This is the submission portal for Orca, A Literary Journal.

Our next deadline is April 15. Submissions are open for both the literary and literary-speculative issues. See the Literary issue guidelines here, and the Lit-Spec guidelines here. 

Orca publishes short stories, flash fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. We are a literary journal and we believe in the literary style of writing. We are open to almost any topic, as long as it’s written in a literary style. We are committed to diversity of origins and perspectives on our pages. But the main criterion by which we judge submissions is the quality of the writing. We seek work that is high concept: imaginative, thoughtful, even  speculative, and open to possibilities. We look for adult themes  featuring deep, diverse characters, and narratives that are nuanced and complex.

Orca offers 100 free submissions each month in addition to the $3 standard fee. If the fee-free submission forms do not appear, it means the 100 free submissions have been used for that month, and the free portals will reopen at the start of the next month. 

We currently pay $50 for published short stories and $25 for flash fiction and poetry. You can also get editorial feedback for $12 (basic) or $29-$45 (in-depth, depending on submission length). The feedback fee also gets you a PDF copy of our latest issue.