This is the submission portal for Orca, A Literary Journal, and our book publishing arm, 55 Fathoms Publishing. Submissions to 55 Fathoms Publishing are currently closed. We expect them to reopen in July.
Our upcoming publication schedule: June, speculative issue (deadline April 30); October, literary issue (deadline August 15); February 2024, literary issue deadline December 15). Submissions are open year-round. 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 (in-depth). The feedback fee also gets you a PDF copy of our latest issue. For full manuscript editing and consultation visit our website.
This is our fee submission portal for literary fiction, speculative fiction, and nonfiction. All of our submissions are considered equally. So why pay a fee when you don’t have to? You’re making it possible for someone without financial means to submit. Submittable is not free to use, and even with the annual subscription fee we pay, we can only accept a limited number of no-fee submissions. By submitting to this category you’re supporting another writer, as well as the journal. We appreciate your donation.
You may submit once in each area of the category: literary short story; literary flash fiction; speculative short story; speculative flash fiction; literary nonfiction. Use a separate submission for each. Identify the category of your submission using the labels below. (Submittable limits how many portals we can have open, which is why these are combined.)
Unpublished prose only: Up to 3 flash fictions of less than 1000 words each in one document, or 1 short story up to 8000 words, or a nonfiction of 2000 to 8000 words. Please use a readable serif font in 12 points. A word count is appreciated.
Our current publication schedule: June, speculative issue; October, literary issue; February 2024, literary issue. Submissions will remain open year-round. Full guidelines here.
This is our fee submissions category for poetry. All of our submissions are considered equally. So why pay a fee when you don’t have to? You’re making it possible for someone without financial means to submit. Submittable is not free to use, and even with the subscription fee we pay, we can only accept a limited number of no-fee submissions. By submitting to this category you’re supporting another writer, as well as the journal. We appreciate your donation.
We accept submissions of up to three poems in a single document, with a maximum total word count of 1000. Poems will be considered for our next literary issue.
Here’s what our poetry staff says they would like to see: At Orca, we’re looking for poetry of the imagination. Poetry that excites the unsaid; that breathes life into those inner-workings one can only realize in either poetic form or the breaking of it. Give us your best. Anything with words is fair game, as long as the words say something only they could say. Full guidelines here.
Our current publication schedule: June, speculative issue (no poetry); October, literary issue; February 2024, literary issue. Submissions are open year-round.
This is our no-fee submission portal for literary fiction, speculative fiction, and nonfiction. We accept 100 no-fee submissions per month. We ask those who can afford to do so to consider submitting through the fee-based portal, so that others for whom a fee is a financial hardship can submit for free.
You may submit once in each area of the category: literary short story; literary flash fiction; speculative short story; speculative flash fiction; literary nonfiction. Use a separate submission for each. Identify the category of your submission using the labels below. (Submittable limits how many portals we can have open, which is why these are combined.)
Unpublished prose only: Up to 3 flash fictions of less than 1000 words each in one document, or 1 short story up to 8000 words, or a nonfiction of 2000 to 8000 words. Please use a readable serif font in 12 points. A word count is appreciated.
Our current publication schedule: June, speculative issue; October, literary issue; February 2024, literary issue. Submissions will remain open year-round. Full guidelines here.
This is our no-fee submission portal for poetry. We accept 100 no-fee submissions per month. We ask those who can afford to do so to consider submitting through the fee-based portal, so that others for whom a fee is a financial hardship can submit for free.
We accept submissions of up to three poems in a single document, with a maximum total word count of 1000. Poems will be considered for our next literary issue.
Here’s what our poetry staff says they would like to see: At Orca, we’re looking for poetry of the imagination. Poetry that excites the unsaid; that breathes life into those inner-workings one can only realize in either poetic form or the breaking of it. Give us your best. Anything with words is fair game, as long as the words say something only they could say. Full guidelines here.
Our current publication schedule: June, speculative issue (no poetry); October, literary issue; February 2024, literary issue. Submissions are open year-round.