Philadelphia Stories is a free print magazine that strives to publish the finest fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and art written by authors living in, or originally from, Pennsylvania, Delaware, or New Jersey. Philadelphia Stories seeks submissions from diverse perspectives, including all ethnicities, races, abilities, and gender identities. We aim to demonstrate the vitality and vibrancy of Philadelphia-area residents in every issue.
With support from the Conrad Weiser Author Fund, we pay a $50 honorarium via PayPal to authors published in our print magazine.
At this time, we do not provide an honorarium to our artists or reviewers. This in no way reflects our view of their importance to our magazine and community.
Please follow these guidelines for submitting material.
*Please scroll to the bottom to select the genre or contest to which you would like to submit.
DEADLINES:
General Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry, Art, and Reviews: June 1st - September 1st and November 15th -February 15th
PLEASE NOTE: You will be notified of the status of your submission within six months AFTER the issue deadline. If you haven't heard from us within six months of your submission, pleasecontact trish@philadephiastories.org, and we'll check the status for you. (Please note, our emails do sometimes get caught in spam filters.) Thanks for submitting to Philadelphia Stories!
In General
- Only work submitted through our Online Submission Form will be considered.
- We do not accept previously published work. This includes work published online, on personal blogs or websites.
- We do not accept AI-generated work or work that has been previously published either online or in print. Please submit original work by the artist or writer only.
- Any work received after the closing date for a particular issue will be considered for the next issue.
- Simultaneous submissions are accepted. Please let us know immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
- Please attach a SHORT bio (about 75 words, written in third person), including your connection to Pennsylvania, Delaware, or New Jersey.
- We will send you an email notice of the acceptance or rejection of your material within six months of the issue's deadline.
- Upon acceptance, the author or artist grants Philadelphia Stories exclusive first North American Serial rights to publish in print and/or online for 12 months. All rights revert to the author or artist in one year. The author or artist retains all copyright to their work, including reprints.
- If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Editorial Director, Trish Rodriguez, at trish@philadelphiastories.org.
We are looking for reviews of novels, essay collections, memoirs, and poetry chapbooks by authors with a connection to the Philadelphia region (Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey).
Reviews should be between 500 and 750 words and should include the title, author, a brief summary of the text, and perhaps where the work can be acquired. There should also be a brief bio of the author and the reviewer. The review should focus on the reviewed works' content, form, style, and (if applicable) any connections to the Philadelphia region.
Full reviews will be posted on our website. Capsule reviews will be printed in our print issue with links to our online site.
We accept simultaneous submissions, but please withdraw and notify us immediately if it has been accepted elsewhere.
Please submit in a .doc, .docx, or PDF format.
If you have questions, please email trish@philadelphiastories.org
Artwork
- All artwork must be submitted electronically.
- Please submit no more than five previously unpublished images for consideration. (You must submit each image file as a separate submission; you cannot attach multiple images to one submission.)
- Preliminary images do not need to be print resolution and may be attached as a JPEG or GIF. Final, approved artwork should be of professional quality, at least 300 dpi saved as a TIFF, PDF, JPEG or EPS.
- Do not send us links to your website. We'll leave it to you to find your best work.
- For this issue, we are looking for flash fiction no more than 1,000 words.
- We prefer anonymous submissions, so please remove all identifying information from your submission (that includes the file name, as well as the submission itself). Don't worry. We have a system and will be able to match your work if it's accepted.
- We look for fiction by Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey writers (either currently residing in, originally from, or having lived here at some point) that features sharp writing, carefully crafted plots, and, above all, compelling characters. Novel excerpts should be able to stand alone as a complete work.
Poetry [updated]:
- We especially encourage poets from underrepresented or historically marginalized backgrounds or circumstances to submit work to Philadelphia Stories.
- Up to three poems may be submitted in one submission period; each poem is not to exceed 36 lines. Poems may be single spaced (unlike prose submissions which should be double spaced). Poems that exceed 36 lines/one page may not be considered.
- Submit each poem in its own single document/attachment. Start a new submission for each poem. This will allow the submitter to WITHDRAW work that is accepted elsewhere as we DO expect some poets to make simultaneous submissions to multiple journals. Submitted documents that include multiple poems may not be considered.
- If your simultaneously submitted poem is accepted elsewhere, please WITHDRAW your poem as soon as possible. And congratulations!
- Your cover letter should include a bio of no more than 3 sentences/~50 words PLUS a brief sentence/statement indicating your connection to Philadelphia, PA, NJ, or DE. Feel free to copy and paste the same text in each submission. No need to reinvent the wheel. Upon acceptance, we will also ask for a photo and an updated bio.
- Please title your submission with the TITLE of the attached poem.