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Guidelines
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Closed for submissions

Guidelines

"Book of Matches is always interested in protest—interested in protest against the unknowing alive in human existence, in protest against the knowing, too. We publish Poetry, Short Fiction, and short creative non-fiction. "

"Book of Matches is always interested in protest—interested in protest against the unknowing alive in human existence, in protest against the knowing, too. We publish Poetry, Short Fiction, and short creative non-fiction. "

Vibe

Send us your best but less intimidating

Response Time

19 days

Acceptance Rate

50%

  • Payment

    No

  • Fee

    No

  • Simultaneous submissions

    Yes

  • Previously published

    No

  • Expedited response

    No

  • Available in print

    Yes

  • Provides contributor copies

    No

  • Examples online

    Yes

  • Active on social media

    No

Accepted genres

4 genres

Poetry

Max pieces: 3

No more than either three poems or six pages.

Fiction

Max words: 2100

Max pieces: 1

One story or micro fiction (100-500 words). We rarely publish work that is longer than 2,100 words, though we will consider it if it really ...

Nonfiction

Max words: 2100

Max pieces: 1

Creative non-fiction or micro creative-nonfiction (100-500 words). We rarely publish work that is longer than 2,100 words, though we will co...

Translation

Max words: 2100

Max pieces: 1

We accept submissions of translations in fiction, non-fiction, and poetry

Poetry

Max pieces: 3

No more than either three poems or six pages.

Fiction

Max words: 2100

Max pieces: 1

One story or micro fiction (100-500 words). We rarely publish work that is longer than 2,100 words, though we will consider it if it really ...

Nonfiction

Max words: 2100

Max pieces: 1

Creative non-fiction or micro creative-nonfiction (100-500 words). We rarely publish work that is longer than 2,100 words, though we will co...

Translation

Max words: 2100

Max pieces: 1

We accept submissions of translations in fiction, non-fiction, and poetry

Statistics

We're able to provide them because you use our tracker!
You're the best!

Track submission

9

Total submissions tracked

19 days

Average response time

50%

Average acceptance rate

4 days

Fastest response time

36 days

Slowest response time

How to submit

Process

ALL SUBMISSIONS MUST INCLUDE IN THE EMAIL SUBJECT LINE ONLY THE FOLLOWING: AUTHOR'S LAST NAME: GENRE (By way of example - Tingle: Poetry). INCLUDE IN THE BODY OF YOUR EMAIL A WORD COUNT FOR ALL PROSE SUBMISSIONS. ​ DURING OPEN SUBMISSION PERIODS YOU MAY SUBMIT IN MULTIPLE GENRES, BUT ONLY ONCE PER GENRE. Additional submissions will be left unread in the event that more than one is sent to us in a single submission period.

Cover letters

Please do NOT include any additional identifying information in your email or within your submission document. Please do not include a bio until your work has been accepted for publication.

Eligibility

No specific eligibility requirements

Formatting

Poetry: Times New Roman 12-point font in a single document (.doc or .docx only please). PDFs will not be read. Please avoid posting any prose poetry submissions into the body of your email as it makes formatting it, if accepted, time consuming for us. Prose: All submissions are to be either .doc or .docx only please. PDFs will not be read. Please avoid posting any prose submissions into the body of your email as it makes formatting it, if accepted, time consuming for us.

Rights for published work

Coming soon! First, third, none, all the rights!

Additional info

If previously published in Book of Matches, please do not submit to the issue immediately following the one you were published in.

About the Magazine

Founded in 2020 | United States

Book of Matches is the passion project of two lovers of Story. In an age dominated by our worst tendencies for tribalism, it is more important than ever to celebrate the best in humanity through the very real magic of words. Book of Matches is always interested in protest—interested in protest against the unknowing alive in human existence, in protest against the knowing, too. In essence, Book of Matches both celebrates what burns against the dark, and the assurance of how little it illuminates before going out. Send us your most meaningful lies, your real lives, and the poetry of both that we may see a bit more clearly the stormy seas around us all.

Masthead

We currently list only main editors, more will be added later! If you are an editor, you can edit your masthead in our admin panel :)

Kelli Allen

Editor-in-Chief

Nicholas Christian

Editor