Submit to Saw Palm

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

General Guidelines:

Saw Palm is a Florida-themed journal; however, we welcome writers and artists from across the country and the globe as long as the work is connected to Florida (via images, people, themes, etc.). We also welcome creative works from Floridians that are not obviously about someplace else. Please check out past issues, available for download as free PDFs.

We are seeking poetry, fiction, nonfiction, comics, art, and photography submissions for Volume 18, published in Spring 2024. Our submission period is July 1, 2023 - September 30, 2023.

We accept submissions for Places to Stand, interviews, and reviews year-round.

We do not accept written work that has been previously published either online or in print.

Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please indicate simultaneous submissions in a brief cover letter and let us know immediately through Submittable if your work has been accepted elsewhere. The cover letter may also include a brief third-person bio of no more than 100 words.

Send only one submission at a time per genre. If you have a pending submission, please wait for a response before submitting again. We make every effort to respond as quickly as possible while giving each submission the time it deserves. Our average response time is 3-5 months. After 6 months, you’re welcome to follow up with the appropriate editor.

All submissions must be made electronically through our online submissions manager. We do not accept email submissions. Please upload text files in .doc or .docx formats only. Art and comics should be uploaded in .jpeg / .jpg format only. Any paper submissions sent via snail mail will be recycled unread.

If you are a former USF faculty member or student, please wait five years before submitting to the print journal. In the meantime, you are welcome to submit interviews, reviews, or to our online Places to Stand series!

For queries or questions not answered here or below, please email [email protected].

Art & Photography

We are looking for work expressing the odd and the tender, rendered on canvas using materials ranging from watercolors, gouache, acrylics, and pen and pencil, to torn bits of maps and magazines. We look forward to your digital interpretations of theme parks, nature, beach ephemera, and so much more. We await your visually and emotionally exciting works of art that draw on both Florida’s and your unique personalities.

We understand that visual art is often published on personal websites but ask that your submissions have not been previously featured in literary magazines.

We accept up to five submissions of art or photography per reading period. Please send files in .jpeg / .jpg format only. You may also include a URL if a portfolio of your work is online.

COMICS

We are open to any style of comics, including, but not limited to everything from four-panel haiku comics, poetic collages, or your asemic dream journal. We want to experience your creativity and sense of Florida, from nuanced to outrageous, and look forward to your submissions.

We welcome comics submissions of up to seven pages, whether in black & white, greyscale, or full color. Submit in .jpeg / .jpg format only. The journal's dimensions are 5" x 7."

CREATIVE NONFICTION

We're interested in nonfiction that challenges or complicates what it means to be Floridian. We especially want to feature voices that are often underrepresented in the literature of the state.

We accept all kinds of nonfiction forms, including but not limited to: memoir, personal essay, travel writing, prose poetry, lyric or hybrid essays, criticism, and journalism under 6,000 words.

CREATIVE NONFICTION (flash)

We accept up to three works of flash creative nonfiction (1,000 words or less) per submission period. Please send all stories in one document.

FICTION

We are looking for works with a strong sense of voice and setting. We also appreciate character-driven stories and experimental forms.

Fiction submissions should be no longer than 4,000 words.

FICTION (flash)

We accept up to three works of flash fiction (1,000 words or less) at a time. Please send all stories in one document

POETRY

We are seeking poetry that is lucid and fresh and illuminates the fascinating, strange, and strangely fascinating Floridian point of view. Saw Palm welcomes experimental and hybrid creative work emblematic of Florida lives, landscapes, and tropes.

We accept up to five poems per submission period at a maximum of 10 pages. Please send all poems in one document.

INTERVIEWS (web)

We are especially interested in interviews of Florida writers and artists, although we're open to almost any Florida-related subject. Please query us about the interview subject first via email at [email protected].

Current or recent USF students and faculty are welcome to submit interviews.

REVIEWS (web)

We are interested in reviews of Florida-related subjects: authors, films, tourist attractions, books, CDs, websites, beaches, parks, toll roads, snack stands, local landmarks—anything! Submissions should be no longer than 6,000 words and, if accepted, will appear on our site.

Current or recent USF students and faculty are welcome to submit reviews.

PLACES TO STAND (web)

Tell us what it's like to stand at a specific place in Florida at a specific time of day in 500 words or less. While we enjoy the unusual, locations should be public and accessible (so not your bathroom!) Please include GPS coordinates. Also consider attaching a photo from/of the location that we may use when promoting your piece on social media. If you'd like us to tag you, send along your Instagram and/or Twitter handles. Places to Stand appears on our site.

Current or recent USF students and faculty are welcome to submit to the Places to Stand series.

Poems submitted as part of the Places to Stand series are welcome but should be justified left and otherwise not have complex formatting and spacing (due to technical limitations in Google Earth).

FAQs

Do you accept genre fiction?

We are not opposed to genre fiction, provided it is well-written and connected to Florida. We are particularly interested in fiction with Florida themes and culture.

Who reads my submission?

Graduate students in the MFA program at USF who have applied for editorial positions and been vetted by our advisory editor.

Do contributors receive payment?

Contributors receive two copies of the issue they appear in. We are a small non-profit and so cannot offer cash payments.

My manuscript is just over 6000 words, can I submit it anyway?

Check with us first by sending us an email.

I'm a current USF student or faculty member. Can I submit to the journal?

Yes and no. Current or recent USF students (less than five years) and current faculty may not submit creative work to the print journal. However, they are welcome to submit interviews, reviews, or 500-word pieces for the Places to Stand series, which appear on sawpalm.org.