz@gmail.com.
  • In the subject line of your email, identify the type of submission: Poetry, Prose, or Art /Photography.
  • Do not include your name or other identifying information in the attachment of your work.
  • In the body of the email, include your name, the titles of your work, and a brief, third-person biography. Your bio should be short (up to 100 words or so) and must include your connection to New Hampshire(please see Note). If you have an author or artist site online, you may include a link to it within your bio.

Note: We interpret “New Hampshire Connection” to include things such as living, working, or attending school in New Hampshire (either currently or in the past); or spending significant periods of time in the state, including activities such as attending summer camp, vacationing, etc. in New Hampshire (either currently or in the past). Unfortunately, we cannot consider work from writers and artists without a connection to New Hampshire. Email us if you have questions about this requirement.

  • You may submit work for multiple genres.
  • Submit work for different genres in separate emails (e.g. one email for poetry and a separate email for fiction).
  • We accept simultaneous submissions. If your work is accepted elsewhere, please notify us immediately.
  • We accept previously published work. Please provide where and when it was published so that we may credit that publication.
  • We do not charge a fee for submissions.

Guidelines by Genre:

Poetry
  • We accept all types of poetry (e.g., narrative, lyric, prose, etc.) in any form (e.g., blank verse, free verse, haiku, sonnet, sestina, etc.).
  • You may submit 1-5 poems, not to exceed 10 single-spaced pages in total.
  • Submit all poems in one document (MS Word or RTF file).
  • Begin each poem on a new page.
  • Use the title of your poem(s) to name your document. If you submit multiple poems, use the title of the first poem in the document.
  • Remember to remove your name and other identifying information from your document.
  • Include your name, the title(s) of your work, and a third-person bio with your New Hampshire connection in the body of your email.
Prose
  • We accept flash (1000 words or fewer); longer prose (up to 3000 words), including short stories, stand-alone chapters or excerpts from longer work, personal essay, short memoir, travel writing, and hybrid prose (for example, prose that integrates poetry and/or images).
  • You may submit up to 3 pieces of flash, 1 longer prose piece, or a combination of flash and longer prose not to exceed 12 double-spaced pages in total.
  • Provide a word count at the beginning of the piece of prose.
  • Use Times New Roman or similar, 12 pt. double-spaced.
  • Do not indent the first line in each paragraph. Instead, add an extra line space between paragraphs.
  • Submit work in one document (MS Word or RTF file).
  • Use the title of your work to name your document.
  • Remember to remove your name and other identifying information from your document.
  • Include your name, the title of your work, and a third-person bio with your New Hampshire connection in the body of your email.
Art & Photography
  • We accept images of artwork (e.g., paintings, sculpture) and photography.
  • You may submit up to 6 images of your work in JPEG format (.jpeg or .jpg).
  • Attach the images to the same email.
  • Use the title of the artwork or photograph for the name of the image file (e.g. AutumnLeaves.jpg)
  • Remember to remove your name from images and from filenames.
  • Include your name, the title(s) of your work, and a third-person bio with your New Hampshire connection in the body of your email.

Response Time

The Editors carefully consider every submission received. We will email notifications approximately 6-8 weeks after the submission deadline. Please check this page and the News page for updates on our progress.

Please subscribe to Smoky Quartz News to receive announcements regarding submission deadlines and publication dates by email.

Publication Rights

We ask for one-time rights to publish your work at www.smokyquartz.com. We also request non-exclusive rights indefinitely to include your work in the journal’s online archives. Following publication, all rights revert back to the author. If we would like to republish your work (for example, in an anthology) we will contact you for permission.

If you republish your work in another journal, we request you note its previous publication in Smoky Quartz.

Please send any questions to the editors at mwgsmokyquartz@gmail.com.

Thank you for considering Smoky Quartz for your work.