Call for Submissions: Mslexia (10 April Deadline)

“Opportunities to Submit

Appearing in Mslexia is one of the best ways to get onto the publishing ladder, and we’d like to invite your students to submit their work to us. We commission work by prominent authors and talented newcomers alike, and there’s no entry fee – so there’s nothing to lose and a lot to gain, including payment for almost everything we print.

As the UK’s biggest selling writing magazine, Mslexia is proud to publish work by women writers. And we’re constantly dreaming up new submission opportunities to get the creative juices flowing.

Here’s what we’re seeking for our next issue:

Yesteryear: It’s often said that the past is another country. Take your imagination on a journey back to history or prehistory and tell us about the poignant, tragic or amazing people and events you discovered there – in stories up to 2,200 words, and/or poems up to 40 lines. (Deadline: 4 September 2017)

Bewitched: Writing with a mythical, mystical or paranormal aspect. So channel your inner Rowling and Pullman and open the door to dæmons, dungeons and dragons – in stories up to 2,200 words, and/or poems up to 40 lines. (Deadline: 4 December 2017)

Poetry challenge: This slot is for Mslexia magazine subscribers only. Write a poem on any topic, but it must be a concrete poem – that is, a poem whose shape on the page contributes as much to the meaning as the actual words. Please make sure your poem is no more than 40 lines long, so that it will fit the space allotted! (Deadline: 10 April 2017)

Read-aloud story rhymes: Many books for very young children have, at their heart, a story narrated in the form of a short rhyming text. Send us your rhyming texts of up to 200 words, that tell a story to read aloud to a small child. (Deadline: 10 April 2017)

Flash genre: This slot is for Mslexia magazine subscribers only. A complete narrative nugget in any of our main popular genres, such as fantasy, romance, sci-fi, crime (up to 300 words). (Deadline: 10 April 2017)

Confession: A memoir piece about something you were (or are now, in retrospect) ashamed of (up to 300 words). (Deadline: 10 April 2017)

First page surgery: Submit the title and first page of your novel (any genre, up to 300 words). Our guest industry expert will comment, in the magazine, about how might it be changed to catch an agent’s or editor’s eye. If you’re feeling shy, you’re welcome to use a pen-name. This is an unpaid slot. (Deadline: 10 April 2017)

Pitch perfect: Submit a pitch (pithy description) for a project you’re planning to submit to an agent, editor or producer. The project might be a memoir, biography, fiction, theatre play or screenplay. We’re looking for a text of no more than 100 words. Our guest industry expert will suggest ways to make it spark the interest of the people you need to impress. If you’re feeling shy, you’re welcome to use a pen-name. This is an unpaid slot. (Deadline: 10 April 2017)

G is for…: A piece of creative nonfiction inspired by a single alphabet prompt (e.g. H is for Hawk). Up to 300 words. (Deadline: 10 April 2017)

Hindsight: Up to 200 words, please, in second person, of advice you’d like to give to your younger self, based on your later experience of writing and creativity that might benefit fellow Mslexics today. (Deadline: 10 April 2017)

Life sentence: One sentence only, and no more than 25 words, describing one interesting/poignant/bizarre/uplifting thing that’s happened in your writing life recently. There’s publication, and a credit, but no payment for these – but we’d still love to hear from you! And if you’re included you can add Mslexia to your writing CV… (Deadline: 10 April 2017)

To submit work, your students can visit our website and use the online forms, or email submissions@mslexia.co.uk.

All submission slots are completely free to enter, and we welcome work from women writers all over the world.

If you need anything else, do get in touch. We are especially interested in hearing about new ways we can help writers progress.”