Ecotone, the literary magazine dedicated to reimagining place, welcomes work from a wide range of voices. We are particularly interested in place-based work by people and from perspectives historically underrepresented in literary publishing and in place-based contexts: writers and artists who are Black, Indigenous, people of color, people with disabilities, people who are gender-nonconforming and LGBTQIA+, women, people with low access to wealth, people from rural places, and others. We welcome the work of emerging writers of all ages and walks of life. Please review our complete guidelines before submitting. We strongly encourage writers to read work we’ve published before sending their own. A selection of writing and art from recent issues is featured on our website, where you can also order a copy of the magazine or subscribe.

How to Submit

We read submissions via Submittable and via post (for which see below). Each year, when possible, we offer two reading periods, generally beginning in January and in August. In addition, we offer a Valentine’s Day reading period, in which we invite submissions of work we love and would like to see more of. We occasionally must adjust submissions windows for administrative reasons; if we do so, the new dates will be posted in this space. (You can also follow us on Submittable to ensure you always have up-to-date deadlines.) In particular, please note that, depending upon interest, we may need to close before the end of our general window in order to give the work we receive the attention it deserves.

Winter 2024 (updated 1/24)

• January 26–31: Fee-free submissions, nonfiction only. During this window, we especially welcome work from groups historically underrepresented in literary publishing.
• February 1–6: General window, nonfiction only ($3 fee via Submittable, no fee via post).
• February 7–29 : Current subscribers may submit poetry, fiction, or nonfiction (no fee).

Valentine’s Day:

• February 14–15, calls for work vary by year, no fee. In 2023, we opened only to no-fee submissions of metrical poetry; debut fiction; and nonfiction that engages with scientific research.

You may send work once per reading period—one submission in fall and one in spring—and once during our Valentine's Day window if you have something that fits our call for work. Additional submissions, regardless of genre, will be deleted or recycled unread.

Fall 2024 (Anticipated; subject to change. Updates will be posted here.)

• August 29–31: Fee-free submissions, poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. During this window, we especially welcome work from writers historically underrepresented in literary publishing.
• September 1–5: General window, poetry, fiction, and nonfiction ($3 fee via Submittable, no fee via post).
• September 1–30: Current subscribers may submit poetry, fiction, or nonfiction (no fee).

If you send work during our general window, on completion of your submission, we’ll send you a discount for the amount of the fee, $3 off a year’s subscription (or renewal) to the magazine. Or you may subscribe or renew to submit with no fee. Current Ecotone subscribers, please choose the appropriate subscriber category in Submittable. Subscriptions will be verified, so be sure to enter your order number.

Postal Submissions

We are committed to receiving submissions by post for many reasons, among them to offer a fee-free option during our general reading periods. Long live the USPS! For instructions on how to send work by post, please review the guidelines page on our website. 

What We’re Looking For

We seek work that reimagines place. In addition to a wide range of place-engaged work, we continue to seek work in all genres that engages with the climate crisis.

Submissions are considered for all upcoming issues, themed and unthemed. For more on our themed issues, visit our Upcoming Issues page. Our next theme, for the fall/winter 2025 issue, is Moon. 

Prose

We appreciate a wide range of essays, and are especially interested in nonfiction that engages deeply, but not overly seriously, with the sciences—ecology, natural history, and other fields, in both Western and non-Western contexts. 

We like to see fiction that is deeply rooted in place, and/or that engages similarly with ecology, natural history, climate crisis, et al.

A prose submission consists of one prose piece (fiction or nonfiction) of no more than thirty double-spaced pages (approx. 10,000 words). 

· Most work we run is shorter than this upper limit.

· We are also interested in shorter prose works (minimum 2,000 words, please).

Prose Formatting

· Include a word count on the first page, and page numbers on each page. 

· Prose submissions should be double spaced and typed in a standard 12-point font (e.g. Times New Roman). 

· Do not include your name, or other identifying information, in the filename, the file itself, or the title of your submission in Submittable. 

Poetry

We are especially interested in poetry that engages with the social and natural sciences and/or considers place, ecology, identity, and climate crisis, as well as poetry that uses form, meter, and/or other poetic constraints in innovative and expansive ways. Work in the French repeating forms (rondeaux, ballades, rondelets, and the like) as well as in newer forms (golden shovels, fibs, etc.) is especially encouraged, as is work that employs meters other than iambic. 

A poetry submission consists of three (minimum) to five (maximum) poems. 

Poetry Formatting

• For online submissions, include all poems in a single document.  
• Poems should be single spaced and typed in a standard 12-point font (e.g. Times New Roman).
• Do not include your name, or other identifying information, in the filename, the file itself, or the title of your submission in Submittable. 
• Note: We cannot print poetry that involves both specific line breaks and justified text (aligned to both left and right margins, as in a column of newsprint), as such work will not render consistently across different formats. If you wish to send work that involves either of these, please choose one or the other.

Supplemental Material  

Cover Letters

Include a brief cover letter with your submission. For online submissions, this should be included in the cover letter field, not part of the file with the work. In your letter, please include: 

• The title(s) of the piece(s) you are sending, 
• A word count (for prose), 
• Your contact information, 
• A brief bio, if you like, and 
• Notice, if applicable, of simultaneous submission.  

We strive to maintain a balance between work from writers new to the magazine and those whose work we have loved and published in the past. 

• If you’re a past contributor to Ecotone, please mention it in your cover letter, and check the appropriate box if sending via Submittable. Please wait two years (four issues) after publication before sending new work. 
• If you’ve never before published any work in the genre in which you're submitting, please let us know that as well.

Eligibility & FAQs 

We accept: 

—Simultaneous submissions, provided that you: 

• Let us know in your cover letter if you are submitting simultaneously; and 
• Notify us promptly if some or all of the work is accepted elsewhere (see After Submitting, below).

—Work by unpublished, emerging, and established writers. 

—Work from people both within and outside of the United States. Writers outside of the United States, please submit electronically only.

—Both electronic and postal submissions (received or postmarked within published reading periods). 

We do not accept: 

—Previously published work

—Work from recent (within the last fifteen years) UNC Wilmington students 

—Work sent outside of our reading periods

—Work or queries sent via email 

Send work via Submittable below.

Or send via post!

After Submitting

Response time 

On average, we respond within six to nine months, although sometimes longer due to the volume of submissions received. We continue to review submissions and will be in touch as soon as we can.

Queries

Do not query us about your submission unless there is a need—for instance, if the work you submitted will appear in a forthcoming collection. We are unable to respond to general status queries. Should you need to be in touch, do so via Submittable message. This will allow us to keep track of your message. 

Revisions

We will consider the version of your work that you initially submit. We do not consider revisions to submissions during our reading process.

Withdrawals 

If you send work via Submittable, do not email the editors to withdraw part or all of your submission; instead, withdraw via Submittable, or for partial withdrawals of poetry submissions, add a message to your submission. (Do not add a note in Submittable, as notes there are only visible to you. The message function allows you to write to us.) 

Accepted Work 

We are dedicated to supporting our contributors with a thoughtful editorial process.

We use Microsoft Word to send edits. If Word is not a good option for you, we can also work in OpenOffice or Pages. 

Contributors receive an honorarium upon publication, with a $100 minimum for poetry and a $200 minimum for prose; two copies of the issue in which their work appears; and a one-year subscription beginning with the subsequent issue.

Thanks for thinking of Ecotone! We look forward to reading your work.