ELJ Editions

a journal of growth, change & experimentation. 
Emerging doesn’t necessarily mean new to writing, but a jumping off point to publishing or sharing work with a broader audience; emerging is writers figuring out their voices, experimenting with style, exposing work that is raw and vulnerable.

Emerge Literary Journal was founded in 2011 dedicated to emerging writers, however they may define that parameter, regardless of age, background, or how they identify. We want to amplify fresh voices to audiences excited to support their growth.

Now in our 13th year of publication, Emerge Literary Journal is a quarterly online journal of poetry and prose dedicated to emerging writers and their words.

We love, prefer free verse, flash & creative non-fiction–words with passion, voice, and place. We look for succinct images and dialogue that linger, narrative that we can take with us to bed at night, ideas used in magnificent ways. Bring us your castles.

The ultimate ranking of the world's liveliest indie literary magazines, curated by author and editor Charlie Fish. These are the passion projects; the kaleidoscopic cutting edge.

FISH List of Lively Indie Literary Magazines 2025

FISH List of Lively Indie Literary Magazines 2026

Publications with ultra-short stories under 400 words selected for this anthology series. The definitive collection for the microfiction form.

Lit Mags Featured in Best Microfiction Anthologies

Publications with narratives under 1,000 words selected for this anthology series. These journals consistently identify short-short fiction, exemplifying the artistry possible in compact narratives.

Lit Mags Featured in Best Small Fictions Anthologies

Best Microfiction, edited by Meg Pokrass and Gary Fincke, celebrates the art of the extremely brief narrative. These publications have editorial teams with particular sensitivity to the craft.

Literary Magazines That Nominate for Best Microfiction

These magazines have the fastest response times, so you won't be left hanging for months. No more endless waiting. Just, you know, regular waiting.

Literary Magazines with the Fastest Response Times

Emerge Literary Journal

General call

Emerge Literary Journal believes that #mentalillnessawareness and #endingthestigma are of paramount importance. We believe in the necessity of sharing our mental illness stories to facilitate writing through illness and create broader awareness. We aim to publish and showcase work in this category in each issue. We ask that you follow our regular guidelines (full guidelines here) for poetry and prose when submitting to this category.

Esperanza Corner - Poetry

Please send 3-4 at a time. You can see our full guidelines here.
 Please include a short 3-4 line third person bio in the Submittable cover letter only. Please do not include biographical information or your name in the submission itself.

Emerge Literary Journal (Poetry)

ELJ  Editions is creating a beautiful tear-away desk calendar for 2027, featuring one powerful piece of micro fiction or nonfiction daily. We’d love you to be part of it! 

 

  Guidelines: 

  Send us your micros—fiction or nonfiction. (No poetry.) 

  250-words max.

  20-word bio. The bio submitted will be the bio printed. No updates will be accepted.

  Seasonal pieces welcome but micros may be on any topic of your choice. 

  While we will including several pieces previously published in Emerge Literary Journal, this submission call is for previously unpublished work. 

  2 micros max per submission.

  Multiple submissions welcome!
Payment--one calendar—US submitters only.
International authors receive $5 honorarium, no calendar (unfortunately due to shipping costs).
Submissions are rolling until the calendar is filled!

 

  Edited by Diane Gottlieb

Your Daily Micro, 2027

Please send no more than 3 stories in one document at a time. We accept flash CNF up to a maximum of 750 words. You can see our full guidelines here.
Please include a short 3-4 line third person bio in the Submittable cover letter only. Please do not include biographical information or your name in the submission itself.

Emerge Literary Journal (CNF)

Please send no more than 3 stories in one document at a time. We accept flash fiction up to a maximum of 750 words. You can see our full guidelines here.
Please include a short 3-4 line third person bio in the Submittable cover letter only. Please do not include biographical information or your name in the submission itself.

Emerge Literary Journal (Fiction)

"A story is a complete dramatic action..." ~ Flannery O'Connor

ELJ Editions appreciates the difficult writers have in placing longer stories. We want quality fiction that grabs us and doesn't let go. Stories we wish we had written. We're looking for characters, plot, stories, etc. Keep us engaged by maintaining focus and forward momentum. We want voice, experimental, you name it. We'll consider most genres and cross-genres so long as it has deep literary undertones to it. Please no romance or erotica.

ELJ Editions is currently accepting submissions of single author, single stories of 10,000-25,000 words for ebook/print publication.



STORY MUST BE PREVIOUSLY UNPUBLISHED IN ANY LENGTH.
WORD COUNT MUST BE INCLUDED ALONG WITH A SHORT SYNOPSIS.

A Long Story Short Series

I don’t think it’s possible to go through life without experiencing trauma. Some experiences of trauma begin with a small “t,” while others are undeniably of the uppercase variety. Either way, trauma has a way of settling in our bones, impacting how we see and move in the world, often in ways that may not best serve us or those we love. 
And yet, we at ELJ Editions strongly believe in the power of resilience and the possibility of post-traumatic growth. We’d love to hear—and publish—the stories of your challenges and pathways forward in a new anthology titled Digging Up Bones: Reflections on Trauma and Recovery. 
If you’d like to come dig with us and share your reflections on recovery from trauma, here are the guidelines:
Creative non-fiction only.
Essays must be no longer than 1500 words.
Essays must be previously unpublished. 
Contributors who reside in the US will receive one copy of the anthology and a $30 honorarium. Contributors outside the US will receive a PDF and a $30 honorarium.   
Edited by Diane Gottlieb

Digging Up Bones

Not to exceed 120,000 words.
"A story is a complete dramatic action..." ~ Flannery O'Connor
We want quality fiction that grabs us and  doesn't let go. Stories we wish we had written. We're looking  for characters, plot, stories, etc. Keep us engaged by maintaining focus and  forward momentum. We want voice, experimental, you name it.
All manuscripts MUST contain a word count. Please include a two page synopsis and one sentence tag line along with word count at the beginning of the submission.

Emerge Literary Journal

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