Submission Guidelines

We want the best that you've got. We want crazy beautiful characters, unforced and unsentimental prose, unexpected plots, great opening lines, and edgy dialogue. But mostly we want great, honest stories that move us and leave us shaken through the sheer force of narrative will. Surprise us.

Our preference is for stories between 3,000 and 8,000 words, although both longer and shorter pieces are considered. We do not publish flash or micro-fiction.

We accept poetry submissions on any subject and in any style, although we tend to avoid rhyming poetry and prose poems. Read the magazine for excellent examples of what we're seeking. We want compelling ideas, unforced language, and genuine meaning over sentimentality.

Up to five poems may be submitted at a time, and all pieces should be included in a single file.

The criteria for fiction apply to non-fiction submissions as well. We want strong biographical or autobiographical narratives that read like fiction, with clearly defined characters and a compelling story-line. We are not looking for essays, reviews, travelogues or editorials at this time.

We accept electronic submissions only, using our online submission form. If you have technical difficulties using the form, please contact us at support@northwindmagazine.com.

You may submit documents in any of the following formats:

.DOC (Microsoft Word format)

.DOCX (Microsoft Word 2007 and later format)

.TXT (Notepad or other plain text format)

.RTF (Wordpad or other rich text format)

All manuscripts should be in a clear, readable 12-point type, preferably Times Roman or a similar typeface, with one-inch margins and numbered pages. Fiction and non-fiction should be double-spaced; poetry should be single-spaced, with all poems submitted in a single document. The author's name, address, telephone number, and email address should be typed at the top of the first page, and all other pages should include the page number, title and author's last name in the header.

We are now accepting original artwork submissions for our upcoming Summer, Fall and Winter issues. Artwork should be in PNG or TIFF format, at least 600px/900px (portrait orientation) at 300dpi. Illustrations only—no photography—in any medium. See previous covers (look at the Archive section of the website) for examples of the illustration style we have used in the past.

A note about what "original cover art" means, to us: as long as it's your creation, and it hasn't already been used as a magazine cover or a featured work in a magazine, either in print or online, then we're happy to consider it.

Our covers are tied, loosely, to the season. Be creative and don't take the "theme" too literally—we want interesting and provocative covers.

You may submit up to five separate images at a time. Decisions on the cover may not be made until a few weeks before publication (Jul 15, Oct 15, Jan 15, Apr 15), so if we're considering your work for a later issue, you may not hear back from us for awhile. Just let us know as soon as possible if you need to withdraw the artwork from consideration.

Payment for the cover artwork is $100, paid at time of publication.

You may optionally copy and paste a brief cover letter into the submission form. If your manuscript is accepted for publication, you will be given an opportunity to provide biographical text, a photo, and other information for our Contributor pages.

We will do our best to notify you, via the email address you provide with your submission, within 8 to 10 weeks. If you haven't received a notification email from us after 10 weeks, please feel free to contact us at submissions@northwindmagazine.com.

Manuscripts may be submitted at any time throughout the year.

We welcome simultaneous submissions. We only ask that you let us know as soon as possible in the event that a submitted work is accepted for publication elsewhere, by withdrawing your work from our online submission system.

We kindly request that you submit only one fiction or non-fiction work at a time, and no more than five poems at a time. You're free to submit additional pieces after hearing back from us.

We do not consider works which have been previously published, either in print or in electronic format.

Northwind pays $150 for the issue's featured story only. All contributors, however, will be provided with a dedicated page on the site for biographical information (including photo), any relevant web site links, and an optional feedback form for readers.

Northwind acquires first serial rights, including both print and electronic rights. Copyright remains with the author.