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. 

If our free portal for the month has already closed due to volume, and the reading fee is a hindrance for you in any way, please email us at orcaliterary@gmail.com and we will be happy to make an exception.

PLEASE NOTE: There is now a 10-submission lifetime limit on No-Fee submissions. This is to help protect the ability of financially challenged writers to submit for free. See the guidelines here.

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Unpublished prose only: Up to 3 flash fictions of less than 1000 words each in one document, or 1 short story up to 8000 words, or a nonfiction of 2000 to 8000 words.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.

Previously published submissions: We accept submissions of work that have been published at least two years prior to the date of submission. Please tell us in your cover letter where and when, and that the publishing rights returned to you after its first appearance. We can only reprint one or two stories per issue, so send us your absolute best.

Our current publication schedule: June, speculative issue; October, literary issue; February 2024, literary issue. Submissions will remain open year-round. Full guidelines here.