CRAFT explores the art of prose, celebrating both emerging and established writers. We focus on the craft of writing and how the elements of craft make a good story or essay shine.

Established in 2017 as a literary magazine for fiction, CRAFT expanded in 2020 to include creative nonfiction. The magazine delves into the art of prose, emphasizing the elements of craft in writing. It features previously unpublished creative works, along with critical pieces such as craft essays and interviews. Each published creative piece is accompanied by an author's note and an editorial introduction that discuss stylistic aspects of the work. CRAFT does not charge submission fees for fiction, creative nonfiction, or craft categories and is a paying market. General submissions are open year-round without capacity limits. 

The magazine values accessibility, ensuring it remains free to read and submit to. It collaborates with both established and emerging writers, with all creative work published through submissions; fiction and creative nonfiction are not solicited. CRAFT offers editorial feedback on short prose and provides free fast-response submissions for writers from historically marginalized groups. The magazine upholds a safe and welcoming environment for all voices, actively seeking work from underrepresented groups, including BIPOC, LGBTQ+, disabled, or otherwise historically marginalized writers. CRAFT is open year-round to all writers, accepting flash fiction and flash creative nonfiction (up to 1,000 words) and short fiction and creative nonfiction (up to 6,000 words). The magazine does not consider or review AI-generated work; submissions utilizing AI tools are automatically declined. 

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CRAFT Literary

I paid for a critique and they provided the most helpful, thoughtful feedback I've ever received. Some of the editorial feedback I've paid for in the past sought to rewrite my stories in their image. In this case, the bones and spirit of my story were respected and I was able to use what they gave me to significantly strengthen it. Special shout out to Gabriel Moseley who wrote the critique!

What did your characters want to be when they grew up? What did they sacrifice for their dream job, or did they give up on the dream altogether?  For the CRAFT At Work Challenge, we want to read stories about work: mundane jobs, obscure jobs, dangerous but necessary jobs. Characters getting fired from their dream job, hired for their worst nightmare. Temporary jobs, gig work, invisible labor. Horrible bosses and wonderful coworkers (or vice versa). We want to learn more about your character and their world through their work. How do your characters define themselves, or resist definition, through their occupation?
Submit fiction of up to 3,500 words in which work is featured prominently for the chance to win $750 and publication. The winner will be chosen by our editorial team.
Looking for inspiration? Here are a few of our favorite short stories At Work:
“Somebody is Going to Have to Pay for This” by Benjamin Percy
“Standard Loneliness Package” by Charles Yu
“Zimmer Land” by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
“How to Shoot Grooms” by Nick Almeida
“The Surrogate” by Ottessa Moshfegh
“Exhortation” by George Saunders
The contest is open January 26 to February 8, 2026.
CRAFT submissions are open to all writers, emerging and experienced.
We seek fiction only for this challenge: submit short stories or flash fiction up to 3,500 words.
This challenge requires a $15 entry fee per submission.
We allow multiple and simultaneous submissions. Each submission must be accompanied by a separate reading fee. Writers, please notify us and withdraw your submission if your piece is accepted for publication elsewhere.
Submit previously unpublished work only—we do not review reprints, or even partial reprints, for contests (including any form of self-publishing, blogs, personal websites, social media, et cetera). Reprints will be automatically disqualified.
International submissions are welcome. Work must be written primarily in English, but some code-switching/meshing is warmly welcomed.
We review literary prose but are open to a variety of genres and styles—our only requirement is that you show excellence in your craft.
Please double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12.
Please include a brief cover letter with your publication history and any content warnings (if applicable).
We do not require anonymous submissions. One grand-prize winner of the challenge will be chosen by the editorial staff. The winner will receive $750 and publication.
The winner will be asked to contribute an author’s note, or mini craft essay, that discusses their artistic choices in their piece. The note will be published with the winning work.
The winning piece will be published in July 2026.
All entries will also be considered for publication in CRAFT.
Please review our values before submitting.
AI-generated or -assisted submissions will be automatically disqualified.
Unless you’ve already secured the necessary permissions, please do not include quoted song lyrics in your submitted work.
We are always happy to help if you have questions. Email us: contact@craftliterary.com.
You may choose to receive editorial feedback on your work. We will provide marginal notes, as well as a two-page global letter discussing the strengths of the writing and the recommended focus for revision. While editorial feedback is inherently subjective, our suggestions are always actionable and encouraging. We aim to have feedback completed within twelve weeks from the close of the contest. Work that we critique is not eligible for submission to future CRAFT contests, but can be revised and resubmitted in our general categories for further consideration.

CRAFT At Work Challenge 2026

Welcome to CRAFT.
Submissions for longform creative nonfiction are open year-round and offer payment of $200 for accepted original work. This free category is for essays and standalone excerpts between 1,000 and 6,000 words. See our flash creative nonfiction category for essays of fewer than 1,000 words.  
As we have always done with our fiction as well, each published work of creative nonfiction will include an author’s note and an editorial introduction that both focus on the craft of the piece. We review literary nonfiction, but are open to a variety of styles—our only requirement is that you show excellence in your craft. 
If you have questions about submissions, please send an email to: contact (at) craftliterary (dot) com 
GUIDELINES: 

  Longform creative nonfiction submissions are open to all writers.
  We accept longform creative nonfiction only in this category; please, no academic work (we have a separate category for critical writing and interviews).
  International submissions are allowed.
  Please submit work primarily written in English, but some code-switching/meshing is warmly welcomed.
  We adhere to a 6,000 word count maximum (for essays under 1,000 words, please choose the more appropriate flash creative nonfiction category).
  We review literary nonfiction, but are open to a variety of genres and styles including memoir, lyric essays, personal essays, narrative nonfiction, speculative creative nonfiction, and experimental prose.
  Please submit previously unpublished work only—we no longer consider reprints.
  We allow simultaneous submissions—writers please notify us and withdraw your piece if your work is selected for publication elsewhere. If you withdraw your work, you may submit another piece in the same genre.
  We no longer allow multiple submissions—please send only one piece of longform creative nonfiction at a time, until you've heard back from us.
  If your work is declined, we ask that you wait three months before submitting again to the same genre, unless an editor requests more work from you.
  Please double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12. Email us if you need accommodations.
  Please send your piece as a Word doc. PDFs are acceptable, if necessary.
  Include a brief cover letter with your publication history and any relevant content warnings (if applicable).
  Unless you’ve already secured the necessary permissions, please do not include quoted song lyrics in your submitted work.
  CRAFT does not consider or review AI-generated work. Submissions utilizing AI tools will be automatically declined.
  We do not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, disability, family status, gender identity or expression, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation, or for any other reason.
  Additionally, we do not tolerate discrimination in the writing we consider for publication. Work we find discriminatory on any of the bases stated here will be declined without complete review.

Creative Nonfiction 1K–6K Words

Welcome to CRAFT.
Submissions for short fiction are open year-round and offer payment of $200 for accepted original work. This free category is for short stories and standalone fiction excerpts between 1,000 and 6,000 words. See our flash fiction category to submit stories of fewer than 1,000 words.
We are thrilled to be able to pay for published stories, but subsequently must be highly selective in our choices.
To serve our aim of exploring the art of fiction, each published story includes an editor’s introduction as well as a craft essay (author’s note) by the writer. This essay will be requested upon acceptance.
If you have questions about submissions, please send an email to: contact (at) craftliterary (dot) com
GUIDELINES:

  Fiction submissions are open to all writers.
  We accept short fiction and standalone excerpts only in this category.
  International submissions are welcome.
  Please submit work primarily written in English, but some code-switching/meshing is warmly welcomed.
  We adhere to a 6,000 word count maximum (for stories of fewer than 1,000 words, please choose the more appropriate flash fiction category).
  We review literary fiction, but are open to a variety of genres and styles—our only requirement is that you show excellence in your craft.
  Please submit previously unpublished work only—we no longer consider reprints.
  We allow simultaneous submissions—writers please notify us and withdraw your piece if your work is selected for publication elsewhere. If you withdraw your work, you may submit another piece in the same genre.
  We no longer allow multiple submissions—please send only one piece of short fiction at a time, until you've heard back from us.
  If your work is declined, we ask that you wait three months before submitting again to the same genre, unless an editor requests more work from you.
  Please double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12. Email us if you need accommodations.
  Please send your story as a Word doc. PDFs are acceptable, if necessary.
  Include a brief cover letter with your publication history and any relevant content warnings (if applicable).
  Unless you’ve already secured the necessary permissions, please do not include quoted song lyrics in your submitted work.
  CRAFT does not consider or review AI-generated work. Submissions utilizing AI tools will be automatically declined.
  We do not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, disability, family status, gender identity or expression, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation, or for any other reason.
  Additionally, we do not tolerate discrimination in the writing we consider for publication. Work we find discriminatory on any of the bases stated here will be declined without complete review.

Fiction 1K–6K Words

Welcome to CRAFT. 
Submissions for flash creative nonfiction are open year-round and offer payment of $100 for accepted original work. This free category is for essays and standalone excerpts fewer than 1,000 words. See our longform creative nonfiction category for essays between 1,000 and 6,000 words.
As we have always done with our fiction, each published work of creative nonfiction will include an author’s note and an editorial introduction that both focus on the craft of the piece. We review literary nonfiction, but are open to a variety of styles—our only requirement is that you show excellence in your craft. 
If you have questions about submissions, please send an email to: contact (at) craftliterary (dot) com 
GUIDELINES: 

  Flash creative nonfiction submissions are open to all writers.
  We accept flash creative nonfiction only in this category; please, no academic work (we have a separate category for critical writing and interviews).
  International submissions are allowed.
  Please submit work primarily written in English, but some code-switching/meshing is warmly welcomed.
  We adhere to a 1,000 word count maximum (for essays between 1,000 and 6,000 words, please choose the longform creative nonfiction category)—please send only ONE flash creative nonfiction piece between 401 and 1,000 words.
  OR, up to three micros (400 words or fewer each / fewer than 1,000 words total) may be submitted in a single document—this file counts as ONE submission.
  We review literary nonfiction, but are open to a variety of genres and styles including memoir, lyric essays, personal essays, narrative nonfiction, speculative creative nonfiction, and experimental prose.
  Please submit previously unpublished work only—we no longer consider reprints.
  We allow simultaneous submissions—writers please notify us and withdraw your piece if your work is selected for publication elsewhere. If you withdraw your work, you may submit another piece in the same genre.
  We no longer allow multiple submissions—please send only one piece of flash creative nonfiction at a time (unless you're sending three micros, of course, which count as one submission), until you've heard back from us.
  If your work is declined, we ask that you wait three months before submitting again to the same genre, unless an editor requests more work from you.
  Please double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12. Email us if you need accommodations.
  Please send your piece as a Word doc. PDFs are acceptable, if necessary.
  Include a brief cover letter with your publication history and any relevant content warnings (if applicable).
  Unless you’ve already secured the necessary permissions, please do not include quoted song lyrics in your submitted work.
  CRAFT does not consider or review AI-generated work. Submissions utilizing AI tools will be automatically declined.
  We do not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, disability, family status, gender identity or expression, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation, or for any other reason.
  Additionally, we do not tolerate discrimination in the writing we consider for publication. Work we find discriminatory on any of the bases stated here will be declined without complete review.

Flash Creative Nonfiction up to 1K Words

Welcome to CRAFT.
Submissions for flash fiction are open year-round and offer payment of $100 for original work. This free category is for flash fiction up to 1,000 words. See our short fiction category for stories between 1,000 and 6,000 words.
We are thrilled to be able to pay for published stories, but subsequently must be highly selective in our choices.
To serve our aim of exploring the art of fiction, each published story includes an editor’s introduction as well as a craft essay (author’s note) by the writer. This essay will be requested upon acceptance.
If you have questions about submissions, please send an email to: contact (at) craftliterary (dot) com
GUIDELINES:

  Flash fiction submissions are open to all writers.
  We accept flash fiction only in this category.
  International submissions are allowed.
  Please submit work primarily written in English, but some code-switching/meshing is warmly welcomed.
  We adhere to a 1,000 word count maximum (for stories from 1,000 to 6,000 words, please choose the more appropriate short fiction category)—please send only ONE flash fiction piece between 401 and 1,000 words.
  OR, up to three micros (400 words or fewer each / fewer than 1,000 words total) may be submitted in a single document—this file counts as ONE submission.
  We review literary fiction, but are open to a variety of genres and styles—our only requirement is that you show excellence in your craft.
  Please submit previously unpublished work only—we no longer consider reprints.
  We allow simultaneous submissions—writers please notify us and withdraw your piece if your work is selected for publication elsewhere. If you withdraw your work, you may submit another piece in the same genre.
  We no longer allow multiple submissions—please send only one piece of flash fiction at a time (unless you're sending three micros, of course, which counts as one submission), until you've heard back from us.
  If your work is declined, we ask that you wait three months before submitting again to the same genre, unless an editor requests more work from you
  Please double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12. Email us if you need accommodations.
  Please send your story as a Word doc. PDFs are acceptable, if necessary.
  Include a brief cover letter with your publication history and any relevant content warnings (if applicable).
  Unless you’ve already secured the necessary permissions, please do not include quoted song lyrics in your submitted work.
  CRAFT does not consider or review AI-generated work. Submissions utilizing AI tools will be automatically declined.
  We do not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, disability, family status, gender identity or expression, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation, or for any other reason.
  Additionally, we do not tolerate discrimination in the writing we consider for publication. Work we find discriminatory on any of the bases stated here will be declined without complete review.

Flash Fiction up to 1K Words

Interested in writing critically for CRAFT? Please see the guidelines below and select the appropriate dropdown option when you submit your work. We do not consider previously published material (reprints) in this category. 
We review essays on writing craft, critical literary analyses, and interviews. Please visit our Craft Section to see the type of content we publish. 
All work in this section is concerned with fiction or creative nonfiction. Please do not send critical work about poetry, film, or any other genres. Those pieces aren't for us. Please do not send personal essays—send those to our creative nonfiction forms. We pay $50 for craft and critical essays, $50 for most standard interviews, and $100 for hybrid interviews (a critical essay paired with a Q&A).
Craft and critical essays range from 1,500 to 2,500 words concerning the craft of fiction or creative nonfiction. We recommend familiarizing yourself with our archive. Most essays we publish offer a careful examination of craft elements in fiction or creative nonfiction.
We welcome queries, pitches, and completed interviews with fiction or creative nonfiction writers. We will want to know if the interview is already approved as well as which elements of craft will be explored. We often schedule interviews well in advance—please contact us as soon as possible with your proposed interview.
We no longer allow multiple submissions—please send only one piece per genre at a time. If your craft/critical submission is declined, you may submit again to the genre immediately. Overall, you may have one piece of fiction (either short or flash), one piece of creative nonfiction (either longform or flash), and one craft piece under consideration at one time.
Details:
Craft and Critical Essays 
Please send completed essays concerning the craft of fiction or creative nonfiction, and include in your cover letter what you're exploring and why it is a good fit for us. Submissions should be 1,500 to 2,500 words and should consist of a careful examination of craft. We only consider completed pieces.
Interviews & Hybrid Interviews
Typically our interviews run around 2,000 to 2,500 words and our hybrid interviews run 3,000 to 4,000 words, 1,000 to 1,500 of which comprise a critical essay about one or more of the interviewee's books. We consider both completed pieces and queries/pitches.
CRAFT does not consider or review AI-generated work. Submissions utilizing AI tools will be automatically declined.

Critical Writing & Interviews

The 2026 CRAFT Award for Excellence opens on February 9 and closes on April 19.
CRAFT submissions are open to all writers, emerging and experienced.
Submit up to 5,000 words of Short Fiction or Creative Nonfiction, or up to 1,000 words per piece of Flash Fiction or Flash Creative Nonfiction. Please, no excerpts.
Submissions containing flash only may include up to two pieces per submission. Include both pieces in one document.
This contest requires a $20 entry fee per submission.

 With that goal in mind, we are introducing the CRAFT Award for Excellence, honoring the very best in each of our creative prose genres: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Flash Fiction, and Flash Creative Nonfiction.

Each genre will award one winner the CRAFT Award for Excellence, selected by CRAFT’s editors; these winners will receive a $1,000 prize, online publication, reMarkable Paper Pro tablet & set up, and a CRAFT plaque commemorating your win. Two editors’ choice selections from any genre will receive $500 and online publication.

CRAFT Award for Excellence

There’s an unforgettable electricity that courses through the first chapters of a terrific novel. So much magic and mystery. So many potential paths for our protagonists. This summer, CRAFT wants to be transported by your early pages. The CRAFT First Chapters Contest encourages novelists to harness the energy of their openings for the opportunity to win a $2,000 award, excerpt publication, and a full manuscript critique by Artful Editor. Our annual contest is designed to reward and encourage the diligent novelist. Your manuscript need not be complete for you to enter your first chapters. We just want to see that spark. Here’s what Guest Judge Deb Olin Unferth would love to read:
Submissions are open April 20 to June 28, 2026. Everyone who submits will also receive a 10 percent discount from Artful Editor on any editorial services. Unferth will choose three winning excerpts from fifteen anonymized entries. Learn more in our guidelines below!
*Your entry may include more than your first chapter, up to 5,000 words total, but should contain complete sections—please do not leave us hanging midparagraph just to maximize word count—and must be the first chapter(s) of your book-length project, as if you were querying agents or publishing houses.
DEB OLIN UNFERTH’s next book, the novel Earth 7, is forthcoming in June, 2026. She is the author of six other books, including the novel Barn 8 and the story collection Wait Till You See Me Dance. Her stories and essays have appeared in Harper’s, The Paris Review, Granta, McSweeney’s, and New York Times Magazine. She was a finalist for the National Book Critics’ Circle Award and has received a fellowship from the Guggenheim Foundation. A professor at the University of Texas at Austin, she teaches for the Michener Center for Writers, the New Writers Project, and directs the Pen City Writers at a south Texas penitentiary.
ARTFUL EDITOR is an editorial agency that helps writers elevate their prose and prepare their manuscripts for agent submission and publication. We offer honest and constructive manuscript reviews, developmental editing, line editing, and copyediting. Our team is composed of book editors and published authors, many of whom also edit for traditional publishers. We’re based in Los Angeles, California, but work with writers from all over the world and at every stage of their careers. Find us onInstagram andLinkedIn.
ANNALISE ERRICO of Ladderbird Literary Agency is a graduate of Lesley University where she earned a BA in creative writing with a double minor in literature and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies. She is excited about uplifting stories by authors with marginalized voices and intersectional identities, ultimately making room for the diverse voices that have long since been ignored and suppressed in the literary world and beyond. Find her on Twitter @AnnaliseErrico.
LADDERBIRD is a full-service boutique literary agency out of the Boston area with a passion for bringing marginalized voices to the forefront. We work with authors at all levels to create the right path toward achieving each author’s specific goals. It is our passion to create long-lasting relationships and to be the best advocate for our clients. At Ladderbird, we believe in building a supportive community that benefits all. Find us on Twitter @ladderbirdlit.
You may choose to receive editorial feedback on your excerpt. We will provide marginal notes, as well as a two-page global letter discussing the strengths of the writing and the recommended focus for revision. While editorial feedback is inherently subjective, our suggestions are always actionable and encouraging. We aim to have feedback completed within twelve weeks from the close of the contest. Work that we critique is not eligible for submission to future CRAFT contests, but can be revised and resubmitted in our general queues for further consideration.

First Chapters Contest

The best flash…manage to reveal the hidden, accentuate the subtle, and highlight the seemingly insignificant… The best offer insight and understanding of the human experience as they deepen and broaden reader awareness in a short space of text.
—Pamelyn Casto, The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction
The CRAFT 2026 Flash Prose Prize will be open for submissions of both flash fiction and flash creative nonfiction from July 13 to September 13, 2026. We want to read your masterpieces of compression, those stories and essays that speak to the soul of the human experience in under 1,000 words. This year’s guest judge is none other than the master of minimalism herself, Amy Hempel! Hempel will select her favorite three entries from a shortlist of twenty-five. These winners will each receive $1,000, a bundle of Rose Metal Press Field Guides, and publication in CRAFT. Three editors’ choice selections will receive $200 each along with publication.
All entries into the contest will receive a discount code from Rose Metal Press!
Please carefully review our guidelines below—then send us your best flash prose!
Submissions are open to all writers. CRAFT is a market for literary prose.
Please submit flash prose only! We’ll review both fiction and creative nonfiction for this prize.
The $20 reading fee per entry allows up to two 1,000-word flash prose pieces—if submitting two works, please send them in a single document.
We allow multiple and simultaneous submissions. Each submission must be accompanied by a separate reading fee. Writers, please notify us and withdraw your submission if your piece is accepted for publication elsewhere.
Writers from historically marginalized groups will be able to submit for free until we reach fifty free submissions.
Submit previously unpublished work only—we do not review reprints or partial reprints (including any form of self-publishing: blogs, personal websites, social media, et cetera). Reprints will be automatically disqualified.
International submissions are welcome. Work must be written primarily in English, but some code-switching/meshing is warmly welcomed.
No translations, please.
We review literary prose but are open to a variety of genres and styles. Our only requirement is that you show excellence in your craft.
Please double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12.
Please include a brief cover letter with your publication history and any content warnings (if applicable).
We do not require anonymous submissions, but the guest judge will review the twenty-five shortlisted pieces anonymously.
All entries will be considered for general publication in CRAFT.
Please review our values before submitting.
AI-generated or -assisted submissions will be automatically disqualified. This includes using LLMs (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or similar) to translate your work.
Unless you’ve already secured the necessary permissions, please do not include quoted song lyrics in your submitted work.
We are always happy to help if you have questions. Email us: contact@craftliterary.com.
The writers of the three winning pieces will receive:
$1,000 each;
a bundle of the Rose Metal Press Field Guides;
and publication in CRAFT, with an introduction by the guest judge as well as an author’s note (short craft essay) to accompany the piece.
The writers of the three editors’ choice selections will receive:
$200 each;
and publication in CRAFT, with an introduction by our editorial team as well as an author’s note (short craft essay) to accompany the piece.
Friends, family, and close associates of the guest judge are not eligible for consideration for the award.
Our collaboration with editorial professionals in the judging and awarding of our contests does not imply an endorsement or recognition from their agencies, houses, presses, universities, et cetera.
Check out our 2025 winners for examples of the type of work we seek.
The winning pieces will be published in February 2027.
AMY HEMPEL is the author of five collections of short stories, most recently Sing to It. Stories have been published in Harper’s, The Quarterly, The Yale Review, and many other publications, and have been anthologized in The Best American Short Stories and Best Nonrequired Reading. She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, The Rea Award, the PEN/Malamud Award, and the Howard D. Vursell Memorial Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has taught creative writing at Harvard, The Michener Center, New York University, the University of Florida, and Stony Brook Southampton. She has worked in dog rescue for many years.
Founded in 2006, ROSE METAL PRESS is a not-for-profit publisher specializing in the publication of literary work in hybrid genres, including flash fiction and nonfiction; prose poetry; novels-in-verse or book-length linked narrative poems; novellas-in-flash; lyric essays; text and image works; and other literary works that move beyond the traditional genres of poetry, fiction, and essay to find new forms of expression.
OPTIONAL EDITORIAL FEEDBACK:
You may choose to receive editorial feedback on your flash prose. We will provide marginal notes on one of your two pieces, as well as a two-page global letter discussing the strengths of the writing and the recommended focus for revision. While editorial feedback is inherently subjective, our suggestions are always actionable and encouraging. We aim to have feedback completed within twelve weeks from the close of the contest. Work that we critique is not eligible for submission to future CRAFT contests, but can be revised and resubmitted in our general categories for further consideration.

CRAFT Literary

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Creative Nonfiction 1K–6K Words

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