We want to publish you, and we really, really do want you to submit your work. Here are the two most important guidelines that you must follow:
Length: each category has a different requirement, but the overall theme is the same. If it's too long, we won't consider it.
Submission Form: We use Submishmash. Please don't submit by email. You may not get any response at all.
Reading the rest of the information on this page will help you even more, but the top two criteria are deal breakers.
Current Themes:
Outside (deadline: 1 August 2012)
Please include the following information in the Cover Letter box:
A short bio. If your bio is longer than 40 words, we may edit it.
Your website.
If you're under 18.
Your mailing address.
You have no idea how much time and effort it saves us later on when we get this information up-front.
Poetry
Five poems or fewer per submission. Please only submit once per theme. All work must be previously unpublished. Simultaneous submissions are welcome, so long as you notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
Helpful hints from the poetry editor:
Always make sure that the work you are submitting fits the theme of the issue.
We prefer shorter poems to longer ones due to the size of the printed edition.
Avoid heavy end rhymes.
Avoid clichés like the plague.
Clever use of language is encouraged (slant and internal rhymes, alliteration and assonance, word play).
Writing in form is always welcome if done skillfully, with fresh and surprising language.
Fiction
500 words or less.
One piece per theme.
Helpful hints from the fiction editor:
5x5 is a concise literary magazine, which means we are looking for stories that include or imply a protagonist, conflict, obstacles or complications, and resolution in 500 words or less.
We're open to fantasy and science fiction, as long as it tackles the theme.
Nonfiction
500 words or less
One piece per theme.
Helpful hints from the nonfiction editor:
5x5 is a concise literary magazine, which means that we are looking for work that gets to the pulsing heart of nonfiction in 500 words or less. If you can do it in less, by all means dazzle us with your brevity. Please understand that nonfiction is not flash fiction.
5x5 is interested in all kinds of nonfiction pieces, but we are partial to those that move beyond the personal and singular, i.e. “this happened to me and then this happened.” We are looking for nonfiction that makes surprising connections and takes on a larger view.
In addition to secular pieces, 5x5 is open to spiritual pieces regardless of faith, sect, or denomination. Remember, each submission should center around one of the thematic words. We want your very best, concise writing.
Comics
3-5 pages maximum
Helpful hints from the comics editor:
Comics have a wide range of possibilities, and we realize that the format of the magazine limits what you can do. We’re open to the idea of foldouts to allow more space, if the content of the piece fits.
Your entry doesn't need to be a narrative. Our only guideline, besides the technical requirements, is that it contains at least two juxtaposed images. Comedy, tragedy, satire, fiction or nonfiction, with or without text. Feel free to experiment.
Comics can be a collaborative effort. If this is the case, send the names of each artist as well as how they contributed to the project.
Each page is five inches by five inches. With a quarter inch margin, that allows you four and a half square inches to work with.
You can bleed off the page if it adds to the style of the piece. You can use multiple pages.
If your piece is hand drawn and you don't have access to a scanner, email bradley.wonder@5x5litmag.org to ask for a mailing address. This should be an absolute last resort and may be subject to that $2 reading fee you read about at the top of the page.
Visual Arts
Give your submission a title
5 images or fewer per theme
Helpful hints from the visual arts editor:
5x5 will consider any type of visual arts you throw at us:
black & white or color
photography
sketches
charcoal
paintings
Anything that is two dimensional and fits in a 5x5 square.
Consider which of these options best suits the theme.
General Guidelines (to better your chances)
5x5 is a concise literary magazine, which means we are looking for concise literature to print.
5x5 will consider almost any original, previously unpublished work for publication. We don't consider posting a piece to your own website to be "published."
We accept simultaneous submissions as long as you tell us that you are submitting simultaneously and let us know right away if it's accepted elsewhere.
You can submit for any listed theme at any time.
Hint: Using the our theme word as the title of your piece does not make it stand out above the others.
Payment comes in the form of a one year (four issues) subscription and a link to your website on our contributors page. 5x5 assumes the right to publish work on our website as well as in the physical issue. All rights revert back to the author after printing.
If, by some sort of inconsistency, you're reading this (on our website) but can't submit online, you can use the United States Postal Service to mail us your submission. This is discouraged, but we will still give it as much time and consideration as the online submissions provided you include $2 for the reading fee, because, yeah, the snail mail ends up costing us money.
Here's the address:
3124 12th Ave S, #103
Minneapolis, MN 55407
To recap, no reading fee for online submissions.
This is where we get strict again. Sorry. If you don't include a $2 check, we won't consider the piece. If you include a SASE, but not the $2 check, we'll send your work right back to you. Please don't hate us. We're really busy, and we want to devote our time to artists who follow our guidelines.
*Unless you cancel the recurring payment, after the first year, your subscription will be automatically renewed for an additional year. This only occurs once.
