Skip to content

Submission Guidelines

dirtcakes welcomes writing and art of all genres—the surreal, the 21st century, the conventional. 

  • we do not necessarily believe the polemic, strident, or didactic makes the best art. While an implicitly activist publication, we prefer works that say some thing before they say Something.
  • we are always looking for artistic crackheads—creators capable of inducing a metaphorical skull fissure, letting new light reach the dark recesses of the brain. And the heart, of course.
  • our limited budget seeks to lighten the hunger of the starving artist: Payment of $25 and 2 contributor copies will accompany all accepted artists.
  • we love work in any language. Please include author-approved English translation. All text will appear in English, original language, and any other author-provided translations.
  • previously published work, including publication in an online venue which provides edited image or word content, is not accepted.
  • simultaneous submissions are encouraged. Please notify us upon acceptance elsewhere.
  • submitting in multiple categories and themes is okay, too.
  • dirtcakes acquires First Serial Rights to publish on our website, to print, and the right to keep credited work in our archives.
  • dirtcakes is a homegrown and operated.

Guidelines for Creative Nonfiction

  • we accept personal narratives, immersion journalism, satires, reflections, meditations, and textual & cultural analyses.
  • acceptable formats include.doc, .rtf., .pdf., and .docx
  • send submission of up to 5,000 words to dirtcakes.new.nonfiction@gmail.com

Guidelines for Poetry

  • all forms, schools, and creeds are considered.
  • acceptable formats include .doc, .rtf., .pdf., and .docx
  • send up to 5 poems/10 pages to dirtcakes.new.poetry@gmail.com

Guidelines for Visual Media

  • we accept photography, paintings, drawings, and computer art.
  • photography may not be computer-manipulated in any way.
  • all images are considered for cover, which will be printed in full color at 6×9 inches. It will include the name of the journal and the issue number (see examples).
  • artwork published within the journal will be printed in b&w, though we make make a limited run of color interiors. The images may also be displayed on our online version, where they will be full color.
  • there are no restrictions or thematic guidelines for subject matter.
  • acceptable formats include png, jpg, jpeg, or gif file type, and don’t need to be full resolution, 800×600 pixels is fine, and must be smaller than 2mb.
  • send no more than 5 images to dirtcakes.new.art@gmail.com

 

Reading Periods:

Issue #6 – Is there a witchcountryplayingwhoatomicfeelgoodoctopusofstrangelovequinnpepperswithoutborderskevorkianruthbunsenhoneydew in the house?

Dedicated to U.N. Millennium Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Other Diseases.

  • What forms do doctors take in our global societies? 
  • What kind of healing do we need most? 
  • What qualifies as medicine?  
  • How does the advance of/resistance to medical progress shape our world?
  • Do doctored items–drinks, documents–promote the antonym of the title? 
  • Are they really there to just hold your hand? 

Reading Until July 31, 2013

Issue #7 — TBD

Dedicated to U.N Millennium Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability

Reading Until January 31, 2014

Issue #8 — One

Dedicated to U.N Millennium Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development

  • “We’re one, but we’re not the same”
  • How do a multitude of cultures co-exist meaningfully and honestly in the coming century?
  • How have multinationals co-opted/corrupted/created the global paradigm?

 Reading Until July 31, 2014

______________________________________

What we’ve published:

Issue #1 — The Hunger Issue:  Released 2011

Dedicated to UN Millennium Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty & Hunger

Issue #2 — School Me:  Released 2011

Dedicated to UN Millennium Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education 

Issue #3  — Girls Will Be Women:   Released 2012

Dedicated to UN Millennium Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women

Issue #4 —“Oh Baby!”:  Journal Coming soon

Dedicated to UN Millennium Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality


Issue #5 — Mama Said:  Journal Coming soon

Dedicated to U.N. Millennium Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health

8 Comments leave one →
  1. March 14, 2012 9:28 am

    Hi there,

    Is there a specific deadline for the ”Oh Baby!“ issue?

    Many thanks,
    Sarah

    • June 2, 2012 4:55 am

      Not as yet. Thanks for your interest.

      • July 28, 2012 12:05 pm

        When can we expect to hear from you if our submission is accepted or rejected?

      • August 22, 2012 7:10 pm

        For Oh Baby, we’ll try to have everything done by the end of Sept.

  2. Maude Larke permalink
    July 31, 2012 2:50 pm

    Is there news on no.3, “girls will be women”?

    • August 6, 2012 4:19 am

      The issue has arrived and will be mailed promptly. Thank you for your patience.

  3. August 9, 2012 2:28 am

    If we submitted a poem for the “Oh Baby” issue, will we hear either way if our work was accepted? Thanks in advance!

    • August 22, 2012 7:09 pm

      Yes. We’ll let everyone know once everything is read. Thanks for sending us your writing.

What do you have to say?

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 26 other followers

%d bloggers like this: