General Guidelines
Prick of the Spindle is a quarterly online literary journal that is open to forms in both traditional and experimental modes, with a special bent toward fresh and innovative voices using language in unique ways. If you are interested in being considered for publication in Prick of the Spindle, please take care to read the guidelines for submitting your previously unpublished work.
There is no reading fee, and submissions are read year-round. We do send a courtesy e-mail notifying authors that we have received their submission; if you do not hear from us with a decision within three months of submitting, please feel free to send a query.
Entries should include a brief 3rd person bio in the cover letter. Submissions should be formatted to read title first, name, then body. Please do not use text smaller than 12 point or any unnecessary formatting, such as excessive bolding and italics, unless it is inherent to the spirit of the work.
We allow simultaneous submissions only on the condition that you notify us immediately if your work is accepted for publication elsewhere. You may submit up to five pieces per category. Upon acceptance, Prick of the Spindle acquires first (electronic) serial publication rights, after which the copyright reverts to the author. When you submit, you do so with the understanding that your work will be archived on the site. If you have been published within our virtual pages, we ask that you wait a year before submitting again. However, if you submit and your work is rejected, you may continue submitting once per (quarterly) reading period.
To give yourself the best chances of acceptance, read the journal to get a feel for what we like before submitting.
Please direct general questions and inquiries for reviews and interviews to pseditor (at) prickofthespindle (dot) com. We generally do not review self-published works.
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View Your SubmissionsFiction
(pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf, jpg, gif, mp3, mp4, m4a)17,500 word limit
Submit up to five pieces in a single document. Fiction submissions should be double-spaced with only one space after periods.
For the journal, we tend away from genre fiction and more toward literary and experimental.
We are open to publishing flash to novellette-length pieces (up to 17,500 words).
For guidelines on works longer than 17,500 words, see our print component, Aqueous Books, at http://www.prickofthespindle.com/pages/aqueous_books.htm.
Submit
Poetry
(pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf, jpg, gif, mp3, mp4, m4a)N/A word limit
Submit up to five poems in a single document.
General guidelines to keep in mind before submitting your work:
* Make it fresh.
* If it sounds like someone else's work, it probably isn't fresh.
* Speaking of fresh, please no cicadas, pomegranates, or babushkas.
* Have a point.
* We're not ordinarily interested in pop culture.
* Generally, if your work contains words such as "alas" and other archaicisms, we are not the publication for you.
* You're not Ginsberg.
* Five means five. Six is not the new five.
* If you're going to use rhyme, do it right.
* Ways to get your work rejected without being read:
a. Use a lot of unnecessary formatting, like bolding and italics, for no real reason.
b. Use yellow font.
c. Use script font.
d. Make your work otherwise aesthetically obnoxious.
e. Overalliterate.
Submit
Nonfiction
(pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf, jpg, gif, mp3, mp4, m4a)17,500 word limit
Submit up to five pieces in a single document. Nonfiction submissions should be double-spaced with only one space after periods.
Read the journal to get an idea of what we are looking for. However, when in doubt, submit.
Please direct works longer than 17,500 words to our print component, Aqueous Books, at http://www.prickofthespindle.com/pages/aqueous_books.htm
Submit
Drama
(pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf, jpg, gif, mp3, mp4, m4a)N/A word limit
For an idea of what we might be looking for, read the dramatic works we have published in the past.
When in doubt, submit.
Submit
Art
(pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf, jpg, gif, mp3, mp4, m4a)N/A word limit
View the online galleries at http://www.prickofthespindle.com/galleries/gallery_home.htm for an idea of what we might be looking for.
When in doubt, submit (up to 5 of your best pieces, along with a link directing us to where more of your work can be found online).
Submit
Reviews
(pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf, jpg, gif, mp3, mp4, m4a)N/A word limit
While the bulk of our book, film, and journal reviews are written in-house, we welcome reviews from outside submitters. We are interested in literary reviews of works of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, and in scholarly writings dealing with theory, literature, art, and philosophy.
Please direct general questions and inquiries for reviews and interviews to pseditor (at) prickofthespindle (dot) com. We generally do not publish reviews of self-published works.
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