Submission Guidelines

Issue II is COMING in December!

Issue III – Spring Equinox: The Quickening

A Curious Moon‘s Spring Equinox issue is based on the idea of The Quickening. Send us works of the thaw: the crack in the ice, the stirrings of spring, the first signs of life in a long while. We’re open to fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry under 5,000 words. Please check the submission guidelines below. Submissions are open from January 1st-31st. You’ll hear back from us by March.

Our first round of selection will be done anonymously to reduce bias. Please do not include your name or email in your document upload.

Submit here!

Cover Art for Spring Equinox: The Quickening

Our third issue needs a cover and we want to feature YOUR ART! Our Spring Equinox issue is based on the idea of The Quickening. We will select one art piece to feature on our website and Instagram. The artist’s name will be attached to all images of the art and a third person biography of the artist will be posted on our website.

Send us works of the thaw: the crack in the ice, the stirrings of spring, the first signs of life in a long while. We do not accept anything that promotes hate or is created using AI.

The artwork will be selected anonymously by our editors. Please do not include your name in your attached file.

Submit here until January 31st!

General Guidelines

A Curious Moon welcomes submissions from writers who embrace the spirituality of nature and the beauty that can be found even in the darkest of times. While we accept work from writers of all backgrounds, we are particularly interested in highlighting emerging writers and marginalized voices (people of color, the LGBTQIA+ community, women, etc.). Please let us know in your cover letter if this applies to you.

We accept simultaneous submissions of previously unpublished fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry under 5,000 words, but we ask that you contact us via email (acuriousmoon13@gmail.com) if your piece has been accepted elsewhere. While we’re open to writers from anywhere in the world, we ask that your piece be in English. We do not accept anything that promotes hate or is written using AI.

Our first round of selection will be done anonymously to reduce bias. Please do not include your name or email in your document upload.

If you’re work is accepted, we ask that you wait two submission cycles before submitting again.

As a quarterly literary magazine, we accept submissions in January, April, July, and October. The submission period will be open from the first to last day of the months bolded above. Each submission will have a theme related to nature in some way.

At this point in time, we’re unable to offer payment as we are an independently-run small press, but our submissions are free. We also nominate one piece per issue for the Pushcart Prize. A Curious Moon acquires first North American serial rights, which revert back to author upon publication.

Fiction & Creative Nonfiction Guidelines

Submissions should be no more than 5,000 words of previously unpublished work. You can submit up to three pieces (totaling up to 5,000 words) per issue in a single document. Make sure each submission is on a new page. Documents should be titled [GENRE]_[TITLE]_[ISSUE #].

All submissions are read anonymously. Before you submit, please remove your name and any other identifying information from your submission.

Poetry Guidelines

Submissions should be no more than 5,000 words of previously unpublished work. You can submit up to five poems (totaling up to 5,000 words) per issue in a single document. Make sure each submission is on a new page. Documents should be titled Poetry_[TITLE(S)]_[ISSUE #].

All submissions are read anonymously. Before you submit, please remove your name and any other identifying information from your submission.

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