February Deadlines: 14 Contests and Lit Mags With Deadlines This Month

The shortest of the months has arrived, but there are plenty of opportunities to submit. Check out some of our favorite lit mags with contests and deadlines in February.

American Short(er) Fiction Prize – American Short Fiction may have paused its regular reading period, but the American Short(er) Fiction Contest is in full swing. Edited by Amelia Gray, this contest offers $1,000 and publication to the best work of short fiction under 1,000 words. Submit here. Entry fee: $17 Deadline: Feb 15 (Extended from February 1!)

Fiction International – Fiction International is currently seeking creative prose submissions on the theme “Taboo.” Fiction, nonfiction, and “indeterminate prose” under 5,500 words are all welcome. Submit here. Entry fee: none Deadline: Feb 15

Green Blotter – Green Blotter showcases the unpublished works of current undergraduates around the world. They accept prose pieces under 5,000 words and up to 5 pages of poetry at a time. Submit here. Entry fee: none Deadline: Feb 15

On Spec Magazine – On Spec is currently accepting submissions of short fiction under 6,000 words, and accepts poetry year-round. The editorial team is interested in speculative fiction and poetry, and gives very detailed guidelines from the editors themselves. Submit here. Entry fee: none Deadline: Feb 15

Indiana Review’s Blue Lights Book Prize – This year the Indiana Review partners with IU Press to award their first annual Blue Light Book Prize to an outstanding short story collection. Alternating each year with poetry, the winning writer will have their work published in paperback with the first volume debuting at AWP in 2017. The winner also receives $2000 against royalties. Manuscripts should be about 30,000–45,000 words (140–180 manuscript pages) in length. Submit here. Entry fee: $20 Deadline: Feb 15

North Carolina Writers Top of The Mountain Award – The annual Top of the Mountain Book Award is the chance for authors of both fiction and creative nonfiction to submit samples of their works for a chance at a $1,000 cash prize. Submit the first 20 pages of your unpublished fiction or nonfiction work with a double-spaced, one-page synopsis. Submit here. Entry fee: $25 Deadline: Feb 15

People of Colo(u)r Destroy Science Fiction!  – Lightspeed Magazine is seeking submissions from writers of color for this special edition of the magazine. Guest editors Nalo Hopkinson and Kristine Ong Muslim are looking for works of science fiction under 10,000 words. Submit here. Entry fee: none Deadline: Feb 19

Tin House – Tin House is currently open for submissions to its un-themed winter issue, to be published on December 1. Submissions should be under 10,000 words. Submit here. Entry fee: none Deadline: Feb 28

Acorn – Acorn is a “journal of contemporary haiku” that publishes twice annually. Their current reading period, for the spring issue that will be published in April, will close at the end of February. Submit here. Entry fee: none Deadline: Feb 29

Conjunctions – In spring 2016 Conjunctions will published the themed issue “Affinity: The Friendship Issue.” They are currently seeking pieces that fit this theme, and will be open for submissions until February 29. They read for their online magazine, Web Conjunctions, year-round. Submit here. Entry fee: none Deadline: Feb 29

Unlikely Story – Unlikely Story: A Fine Selection of Unlikely Journals is currently reading for the mini-issue “A Potlatch of Fools, aka The Journal of Unlikely Observances.” Submissions should be under 2,000 words, and incorporate specific themes listed on the website. Submit here. Entry fee: none Deadline: Feb 29

Kenyon Review Short Story Contest – Kenyon Review, a publication of Kenyon College, is seeking submissions from unpublished authors for their annual short fiction contest. The winning writer will be published in the Jan/Feb 2017 issue of Kenyon Review, and will receive a scholarship to attend the 2016 Writer’s Workshop in Gambier, Ohio. Submissions should be under 1,200 words and will be judged by guest editor Jaimy Gordon. Submit here. Entry fee: $20 Deadline: Feb 29

Story Magazine – Story is currently has an open call for submissions that fit the 2016 theme of “Identity.” Online submissions will close at the end of February, but print submissions will remain open until May. Submit here. Entry fee: none Deadline: Feb 29

Tales from the Lake vol. 3 – Crystal Lake Publishing wants your creepy, eerie, campfire horror stories for a new anthology. Submissions should be standalone fiction stories between 2,000 and 4,000 words. Submit here. Entry fee: none Deadline: Feb 29

by KM Bezner