Submission Guidelines
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Thank you for your interest in Black Fox! Black Fox Literary Magazine is an international print and online biannual publication featuring quality fiction of all styles and genres, poetry, and nonfiction. We publish one summer issue and one winter issue each year. We accept general submissions in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for each issue during the following periods:
Summer (2023) Issue Submission Period: January 1, 2024 – May 31, 2024.
Winter (2024) Issue Submission Period: July 1, 2024 – November 30, 2024.
Submissions received after the last day of the submission period will not be considered for that issue. Please send only one submission per submission period.
We accept submissions for the following categories year-round:
Submission with Donation
Submission with Expedited Response of 4 Weeks
Submission with Expedited Response of 2 Weeks
Submission with Feedback (Fiction Only)
Art
Blog Posts
Cover Art
We are looking for artwork to feature on the covers of our issues. We prefer art that can be displayed on our cover in portrait format. Please do not send more than five pieces of art at a time. If submitting multiple pieces, we prefer images to be in one document. Review previous issues to get a feel for our tastes. Send your best artwork, including drawings, photographs, etc. through our submission manager found here.
Fiction
We’re always looking for quality fiction to publish in our biannual issues. We accept work based on merit and not based on genre. We enjoy receiving submissions from under-represented genres such as: YA, romance, flash fiction, mystery, etc. We ask that you keep submissions to 5,000 words or less and follow our guidelines for preparing your manuscript. Submit your fiction through our submission manager found here.
Creative Nonfiction
We’re looking for personal essays and other creative nonfiction. There is no submission fee, but please prepare your manuscript according to our guidelines. Submit your creative nonfiction through our submission manager found here.
Poetry
Please send only three poems at a time in one document. Poems do not have to be double spaced, but poets should still use Times New Roman, 12 pt. font and the poet’s last name/page number should still appear in the top right hand corner of every page. Poets, please keep in mind that our issue pages are 6×9. For this reason, poems with particularly long lines often don’t work well. Submit your poetry through our submission manager found here.
Blog Posts
We’re always looking for contributors for the Black Fox blog. We are particularly interested in articles on the craft of writing, personal essays on writing, book reviews, book news, and publishing news. If it’s writing, book, or publishing related, then this is the place for it. If we like your article we’ll publish it to our blog. Submit your articles through our submission manager found here.
Preparing Your Manuscript:
Please make sure your manuscript is double-spaced with 12 point font (Times New Roman). Submissions should be no more than 5,000 words. Author’s name and page number should appear in the top right hand corner of every page.
To Submit:
We accept submissions through our submission manager found here. We only accept online submissions. We DO NOT accept submissions by email. If submissions are sent via email they will be automatically discarded without notice. Send only one submission per submission period. We do not accept previously published work. We accept simultaneous submissions, but we ask that you withdraw your work via Submittable (add a note if withdrawing one poem at a time) if your work is accepted elsewhere. Past contributors, please wait until at least one full submission period has passed before submitting again. Please note: we aim for a 3-4 month response time, but please feel free to inquire if you haven’t heard from us in 6 months.
Payment
As of August 2023, Black Fox will pay each contributor of our issues $20 each. We are working on increasing this rate in the future! We are not able to supply contributor copies at this time, however all of our issues are available via our website for free. Accepted writers will be published in one of our issues depending on the submission period. The first place winner of our biannual writing contest receives a cash prize of $300 and winners of our Fox Tales Contest series receive $100 plus a Black Fox Prize Pack comprised of writerly items.
Rights Policy
Black Fox Literary Magazine holds first North American serial rights for 60 days after publication. Authors agree not to publish, or authorize publication of any part of the material for 60 days following first publication. Should an author’s work be reprinted elsewhere after the 60-day period, we kindly ask that Black Fox Literary Magazine be given credit as the first publisher.
I would like to submit a few poems, based on our
Black brothers unfair treatment and hardship.
We welcome your submissions.
Is there a submission form? Couldn’t find it, thanks!
Follow the links above to reach our submission manager
There is no submission manager except for your contest.
Here is the link to our submission manager. https://blackfoxlit.submittable.com/submit
I see that you do not accept previously published pieces; however, I am curious if you count something shared behind a paywall on an author’s Patreon (or similar) page as previously published? How about something posted publicly on a site like that or an author’s personal blog? Would it depend on the number of views?
I wouldn’t have asked this question even five years ago, but I know attitudes are changing across the industry, and I’ve found in the last couple years, preferences about this differ from publication to publication and sometimes even between editors at the same publication. Thanks so much for any guidance you can provide.
We do not accept previously published pieces, this includes anything posted online.
I do not see a Submission with Feedback option for fiction. Does that still exist?
That option is not currently available, but we do plan to reopen it in the near future.
When you indicate one submission per submission period, I assume that means the two submission periods noted above; however, there are four categories noted that allow submissions all year round. What is the difference? In addition, is that one submission per category or one submission across all categories (fiction, nonfiction, etc.)? Thank you!
Hello William, thank you for your excellent inquiry! We definitely need to update our text to read more accurately given that we now have some submissions open year round. Please submit only one submission, across all categories, at a time. So, if you have an open submission into us, one that we have not decided upon yet, then please do not submit another until we have closed the existing one with a decision. Thanks again for your inquiry.
Are you still accepting photography? I didn’t see it listed on the Submittable page. Thanks.
Of course, we do accept photography under our Art submissions. We use art for our covers, so if you have a photograph you think meets our cover aesthetic, please feel free to submit. Happy New Year!
Do you have any interest in publishing any poems about the war in Ukraine?
Hi William,
We are interested in publishing a wide variety of topics in our journal. We would enjoy reading your work.
Thank you for your note!
Elizabeth
I am currently preparing to self-pub a book of 13 of my short stories (with annotations on each story), and 16 essays. The title will be “Studies in Fiction.” Eleven of the stories have been published in various literary journals over the past several years. Of the two that haven’t been published, “Death Leap,” a parody on reality television, is the best. It’s funny, a bit macabre, and touching, but it’s way too long for you, 12,000 words. The other unpublished story, “Negative Twenty Questions,” is a sci-fi story about the artificial intelligence “singularity”—when AI goes too far and things turn very bad for civilization. This story is 4,047 words, and the annotation for it, which is both entertaining and instructive, is 1,565 words. That’s a total of 5,612. Is your upper limit of 5,000 words inflexible, or might you be interested in looking at these conjoined twins? Some of my essays might be suitable for your blog, if we could arrange publication in conjunction with my book. Thanks for any guidance you are able to provide.
Hi William,
Thanks for reaching out to Black Fox! 5000 words is our upper limit for the magazine. The limit for our blog is much less. If you feel the smaller story could run sans annotation, then we might consider it. Of course, we review everything that is submitted.
Best of luck with your work!
Elizabeth
Hi,
Are sim subs allowed for the curennt short fiction contest? I don’t see anything one way to the other in the contest guidelines.
Thank you,
M
Our summer writing contest is open to poetry, nonfiction, and fiction submissions. We do accept simultaneous submissions and ask that you withdraw your submission immediately upon learning it has been accepted elsewhere. Please keep in mind that reading and contest fees are nonrefundable.
How do you submit online when there is not link?
There are multiple links above from which to submit through our submission manager.
After reading a few questions regarding links, I suspect the problem might that the light gray on a white background might be the problem.
Would you be interested in an article dealing with the grief and healing process of a Black mother of a fatal shooting victim?
We do accept creative nonfiction work which includes personal essays. You’re welcome to submit your work and give our readers the opportunity to weigh in on it.
Thanks for inquiring!
Elizabeth
Hi,
I already submitted a flash fiction piece for the Winter issue. However, I’m curious if the “one submission per period” rule applies to the writing contest as well. Can I also submit to this or is it not permitted? Thank you.
Hi Kevin,
Yes, it is all right to submit to the contest even if you’ve already submitted for the period.
Thanks!
Hi. I just sent in a submission. I know the form was periodically automatically saved–but I did not click on save just before hitting submit. Was everything was filled in properly –saved–on the form? (This question may remind others to save!) Thank you.
Patricia, everything appears to be in order! Best wishes!
Thank you very much for having a comments section. I learned a lot about your publication and vibe from the lively Q & A. I look forward to submitting.
Hi Calla, thanks for submitting! Best wishes!
Any chance you would raise the word count higher than 5K? I have a story that fits your parameters but exceeds your word count. Thank you.
We are not going to change our word count. We love to publish as many pieces as possible, and must be mindful of our pages.
Is the 5000 word limit cast in stone, or can one squeeze in a few more words. I do hate to cut stuff.
In the interest of keeping it fair, we keep to our word count.
Does your magazine publish high school writers, or is your magazine against that?
Hi Bronson,
We have published high school students in the past. We are not opposed to it.
Best wishes,
Elizabeth
Do you accept submissions from Canada?
Hi Sandra, we accept submissions from anywhere in the world!
Where do I send my work? Is there an email or website? Do I have to provide a cover letter or anything else ?
Jules, submit via our Submittable portal, accessible through our website. https://www.blackfoxlitmag.com/submit/ If you hover over the text that says “found here” at the end of each genre section.
For flash fiction, do you accept more than one flash piece at a time? Ex, each piece has to be less than 1000 words, but can have up to 2 pieces in the same document.
Yes, Gina, you may send two pieces of flash fiction in one submission.
You have a category for Flash Fiction but not for Flash Nonfiction. Are you interested in the latter and, if so, would it be submitted under FF or NF? Thanks!!
Please submit nonfiction under the nonfiction category, regardless of length. Thanks!
How many submissions do you accept for fiction and flash fiction? Multiple or one?
We ask that you submit only once during the free submission period, unless you are submitting for a paid service or the contest.
I wrote peice on being a twin and the positives, negatives, and just they way people treated me for being on.
Hello, will you accept Flash Fiction for your contest? I have a fiction piece that fits your theme of “Secrets” but it is just under 1000 words. Thank you!
Yes, we will accept flash fiction for the contest.
Greetings!
This is Conrad from the Philippines and I wish to publish some of my poems and essays for your perusal.
God bless!
We look forward to receiving your submissions!
Hello. I just wanted to further clarify the subject of previously published works. If I’ve put only a small excerpt (as in, no more than a paragraph or two at best out of nearly 5,000 words) online, would the entire work or even the section of that work that I’ve posted be considered previously published?
Thank you.
Hi Claire,
Any portion of work you’ve published online is considered previously published. That is to say, the excerpt is considered published, not whatever piece the excerpt belongs to. If you were to remove that excerpt from the larger piece, then that larger work is something we would consider publishing.
I hope that helps!
Greetings. Look forward to submitting to current theme – but want to be sure about content – are sexual references ‘not acceptable’ – sex, in-of-itself, taboo? Thanks for clarifying. Gavin Kayner
You might read our back issues to get an idea of what we generally publish. I can’t recall a time when we’ve published explicit sex content.
Hello! I’m wondering what mistakes you commonly see with submissions. It looks like my recent submission was passed over due to an issue with the guidelines but I can’t for the life of me figure out what I did incorrectly. Thanks!
Sharon, your poetry submission should be 12 point Times New Roman font, and have your name and the page number in the upper right hand corner of each page. Hope that helps!
I know you prefer short-fiction of 5,000 words or less, but is that a hard cutoff?
Yes, the maximum word count for short fiction is 5,000.
I submitted my slash fiction, “Jenny’s Garden”, in 5/31/23. Is it still under consideration? Thanks.
Ron, a decision was sent to you via Submittable on November 21, 2023. Thanks!
I’m considering submitting a creative nonfiction piece, 4221 words, about being in Moscow in the middle of the fall of the Soviet Union in August 1991. The piece includes photographs taken by my husband. Would you consider a piece with photos?
Hi Edie. Sounds like an interesting piece. We are not able to consider photographs for our issue.
Dear Black Fox,
I wanted to show you a story but when I went to Submittable (where I have had an account for many years) it presented me with a reset password form, and suggested that I need to log into Black Fox before proceeding to Submittable. I see nowhere on your site to create an account for Black Fox. Where might I find this?
Cheers, Mike
Hi Mike, you don’t need a Black Fox login. Your Submittable account is sufficient. If you’re having troubles, I recommend contacting Submittable for support.
You’ve requested a cover letter with the contest submission and asked that we include the genre in it but there is no additional information on what else you would like us to include. Also, when you say to include which genre it is, are you talking about publishers marketing categories like sci-fi, mystery etc or are you talking about submission categories like art, poetry or prose?
When we say genre in this context, we mean fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. We do not have any requirements for the cover letter.
I would like to submit some poems on identity, belonging, and the human condition, based on the individual as well as collective African experience.
Hi BlackFox, what’s the turn around time for the response/feedback for the ‘submission with feedback’ category?
Saj, there is no set turnaround time for that category.
Do you accept previously published for the contest?
No, we do not consider previously published work in any category.
Can you explain what the difference between “Submission with Expedited Response” and the YA Fiction submissions are, I want to submit a fiction piece but know which category to submit into.
Thanks you.
If you submit under a “Submission with Expedited Response” category, then you’ll receive a decision on your submission according to which response time you select. YA Fiction is Young Adult fiction. However, you may submit YA Fiction under one of our expedited categories instead, if you wish, just let us know in the cover letter which genre.
Good luck!
Hello,
I would like to submit a short story, but I entered the wrong email when I signed up for you submission manager, and now when I try to submit, your submission manager defaults to the incorrect email. How do I fix this?
Don
Hi Don, I think you will need to contact technical support with Submittable in order to correct the email issue.
Dear Black Fox,
What is the average response time for poetry submissions?
Hi Linda. We try to respond to all submissions within 3-4 months. Please feel free to nudge us if you haven’t had a response by 6 months.