SUBMISSIONS ARE CURRENTLY CLOSED.

 

What We're Looking For

We accept pieces of fiction and creative nonfiction under 1,000 words. There’s no minimum requirement for length, only quality—if you think you can make us cry in a tweet, hit us with your best shot.

 

We typically favor stories with a strong personality and are open to any genre and style!

 

We value diverse voices and encourage submissions from all walks of life.

 

We love experimentation with form, tone, and subject matter, but we’re not interested in gimmicks or shock value—your story should still be able to stand on its own.

 

Most importantly, don’t bore us! We’re here to engage, entertain, and challenge, not validate your English degree.

 

General Guidelines:

 

We do not accept any works that are explicitly racist, homophobic, transphobic, pornographic, or harmful to any group of persons. If your piece does include possibly triggering content, please mention so in the body of your email.

Fiction/Creative Nonfiction

• 1,000 words or less.

• We prefer Times New Roman or similar fonts, double-spaced.

• We only accept .doc or .docx files.

• Please title your documents StoryTitle_Genre (eg. WashingtonsWhale_Nonfiction)

• These are blind submissions so please remove all names and identifiers from manuscript.

• Please include word count, title, genre, and a 50 words or fewer bio in the body of the email.

• Subject your email "[Genre] Submission"​

• We happily accept simultaneous submissions, but let us know if your work has been accepted elsewhere.

• At this time, we do not accept previously published work.

• Feel free to send multiple submissions, as long as the total combined word count is no more than 1,000 words.

 

 

Art/Photography

• We prefer surreal, abstract, and wacky visual art. However, since this is our first issue including art, feel free to send anything you think might fit our magazine's aesthetic and tone. Check out Issue 1 for inspiration!

• Please submit all work as high-quality PNG files and include a title and brief artist's statement that states the medium, year created, and intention in the body of the email.

• We know a picture is worth 1,000 words, but feel free to submit up to 2 images.

 

 

Submit your work to: mentalpapercuts(at)gmail(dot)com

 

 

As a magazine run by a cohort of creative writing graduates, we understand the challenges of modern publishing and are willing to offer some amount of feedback on all submissions.

 

Unfortunately, we do not accept poetry at this time.

 

If you have any questions, please visit our FAQ page for more information.