What You Need to Know
SmokeLong publishes flash narratives up to 1000 words. We do not consider poetry. We consider reviews of flash collections, essays on craft, and articles on teaching flash for the blog. Include a print-ready, third-person bio with your cover letter. Please include no identifying information on your document, the filename, or the title on Submittable. Our editors read submissions anonymously, have no access to the cover letter or the messaging feature on Submittable.
You can send one previously unpublished piece at a time and wait until you hear our decision before sending another, or you can send up to three submissions in the same document for a small fee. The multiple-submission option includes a discount code to be used in the SmokeLong Shop and a promise to respond within 3 days. If your submission is being considered for publication, we’ll let you know that we’ll need a few more days to discuss your work.
For free submissions, please allow us up to two weeks to inform you if we have accepted your work for publication. You will usually hear from us much sooner.
We consider simultaneous submissions, but please take into consideration response times when submitting to multiple journals. Please inform us immediately if your work has been accepted somewhere else for publication.
We pay $100/$150 with audio, upon publication in the quarterly issue. Payment will be issued via PayPal or Zelle, and the writer may be responsible for any associated fees if applicable.
Our Reading Schedule:
March Issue: November 16-February 15
June Issue (The SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction): February 1-May 15. General submissions are closed from February 16 to May 15.
September Issue: May 16-August 15
December Issue (including The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest): August 16-November 15. The reading period for The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest begins August 1. General submissions are open!
Please note that starting May 16 2025, we will have a free-submission period ending April 1, July 1, and October 1, respectively, for each of the general-submissions reading periods above. After these dates, there will be a small charge for submissions. We will announce these deadlines on social media. If you cannot afford to pay a small submission fee, no worries. We will always have a free-submission period.
Info to Help Increase Your Chances of Publication
The best way to learn what a journal publishes is to read the journal. Our archives–21 years of flash!–are free to read. If you are unfamiliar with the flash narrative, please take a few hours and browse our archives.
We are not interested in works previously published–with the exception of the now annual Grand Micro Contest, which is open to previously published work. Pieces published only on your personal web site or blog will be considered as long as they are removed before publication in SmokeLong; please inform us of this in your cover letter. Translated work must also be previously unpublished in the original language.
We are all writers at SmokeLong and sensitive to the nature of submitting work—which we realize is often your very private and important selves—to strangers. We will treat your story with respect. We want what all readers want from you: something sincerely and uniquely yours, something that stands up to rereading and lingers in our consciousness. We want to be surprised and thrilled.
Our intent is to respond as quickly as possible, which means you might receive a rejection one or two days after submitting. Please know that at least two editors gave your submission careful consideration. If we are considering your work longer than two weeks, this is a great sign.
Online Rights: If we publish your work, we require exclusive electronic rights to it for 3 months and non-exclusive rights indefinitely so we can include it in our online archives.
Print Rights: We require non-exclusive print rights, for potential annual anthologies and promotional materials. All other rights remain yours.
About Our Editing Process
Your work is assigned to two submissions editors. If both editors pass on your story, that’s the end of the line; if even one votes MAYBE, your work is put forward to the senior editors.
We regret that we are unable to provide unpaid feedback. If you would like feedback on your work, please use the appropriate forms on Submittable. SmokeLong subsidizes this service so that you pay less than the editor earns. In this way we hope to maintain a viable feedback service for both editor and writer. Even if you receive a form rejection from us (or several) know that we value your work and are cheering you on for success.
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