Thanks for your interest. Submissions to On Spec are closed, permanently.
We appreciate the hard work of all the writers and poets and artists who have sent us their work over the years, and we wish you all the best with your careers.
I’ve looked everywhere, but I can’t find specific guidelines for poetry submissions.
How many poems should we submit (minimum, maximum)? Should we submit them as one .rtf file, or each poem as a separate submission? How should we format our poetry submission?
You can send several poems, although it makes it easier if each one is sent separately. For example, we may decline all but one. Formatting would depend on the poem, itself.
Still a no-go without a phone number. Always wants a valid phone number. Have tried with dashes, without dashes, with area code brackets, with a long distance 1, and as a 555-5555. Too timid to try 666-6666.
If all else fails, send the story by email to onspecmag(at)gmail.com and explain the circumstances. We will accept it that way. We just don’t want to make a habit of it .
Loading...
Hi,
The poetry submission guidelines are available for viewing on the Submittable page for sending Poetry to On Spec. They are just not shown on our website.
Hello, I know this falls beyond your usual publications, but would you consider graphic works of fiction an acceptable format? (Ie works in the format of graphic novels, illustrated stories, any kind of word+image combinations…)
We did experiment briefly with a graphic story a few years ago. Because our interior is not in colour, this does limit the potential. This is something we may come back to in the future, however.
Dear On Spec, my name is Christopher Ibrahim from Nigeria. I would like to ask during submissions for poems, is the writer to add his/her name? Also, you talked about collecting works from North American writers so, I am curious, to ask ” what about African writers?
Thank you
Hi Christopher and thanks for your question. We have published work from writers and artists in many different countries–Greece, Australia, USA, Italy– we’d be happy to see a submission from the African continent!
Sorry to take so long to reply to you. We accept submissions from around the world. And please do add your name ! Most important! We are currently closed for all submissions, but do keep us in mind for later in the year.
Hello Christopher. Sorry we missed this question. Yes, always put your name on any submissions. We love receiving any works from around the world! Other North American (US or Canada) publications (unless they specifically say otherwise) also accept works from anywhere.
Thanks for your question. When we are open to new submissions there will be instructions on the web site that show you how to register your new account and then upload a story for us to read.
Sorry, I was incorrect. It looks like we have a full schedule of stories right now, so we will probably not open again until next Fall. Keep writing and submit your stories to other markets, too! Good luck!
How many stories are we allowed to submit at a time? I got two I’d like to try at once, so I’m checking to see if it’s possible to submit both of them.
Hello,
I have a fiction piece of 4,000 words that I would consider submitting. However, I see that one must have prior approval from a staff member in order for the work to be submitted by email. Do you have advice for me?
Thank you,
Jerome
Thanks for your inquiry. Our Submissions window on the web site is currently open to the end of Novamber, and it is a simple matter for you to register there and upload your work for consideration. You don’t need to send it by email.
The short answer is “as long as it takes”. We have a small team of volunteers and reading each one of the 600 or so submissions takes time. Stories remain in the queue until assigned to a reader, and once the reader gets to it, responses can be quick (decline) or slow (under review until more readers have their say).
We appreciate your patience. Some writers have already sold their stories and poems elsewhere and so they let us know to remove them from the queue.
Do you know when you’ll be open for submissions again? (Somehow, I had marked in my submissions calendar that you would be open on Nov. 1, 2023, but I don’t remember where I got that.)
Thanks for this, Larry. Everything with On Spec is a moving target. I’m hoping to be able to set up the new submission process sometime this month.
Diane
I need to re-read your Guidelines all the way through for a third time. There’s a lot there. OK , so the Theroux Clan is still strong in Quebec / Newfoundland, but some of us went south with the Flood. Still, only a degree or two removed, eh?
Thanks for this inquiry. We received an unprecedented 600 short story submissions in our recent submission period. With a volunteer editorial group of maybe a dozen people, some not always available due to school, work, family and health issues, it’s going to take some time to read through all the stories, some by more than one editor, before we decide what contracts to offer. Since we are likely to find at least a year’s worth of quality work, we won’t need to open to new submissions until the end of 2024.
How do I query about a submission, only it’s been sat Pending for quite a while? The only options are to edit or delete. I am seeing responses logged on grinder that were submitted well after mine.
Thanks for this inquiry. We were flooded with more than 500 submissions, and have a small team of volunteers to read them. Stories are assigned in random order, so yours is still in the queue for reading. That said, we are actually on target with the reading this year. Some stories may actually be waiting for a second or even third reader before we decide to offer a contract or decline them.
I’m sure I replied to this when you posted it but can’t have done it right, but thanks for the reply, albeit belatedly.
Loading...
Thanks, we appreciate it!
Loading...
Does anyone have a general time frame for when On Spec will be open for submissions again?
I sent in a story a few years ago under a different name that the editors kindly encouraged me to resubmit after some revisions. Some life garbage got in the way of submitting again, but I did make the revisions and am finally getting back on the horse, so I’d really like to give it another try, and I’d like to know when to check back. 🙂
Thanks for your inquiry. We received an abundance of excellent stories in our recent submission period. Likely won’t be open to new submissions until the end of 2024.
Hello. I’m trying to register an account so I can submit to you guys, but your “Create Account” link is not sending me to the account creation page, instead, it’s sending me to the sign-in dashboard where my e-mail and username are invalid. I think you should look into this and see if you can get this issue resolved. Thanks so much.
I’ve looked everywhere, but I can’t find specific guidelines for poetry submissions.
How many poems should we submit (minimum, maximum)? Should we submit them as one .rtf file, or each poem as a separate submission? How should we format our poetry submission?
You can send several poems, although it makes it easier if each one is sent separately. For example, we may decline all but one. Formatting would depend on the poem, itself.
Hi. We’re not sure what is causing this. Try it without the phone number.
Still a no-go without a phone number. Always wants a valid phone number. Have tried with dashes, without dashes, with area code brackets, with a long distance 1, and as a 555-5555. Too timid to try 666-6666.
If all else fails, send the story by email to onspecmag(at)gmail.com and explain the circumstances. We will accept it that way. We just don’t want to make a habit of it .
Hi,
The poetry submission guidelines are available for viewing on the Submittable page for sending Poetry to On Spec. They are just not shown on our website.
Hello, I know this falls beyond your usual publications, but would you consider graphic works of fiction an acceptable format? (Ie works in the format of graphic novels, illustrated stories, any kind of word+image combinations…)
We did experiment briefly with a graphic story a few years ago. Because our interior is not in colour, this does limit the potential. This is something we may come back to in the future, however.
Hello! I am wondering when Onspec will next be open for short story submissions. Many thanks.
We’re hoping to begin a new round of submissions sometime in February. Thanks for your interest!
You say you take stories of up to 6000 words but it won’t let me submit a story over 1000 words when I try and submit. How do I work around this?
Just attach your story as a Word or RTF document. The 1000 words limit is in the Comments box where you can add a cover letter if you wish.
Hi. Do you accept submissions from Indians?
We accept submissions from everyone.
Dear On Spec, my name is Christopher Ibrahim from Nigeria. I would like to ask during submissions for poems, is the writer to add his/her name? Also, you talked about collecting works from North American writers so, I am curious, to ask ” what about African writers?
Thank you
Christopher Ibrahim
Hi Christopher and thanks for your question. We have published work from writers and artists in many different countries–Greece, Australia, USA, Italy– we’d be happy to see a submission from the African continent!
Sorry to take so long to reply to you. We accept submissions from around the world. And please do add your name ! Most important! We are currently closed for all submissions, but do keep us in mind for later in the year.
Hello Christopher. Sorry we missed this question. Yes, always put your name on any submissions. We love receiving any works from around the world! Other North American (US or Canada) publications (unless they specifically say otherwise) also accept works from anywhere.
May I inquire as to your next submission deadline? I missed it this round.
Hi Rusti,
We may open to poetry a bit sooner, but at the moment all the editors are busy with what we received. Watch for announcements.
Diane
When will you be open to submissions again? I’d love to submit as soon as possible. 🙂
We are currently editing stories we bought from the last submission period, so probably not opening to new work until sometime in the Spring.
Hi, how can one submit for the first time?
Thanks for your question. When we are open to new submissions there will be instructions on the web site that show you how to register your new account and then upload a story for us to read.
The Editors
So when does the next opportunity to contribute come? I’d like to try my hand again?
We usually will open again about 6 months after the last period closes. So start looking about the end of March. Thank you for your interest!
Sorry, I was incorrect. It looks like we have a full schedule of stories right now, so we will probably not open again until next Fall. Keep writing and submit your stories to other markets, too! Good luck!
How many stories are we allowed to submit at a time? I got two I’d like to try at once, so I’m checking to see if it’s possible to submit both of them.
You can send us several stories, but each one must be a separate submission. They will be assigned to different first readers.
The Editors
Hello,
I have a fiction piece of 4,000 words that I would consider submitting. However, I see that one must have prior approval from a staff member in order for the work to be submitted by email. Do you have advice for me?
Thank you,
Jerome
Thanks for your inquiry. Our Submissions window on the web site is currently open to the end of Novamber, and it is a simple matter for you to register there and upload your work for consideration. You don’t need to send it by email.
https://onspecmag.wpcomstaging.com/2020-story-poetry-and-art-submissions/
The Editors
Hi,
How long do you normally keep things under review? I submitted some work 11/8 but can’t find anywhere that gives a time estimate. Thank you!
The short answer is “as long as it takes”. We have a small team of volunteers and reading each one of the 600 or so submissions takes time. Stories remain in the queue until assigned to a reader, and once the reader gets to it, responses can be quick (decline) or slow (under review until more readers have their say).
We appreciate your patience. Some writers have already sold their stories and poems elsewhere and so they let us know to remove them from the queue.
The Editors
Do you know when you’ll be open for submissions again? (Somehow, I had marked in my submissions calendar that you would be open on Nov. 1, 2023, but I don’t remember where I got that.)
Thanks for this, Larry. Everything with On Spec is a moving target. I’m hoping to be able to set up the new submission process sometime this month.
Diane
I read all the guidelines AND the questions. Your publication is new to me so I will looK forward to the digital copy!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
I need to re-read your Guidelines all the way through for a third time. There’s a lot there. OK , so the Theroux Clan is still strong in Quebec / Newfoundland, but some of us went south with the Flood. Still, only a degree or two removed, eh?
You don’t absolutely need to be Canadian, although we do have a mandate of 80% Canadian editorial content.
Hi there! Do you think you will be opening to submissions in January?
Thanks!
Thanks for this inquiry. We received an unprecedented 600 short story submissions in our recent submission period. With a volunteer editorial group of maybe a dozen people, some not always available due to school, work, family and health issues, it’s going to take some time to read through all the stories, some by more than one editor, before we decide what contracts to offer. Since we are likely to find at least a year’s worth of quality work, we won’t need to open to new submissions until the end of 2024.
How do I query about a submission, only it’s been sat Pending for quite a while? The only options are to edit or delete. I am seeing responses logged on grinder that were submitted well after mine.
Thanks for this inquiry. We were flooded with more than 500 submissions, and have a small team of volunteers to read them. Stories are assigned in random order, so yours is still in the queue for reading. That said, we are actually on target with the reading this year. Some stories may actually be waiting for a second or even third reader before we decide to offer a contract or decline them.
D. Walton
Managing Editor
I’m sure I replied to this when you posted it but can’t have done it right, but thanks for the reply, albeit belatedly.
Thanks, we appreciate it!
Does anyone have a general time frame for when On Spec will be open for submissions again?
I sent in a story a few years ago under a different name that the editors kindly encouraged me to resubmit after some revisions. Some life garbage got in the way of submitting again, but I did make the revisions and am finally getting back on the horse, so I’d really like to give it another try, and I’d like to know when to check back. 🙂
Thanks for your inquiry. We received an abundance of excellent stories in our recent submission period. Likely won’t be open to new submissions until the end of 2024.
Hello. I’m trying to register an account so I can submit to you guys, but your “Create Account” link is not sending me to the account creation page, instead, it’s sending me to the sign-in dashboard where my e-mail and username are invalid. I think you should look into this and see if you can get this issue resolved. Thanks so much.
We are aware of the problem, and will register you ourselves. We can email the default password.