SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Mud Snake Magazine is dedicated to creating a space for the strange, the shadowed, and the silenced. We are committed to centering voices from writers who are BIPOC, 2SLGBTQIA+, and/or from communities that have long been underrepresented in literary publishing.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

We accept unpublished poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, literary translations, and visual art.

We encourage work in English, Spanish, Spanglish, and translations into English. 

We accept submissions year-round.

By request, we offer an expedited response time of 1 month for submissions given with a donation minimum of $5. Donate here or tap donate in the header to read more about our donation policy.

There are cut off deadlines for Summer and Winter issues; anything submitted past these deadlines will be automatically considered for the next issue.

Summer Deadline: May 15th | Winter Deadline: November 15th

POETRY

  • Up to 4 submissions (8 pages total)

  • Please submit only one file

FICTION / CREATIVE NONFICTION

  • ≤ 4,000 words for fiction, creative nonfiction, and hybrid prose

LITERARY TRANSLATION

  • We accept work translated from any language into English

    • Poetry — up to 4 poems

    • Prose — ≤ 4,000 words

  •  Include both the original text and your translation into English

  • Translators are expected to have identified the original copyright holder and have permission to publish the translated text. Attach the permission to publish along with your submission.

VISUAL ART

  • Up to 5 submissions

  • Please submit only one file

  • Submit art in high resolution TIFF, PNG, or JPEG format. No zip or PDF files.

  • We accept simultaneous submissions; however, if your work is accepted elsewhere, we ask that you please notify us by email.

  • Must be 18+ to submit.

  • We do NOT accept any AI-generated or AI-assisted content.

How to Submit

  • Send your submission to mudsnakemagazine@gmail.com with your full name and the genre of the work in the subject line. Ex: Mud Snake - Poetry.

  • Every submission must have your name, title, and genre. Ex: Mud Snake - Example - Poetry.

  • Along with your submission, include a cover letter with your full name, mailing address, email, and phone number, along with a brief third-person bio (50-100 words) to tell us about yourself.

Mud Snake Magazine acquires First Serial Rights and non-exclusive archival rights for all submissions accepted for publishing. Rights revert to the author upon publication. If your work is republished in the future, please credit Mud Snake Magazine as the original publisher.

We appreciate all donations made to Mud Snake Magazine, but donations do not affect any decisions made on your work. We are a volunteer organization and believe in keeping our submissions free, so that our contributors are not burdened with our administrative and printing costs. 

We do not currently pay our contributors. However, we provide one (1) free copy of Mud Snake Magazine to each contributor, and all of our issues are available for free (or with donation) through our website. We aim to pay our contributors as soon as possible!