We offer readers exquisite stories and plays that illuminate underexplored regions of the human condition. In particular, we seek fresh and authentic portrayals of individuals that, as a group, hold up half the sky, and yet in popular have often been marginalized into one-dimensional stereotypes.

Editorial Focus: We especially seek out stories with female protagonists who are well into adulthood. There’s no minimum age requirement, but if your protagonist is not at least over thirty years old or so, it could be difficult for them to carry forward the type of stories we aim to publish. We are not looking for coming-of-age stories. We are excited to showcase stories with protagonists who have already passed through those earlier milestones or hurdles and are at a different point in their life. Still, though The Lemonwood Quarterly is especially interested in stories with a female protagonist, that does not mean we are looking for work that focuses on the theme of “being female”.

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The Lemonwood Quarterly

This carefully curated publication boasts strong editors, excellent artwork and ample social-media promotion. The process was prompt, painless and efficient, from submission to payment.

Authors may submit up to four short stories annually, one submission per quarterly issue. (Please do not resubmit the same story unless it has been significantly altered.) Every three months, ten stories or plays are selected for publication in that season's issue of The Lemonwood Quarterly. The authors are awarded $200 payment, publication in our magazine, and their short story advances to the final round in December for consideration for the $1000 Charlotte Ann Porter Prize for Fiction.<div>
We respond to all submissions within thirty days of the submission window deadline.</div><div>
The Lemonwood Quarterly seeks the best English-language short stories and plays we can find. We do not publish poetry, flash fiction, nonfiction prose, book reviews, or interviews. We are looking for superbly written stories and play pieces between 2,000 and 10,000 words. Please submit your work as a Word document or pdf. Submissions are read anonymously, so please do not include your name anywhere on the document itself.</div><div>
We especially seek out stories with female protagonists who are well into adulthood. There’s no minimum age requirement, but if your protagonist is not at least over thirty years old or so, it could be difficult for them to carry forward the type of stories we aim to publish. We definitely are not looking for coming-of-age stories. We are excited to showcase stories with protagonists who have already passed through those earlier milestones or hurdles and are at a different point in their lives. Although The Lemonwood Quarterly is especially interested in stories with a female protagonist, that does not mean we are looking for work that focuses on the theme of “being female”.</div><div>
Simultaneous Submissions to other publications are fine, but please withdraw your submission immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.</div><div>
All work should be previously unpublished in any form, including online, in blogs, or in print.</div><div>
We welcome and encourage submissions from writers of every gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and nationality —including writers without fancy degrees or previously published work, and whose perspectives might be underrepresented in the literary world. Please do not send us work that includes machine-generated or AI text.</div><div>
The best way to know what kind of short stories and plays The Lemonwood Quarterly publishes is to read the magazine! We encourage all authors and playwrights to sign up for our free newsletter of announcements. &nbsp;You will receive our Calls for Submission right into your inbox and will be notified when a new issue of The Lemonwood Quarterly is published. </div><div><br></div><div>Our magazine is free for all readers, so sign up today!</div>

Summer 2026 Lemonwood Quarterly FICTION SHORT STORY Contest $1000

Playwrights may submit up to four plays annually, one submission per quarterly issue. (Please do not resubmit the same script unless it has been significantly altered.) Every three months, ten stories or plays are selected for publication in that season's issue of The Lemonwood Quarterly. The playwrights are awarded $200 payment, publication in our magazine, and their play advances to the final round in December for consideration for the $500 Hononegah Mack Prize for the Best Play.<div>
We respond to all submissions within thirty days of the submission window deadline.</div><div>
The Lemonwood Quarterly seeks the best English-language short stories and plays we can find. We do not publish poetry, flash fiction, nonfiction prose, book reviews, or interviews. We are looking for superbly written stories and play pieces between 2,000 and 10,000 words. Please submit your work as a Word document or pdf. </div><div><br></div><div>Submissions are read anonymously, so please do not include your name anywhere on the document itself.</div><div>
We especially seek out stories with female protagonists who are well into adulthood. There’s no minimum age requirement, but if your protagonist is not at least over thirty years old or so, it could be difficult for them to carry forward the type of stories we aim to publish. We definitely are not looking for coming-of-age stories. We are excited to showcase stories with protagonists who have already passed through those earlier milestones or hurdles and are at a different point in their lives. Although The Lemonwood Quarterly is especially interested in stories with a female protagonist, that does not mean we are looking for work that focuses on the theme of “being female”.</div><div>
Simultaneous Submissions to other publications are fine, but please withdraw your submission immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.</div><div>
All work should be previously unpublished in any form, including online, in blogs, or in print.</div><div>
We welcome and encourage submissions from writers of every gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and nationality —including writers without fancy degrees or previously published work, and whose perspectives might be underrepresented in the literary world. Please do not send us work that includes machine-generated or AI text.</div><div>
The best way to know what kind of short stories and plays The Lemonwood Quarterly publishes is to read the magazine! We encourage all authors and playwrights to sign up for our free newsletter of announcements. &nbsp;You will receive our Calls for Submission right into your inbox and will be notified when a new issue of The Lemonwood Quarterly is published. </div><div><br></div><div>Our magazine is free for all readers, so sign up today!</div>

Summer 2026 Lemonwood Quarterly Playscript Contest $500

The Lemonwood Quarterly seeks the best English-language playscripts we can find. We do not publish poetry, flash fiction, nonfiction prose, book reviews, or interviews. We are looking for superbly written plays between 2,000 and 10,000 words.<div><br></div><div>We especially seek out scripts with female protagonists who are well into adulthood. There’s no minimum age requirement, but if your protagonist is not at least over thirty years old or so, it could be difficult for them to carry forward the type of plays we aim to publish. We definitely are not looking for coming-of-age stories. We are excited to showcase plays with protagonists who have already passed through those earlier milestones or hurdles and are at a different point in their lives. Although The Lemonwood Quarterly is especially interested in stories with a female protagonist, that does not mean we are looking for work that focuses on the theme of “being female”.</div><div><br></div><div>Contest Details and Author Compensation</div><div>Ten stories or plays will be selected for publication in the Fall 2026 issue of The Lemonwood Quarterly. The authors are awarded a $200 payment, and plays advance to the final round in December for consideration for our annual prize, the $500 Hononegah Mack Prize for the Best Play.</div><div><br></div><div>We respond to all submissions within thirty days of the submission window deadline.</div><div><br></div><div>Who Should Submit</div><div>We welcome and encourage submissions from writers of every gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and nationality —including writers without MFA degrees or previously published work, and whose perspectives might be underrepresented in the literary world. Please do not send us work that includes machine-generated or AI text.</div><div><br></div><div>How to Submit</div><div>We accept submissions via our Submittable listing. Please do not send us emails or hard copies of your manuscripts. An online submission fee of $4 to help cover administrative costs is required to complete your submission.</div><div><br></div><div>Submissions are read anonymously, so please do not include your name anywhere on the short story or playscript document.</div><div><br></div><div>Simultaneous Submissions to other Publications are fine, but please let us know and withdraw your submission immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.</div><div><br></div><div>All work should be previously unpublished in any form, including online, in blogs, or in print.</div><div><br></div><div>Translations are accepted. Translators should acquire translation rights from the copyright holder before submitting. If selected, the translator will be asked to provide a copy of the original work, the author’s name, the work’s original title, a note stating the original language in which it was written, as well as a short bio about the author.</div><div><br></div><div>Revisions</div><div>Please send us your work in its final, fully edited form. We do not have the staff available to consider individual revisions. If you feel you must revise, please withdraw your submission and let us know that you will resubmit an edited version.</div><div><br></div><div>The best way to know what kind of short stories and plays The Lemonwood Quarterly publishes is to read the magazine! We encourage all authors and playwrights to sign up for our free newsletter of announcements. &nbsp;You will receive our Calls for Submission right into your inbox and will be notified when a new issue of The Lemonwood Quarterly is published. Our magazine is free for all readers, so sign up today!</div><div>
Authors will receive a contract upon acceptance, and payment upon publication in the quarterly issue. The Lemonwood Quarterly’s publishing agreement includes the following rights: First worldwide electronic publication rights; non-exclusive online rights on our website, and other limited rights. Copyright is retained by the author. Authors are free to resell the work, although we do ask for a 90-day exclusive from our first publication of the work. We ask that whenever an author reprints a piece that first appeared in our magazine, The Lemonwood Quarterly is given acknowledgement as the work’s original publisher.
<br></div><div>In order to draw more readers, every issue of The Lemonwood Quarterly is launched with a publicity campaign, and every published play is individually promoted on social media. To spread the word about all the great writing, we request that playwrights participate in the social media promotion to the best of their ability.
<br></div><div>We nominate as many pieces as we can to annual literary prizes such as The Pushcart Prize, The O. Henry Award and The Best American Short Stories.</div>

Lemonwood Quarterly Playscript Contest $500

The Lemonwood Quarterly seeks the best English-language short stories we can find. We do not publish poetry, flash fiction, nonfiction prose, book reviews, or interviews. We are looking for superbly written stories between 2,000 and 10,000 words.<div><br></div><div>We especially seek out stories with female protagonists who are well into adulthood. There’s no minimum age requirement, but if your protagonist is not at least over thirty years old or so, it could be difficult for them to carry forward the type of stories we aim to publish. We definitely are not looking for coming-of-age stories. We are excited to showcase stories with protagonists who have already passed through those earlier milestones or hurdles and are at a different point in their lives. Although The Lemonwood Quarterly is especially interested in stories with a female protagonist, that does not mean we are looking for work that focuses on the theme of “being female”.</div><div><br></div><div>Contest Details and Author Compensation</div><div>Ten stories or plays will be selected for publication in the Fall 2026 issue of The Lemonwood Quarterly. The authors are awarded a $200 payment, and their story or play advances to the final round in December for consideration for our annual prize, the $1000 Charlotte Ann Porter Prize for Fiction</div><div><br></div><div>We respond to all submissions within thirty days of the submission window deadline.</div><div><br></div><div>Who Should Submit</div><div>We welcome and encourage submissions from writers of every gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and nationality —including writers without MFA degrees or previously published work, and whose perspectives might be underrepresented in the literary world. Please do not send us work that includes machine-generated or AI text.</div><div><br></div><div>How to Submit</div><div>We accept submissions via our Submittable listing. Please do not send us emails or hard copies of your manuscripts. An online submission fee of $4 to help cover administrative costs is required to complete your submission.</div><div><br></div><div>Submissions are read anonymously, so please do not include your name anywhere on the short story or playscript document.</div><div><br></div><div>Simultaneous Submissions to other Publications are fine, but please let us know and withdraw your submission immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.</div><div><br></div><div>All work should be previously unpublished in any form, including online, in blogs, or in print.</div><div><br></div><div>Translations are accepted. Translators should acquire translation rights from the copyright holder before submitting. If selected, the translator will be asked to provide a copy of the original work, the author’s name, the work’s original title, a note stating the original language in which it was written, as well as a short bio about the author.</div><div><br></div><div>Revisions</div><div>Please send us your work in its final, fully edited form. We do not have the staff available to consider individual revisions. If you feel you must revise, please withdraw your submission and let us know that you will resubmit an edited version.</div><div><br></div><div><div>The best way to know what kind of short stories and plays The Lemonwood Quarterly publishes is to read the magazine! We encourage all authors and playwrights to sign up for our free newsletter of announcements. &nbsp;You will receive our Calls for Submission right into your inbox and will be notified when a new issue of The Lemonwood Quarterly is published. Our magazine is free for all readers, so sign up today!</div><div>
Authors will receive a contract upon acceptance, and payment upon publication in the quarterly issue. The Lemonwood Quarterly’s publishing agreement includes the following rights: First worldwide electronic publication rights; non-exclusive online rights on our website, and other limited rights. Copyright is retained by the author. Authors are free to resell the work, although we do ask for a 90-day exclusive from our first publication of the work. We ask that whenever an author reprints a piece that first appeared in our magazine, The Lemonwood Quarterly is given acknowledgment as the work’s original publisher.
<br></div><div>In order to draw more readers to the terrific stories, every issue of The Lemonwood Quarterly is launched with a publicity campaign, and every published story is individually promoted on social media. To spread the word about all the great stories, we request that authors participate in the social media promotion to the best of their ability.</div><div><br></div><div>We nominate as many pieces as we can to annual literary prizes such as The Pushcart Prize, The O. Henry Award and The Best American Short Stories.</div></div>

The Lemonwood Quarterly

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Lemonwood Quarterly FICTION SHORT STORY Contest $1000

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