submit

submissions for ISSUE 01: sweet&sour are closed! (exhibition is always open)

for our opening issue, we have chosen the theme of sweet&sour. whether it’s collages of a friendship’s bittersweet history or an unsent letter to a lost sibling, we want to hear what you have to say. give us the sugary confessions of love, the sharp words exchanged between enemies, the polished and the grimy—the sweet and the sour.

submissions for ISSUE 01 close on august 15, 11:59pm CT.

if you’d like to submit work that doesn’t fit the current issue’s theme, you are more than welcome to submit to our exhibition, which is open to submissions year-round and accepts works of any subject or theme.

submissions guidelines

we accept poetry, prose (fiction and creative nonfiction), and visual art. although it is not necessary, submissions that keep the atmosphere of the mag in mind are preferred. we love works that are jarring and emotional and maybe a little bit bizarre. we’re looking for the messy thoughts angrily scribbled in the late hours of night, the unfriendly ideas in your head you’ve been taught to fear—anything and everything that a half empty glass means to you.

you may submit multiple genres, but please do not submit more than 5 pieces at any one time, across all genres.

POETRY	FICTION	CREATIVE NONFICTION	VISUAL ART
– no word limit – pdf or docx – no more than 3 pieces at a time	– total word limit is 2500 – pdf or docx – no more than 2 pieces at a time	– total word limit is 2500 – pdf or docx – no more than 2 pieces at a time	– png or jpg – no more than 3 pieces at a time

we accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know as soon as possible if a piece you’ve submitted to us has been accepted elsewhere. we do not accept submissions that have been previously published at other locations.
we ask for first serial rights to accepted works. once pieces are published, rights are reverted back to you.
we encourage content warnings to be submitted with any potentially graphic or triggering pieces.
while submissions are open to everyone, we highly encourage marginalized and underrepresented creatives in particular to submit.
please do not submit to an issue more than once. please wait at least one month to submit again to the exhibition.
our response time for exhibition pieces will be approximately three weeks, and our response time for issues will vary. feel free to reach out to us if you do not hear back.
at the moment, we are unable to pay contributors, but we hope to provide proper compensation in the future.

if you have any questions, please reach out to halfemptymag@gmail.com. do not submit to this email.