GUIDELINES
PLEASE READ BEFORE SUBMITTING
Conclave is an annual print
journal that focuses on character-driven writing in short
stories, flash fiction, poetry, and
prose poems; we also print black and white photographs.
We accept only a minimal amount of creative nonfiction.
We apologize, we no longer accept excerpts from plays.
Conclave seeks writing that centers around well-crafted
characters—complex and authentic: like Leopold Bloom,
Huckleberry Finn, Anna Karenina, Hamlet, Miss Havisham,
Hannibal Lecter, Hester Prynne, and others. Whether you
love them or hate them, these characters are unforgettable
and infuse their stories with life beyond the page. Those
are the kinds of enduring characters we'd like to have
populate the artfully crafted stories in Conclave.
What makes a good
character?
GENERAL
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
- All submissions must be online submissions. We do not accept submissions by post or email. You may check the status of your submission on our online submission manager.
- We prefer one submission per author if possible. Please submit poems together in a single document. Please submit flash fiction or short fiction together in a single document.
- Submissions should be previously unpublished in North America. We do not accept previously published work, this includes work published online.
- Cover letters are welcome but not required. However, a short biography should be included with all submissions.
- Conclave will consider simultaneous submissions.
- We strongly prefer Times New Roman 12. We will not throw out submissions in other formats, but we have a strong preference.
- If a submission is accepted by another publisher, please notify us of this fact immediately.
- International submissions are encouraged, but all submissions must be in English.
- We encourage you to save a copy of whatever you are submitting to us.
PAYMENT:
At this time we can offer one contributor's copy per author for accepted work. We hope that will change in the future. We reserve the right to put your piece on our web site and/or publish it electronically if it has appeared in our journal. If we accept your work, we understand you grant us first North American serial rights (and Conclave anthology rights). All subsequent rights are yours, though we expect any future publication to carry acknowledgment that the work first appeared in Conclave.
FICTION & FLASH FICTION SUBMISSIONS
- Fiction should be up to 6,500 words, double spaced with numbered pages and one-inch margins.
- For short fiction, please submit only one short story at a time.
- Excerpts from unpublished novels will be considered, but they must be able to stand alone.
- Please include name and contact information at the beginning of the work.
- For flash fiction submissions: Please send three to five short-shorts, each less than 1000 words.
- Flash fiction pieces should still contain classic story elements: protagonist, conflict, and resolution. However the limited word length dictates that some elements will remain unwritten or implied in the written story. The most famous example is Ernest Hemingway's six-word flash, "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."
CREATIVE NONFICTION & PERSONAL ESSAY SUBMISSIONS
- All submissions should be double-spaced and also up to 6,500 words.
- Personal essays should be 750-1200 words
- Excerpts from unpublished book-length nonfiction manuscripts will be considered, but they must be able to stand alone.
POETRY & PROSE POEM SUBMISSIONS
- Poetry should be single-spaced and include three to five poems per submission, up to ten manuscript pages at a time.
- The poet's name and contact information must appear at the top of every poem.
- We welcome informal narratives and formal poetry.
- For prose poems, please send three to five prose poems, each less than 1000 words.
- A prose poem should appear as prose, but read as poetry. In the first issue of The Prose Poem: An International Journal, editor Peter Johnson explained, "Just as black humor straddles the fine line between comedy and tragedy, so the prose poem plants one foot in prose, the other in poetry, both heels resting precariously on banana peels."
PHOTOGRAPHY SUBMISSIONS
What are we looking for
in a photograph?
- Submissions should include approximately 3 to 5 high-quality JPEGs of 300 dpi, 5" x 7".
- Because the interior of the magazine is printed in black and white, only black and white submissions may be included.
- Outstanding color submissions as well as black and white submissions will be considered for the front cover.
- Submissions to be considered only for the cover should be marked "Cover Only" in the comments section.