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We are currently closed for submissions.

What we want

Show us the where. We want work in which the setting is a character. We want work that examines a place's meaning. We want work that reveals the boundaries between places. We prefer work about places we don't hear too much about.

We welcome work from emerging writers young and old. If you've never been published before, we invite you to submit.

Payment

We pay $10 for accepted work. We hope to raise that figure in the near future.

General submission guidelines

  • No previously published work.

  • If you have a submission under review with us, please don’t submit again until we’ve gotten back to you. 

  • No AI-generated work.

  • Simultaneous submissions are allowed. It’s tough out there! Just let us know right away if you’re going to be published elsewhere.

Genre guidelines

Flash Fiction

  • Submit up to two pieces at a time. 1,500 words maximum, in total.

Short Fiction

  • We probably won’t publish anything longer than 5,000 words.

  • Submit one piece at a time.

Poetry

  • Submit up to three poems at a time. Five pages maximum, in total.

Nonfiction

  • We prefer essays and pieces of creative nonfiction and criticism of fewer than 2,500 words.

Place Reviews

  • 1–5 sentence reviews of places or place-related phenomena that aren’t listed on Google Maps (e.g., your favorite—or least favorite—park bench; the conductor’s announcements on your local train; the ephemeral chalk art that appears outside your apartment building.)

How to submit

  • Email submissions to topographjo@gmail.com. Include the genre and the title of your piece in the subject line. If you’re submitting multiple poems, replace the title with the number of poems.

    • Ex: FICTION: “And Down the Road, a Bear in Green”

    • Ex. NONFICTION: “Rent and Residence in US National Parks”

    • Ex: POETRY: 4 poems

    • Ex: REVIEW: “The Pothole on 31st Street”

  • Accepted file types: .pdf, .doc, .docx, .odt.

  • Double space prose; single spacing is fine for poetry.

  • We prefer Times New Roman, but font isn't a dealbreaker.

  • Include a short bio of 3-4 sentences in your email.

Publication policies

  • By submitting to us, if accepted, you grant us first electronic rights, sole publishing rights for a period of 12 months following initial publication, and non-exclusive archival rights.

  • 12 months after publication, all rights for the submission revert to the artist.

  • We'd love it if you credit us as a home of your work.

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