Submission Sunday 7.12.26
Electric Literature, Split/Lip Press, Strange Pilgrims, Press 53, The Masters Review, swamp pink, Campfire Stories, and The Friedrich Agency
Happy Sunday, writers! Thank you for subscribing. Every other Sunday, you’ll receive eight literary submission opportunities, varying in audience and genre, that have been selected for quality and relevance.
Submission Sunday relies on the support of paying subscribers. If you enjoy this newsletter, please consider an upgrade! I’m planning some additional online events available to paid subscribers as well as the usual benefits: craft essays by writers, interviews with published authors about their submission process, interviews with editors about what they’re looking for, round-ups of articles about submitting and writing in general, and full access to the archives.
This edition of Submission Sunday has calls and contests from Electric Literature, Split/Lip Press, Strange Pilgrims, Press 53, The Masters Review, swamp pink, Campfire Stories, and The Friedrich Agency. More details below.
Electric Literature Emerging Writers Contest (Deadline July 15 or at submission cap)
For 17 years, Electric Literature has remained dedicated to uplifting emerging writers. Now, we’re furthering that mission by launching our very first Emerging Writers Contest, with categories in fiction and poetry! Our 2026 contest judges are Alexander Chee for fiction and Danez Smith for poetry.
One winner in each genre will receive $1,000, publication in either Recommended Reading (fiction) or The Commuter (poetry), and two weeks at the Writing Downtown residency program in Downtown Las Vegas, started by Plympton and the Writer’s Block bookstore. Second-place winners will receive $250, and third-place winners will receive $100. All fiction finalists will receive a review with feedback from a literary agent.
Split/Lip Press Call for Novel/Novella Manuscripts (Deadline September 2)
We are currently looking for previously unpublished novel or novella manuscripts. We’re looking, in particular, for books that question boundaries (physical, emotional, metaphysical, meta-emotional—you get the gist). Dazzle us with your version(s) of truth! Our only hard page limit is the lower end: minimum of 100pg. If your book is shorter than 100pg, keep our multigenre/chapbook reading period in mind next April!
We publish boundary-breaking fiction, nonfiction, and hybrid books, lifting the transition boards that prevent fluidity and smashing those we cannot pry up. We love work that questions the concept of truth, and work that reinterprets what we think we know. We prize experimentation (physical, emotional, metaphysical, meta-emotional); we welcome the unanswerable. We want to see the dark and the light side of the moon—or we want to see it obliterated. If your book is a wedge in a crack, Split/Lip Press is the hammer helping you split the wall apart.
Strange Pilgrims Call for Submissions (Deadline July 20)
We believe in narrative as pilgrimage—a journey through wild and wounded places into strangeness and transformation. We read to arrive somewhere we haven’t been before, to glimpse life through another’s eyes in an attempt to understand. The work we’re drawn to is surreal, philosophical, sincere, and unforgettable—stories and essays that get under your skin and reach the heart of the human condition.
We see writers as essential voices in the fabric of society, articulating our delights and sufferings. Each piece we publish is accompanied by a brief interview with the author, offering readers a deeper sense of their world. Together, we hope they form a map of the strange pilgrimages we take through language and life. We publish one piece each week, alternating between flash and long-form writing.
The 2027 Press 53 Award for Poetry (Deadline July 31)
The Press 53 Award for Poetry is awarded annually to an outstanding, unpublished collection of poems. This competition is open to any writer, regardless of their publication history, who is 18 years of age or older, provided the manuscript is written in English and the author lives in the United States or one of its territories. Award includes publication by Press 53 of the winning poetry collection as a Tom Lombardo Poetry Selection, $1,000, and 53 copies.
Press 53 is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and has been finding and sharing remarkable voices since October 2005. With authors in forty U.S. states, and more than 300 titles that have earned more than one hundred awards, we have secured a reputation as a quality publishing house of short fiction and poetry collections.
Let’s Get Weird: Reading and Writing Non-Normative Nonfiction with KB Brookins (Online – August 8, 2026)
Have you found yourself stuck on exactly how to write an essay or memoir? Have you felt hung up on the form, or felt bored by your own language? In this generative craft intensive, we’ll read excerpts from writers like Damon Young, Kiese Laymon, and Vanessa Angelica Villareal to see how they defy traditional CNF “rules” in order to write exciting, unique personal narratives. We’ll look closely at WHAT these writers have said and HOW they decided to say it. $75.
📚 Every other week, I’ll be making space for up to three online writing classes or programs (and the occasional retreat or conference). Learn more about getting your own classified ad. 📚
The Masters Review 2026 Summer Short Story Award for New Writers (Deadline August 30)
Summer has always been for short stories. For over ten years, our Short Story Award has connected emerging writers with some of the industry’s top literary agents. We’re looking for standout stories—fiction or narrative nonfiction, up to 6,000 words—in a voice that is unmistakably yours. This year’s guest judge is Whiting Award winner Weike Wang, author of Chemistry, the forthcoming Iris, and more.
Our contest runs from July 1 to August 30, 2026, and is open to any writer who has not published a novel or memoir with a major press. The first-place winner of this contest, selected by our guest judge, will receive a $3,000 grand prize, along with online publication. Second- and third-place finalists will receive $300 and $200 respectively, along with online publication. All finalists will receive agency review from our six partnered agencies.
swamp pink Call for Free Submissions by Writers of Color (Deadline July 31)
swamp pink publishes fiction, poetry, and nonfiction semi-monthly online. Our aim is to publish exceptional work from writers at all stages of their careers. We are particularly interested in submissions from writers of color and writers from marginalized and underrepresented communities. Pieces from the journal has been reprinted in Best Small Fictions, Best of the Net, Best American Poetry, Best American Short Stories, Best American Nonrequired Reading, Best New Poets, and The Pushcart Prize annual anthologies, among others.
Campfire Stories: Tales from America’s National Parks Call for Anthology Submissions (“Volume 3” – Deadline August 31)
We’re seeking stories that capture the essence of our national parks and reignite our imagination about the wild. Writers and storytellers can submit existing stories, express interest in writing a new story, or apply to receive a travel stipend to write about one of the national parks that will be celebrated in Volume 3:
Arches & Canyonlands National Park
Death Valley National Park
Denali National Park
Grand Teton National Park
Mount Rainier National Park
Shenandoah National Park
Campfire Stories is a collection of books featuring stories from America’s national parks, trails, and beloved natural spaces. Editors Dave and Ilyssa Kyu carefully find, commission and curate stories that capture the essence of each park and reignite our imagination about the wild. Each anthology features a diverse range of commissioned and existing stories written by the people who know and love them best—including essays, poetry, prose, songs, and ballads—and are found in the libraries, archives, and communities surrounding our beloved national parks. The book series also highlights voices typically underrepresented in the outdoors, including LGBTQ+, BIPOC and Indigenous writers and storytellers.
The Friedrich Agency Open to Queries
Molly Friedrich founded The Friedrich Agency in 2006, following nearly three decades at The Aaron Priest Literary Agency. Joined by her daughter, Lucy Carson, in 2008, the agency has retained its intimacy and dedication to attentive, hands-on representation. Our vision and strategy are built for the long term, nurturing and brokering not only print publishing rights, but every dimension of a writing career: translation rights, film & television, audio, serial, and merchandising. The Friedrich Agency is a proud home for a select and beloved list of novelists and authors of non-fiction, both critically and commercially celebrated.
Here’s a reminder of the deadlines coming up from previous posts. Hot tips:
If you go into the archives and revisit posts from this time of year during previous years, you’ll find additional calls that are open annually.
If you submit to any of the Submission Sunday calls and publish or win, let me know and I’ll broadcast your success in a future post.
Loghaven Artist Residency (Knoxville, Tennessee – Deadline July 15)
Wendy’s Subway 2026 Book Prize (Deadline July 24)
ANMLY Call for Submissions (Deadline August 1)
Prairie Schooner Summer Creative Nonfiction Contest (Deadline August 1)
The Markaz Review Call for Submissions (“Anthropocene” – Deadline August 1)
Granum Foundation Prizes (Deadline August 1 or when submission cap is met)
Image Call for Submissions (“Trash, Broadly Considered” – Deadline August 2)
The Publishing Laboratory at the University of New Orleans Call for Manuscripts (Deadline August 31)
Reed Magazine Call for Submissions (General + Contests – Deadline October 1)
Potomac Review Call for Submissions (Deadline October 15)
Ploughshares Call for Submissions (Deadline November 15)
Writer’s Digest Short Story Competition (Deadline November 16)
LitMag Annual Contests: Emily Dickinson Award for Poetry (Deadline November 16), Anton Chekhov Award for Flash Fiction (Deadline December 1), and Virginia Woolf Award for Fiction (Deadline January 1)
*This newsletter does not guarantee the unimpeachable behavior of all venues shared here but the odds are good.
