what to submit

We are currently CLOSED to submissions. Keep an eye out for our inaugural issue, WATERLINE, in the New Year.

We are looking for the good stuff. Any genre. Send us that weird thing you wrote. We want to read things we will remember long after we get to the end.

We accept submissions of anything and everything from authors rooted in Southern Appalachia. This vague and controversial geographic delineation is by design. Not sure if you qualify? Could you drive to Asheville, NC, and have a beer with us? Submit it. You can’t? Tell us all the reasons we should consider your piece anyway.

(Note that while we intend to publish authors located in Southern Appalachia, pieces can and should be about absolutely anything.)

Issue I: Waterline

WATERLINE was selected in reference to Hurricane Helene’s devastation of Western North Carolina. Send us your raging storms. Send us what happens when you go three months without drinkable water. Like everything, the theme is up to interpretation.

We hope to have this issue in print form, as well as archived digitally.

How to Submit

We accept submissions via email to editors@frenchbroadslit.com.

Please put your query letter, name, and contact information in the body of the email. Attach your submission as a .doc or .docx in Standard Manuscript Format (12 pt. font, double-spaced, 1-inch margins). We read all submissions blind, so ensure there is no identifying information in your attachment.

In the subject line, include “SUBMISSION,” the name of your piece, and indicate which of our categories it best suits: Short Fiction, Flash Fiction, Poetry, or Wildcard.

Ex: SUBMISSION: [Story Name] [Category]

Simultaneous submissions are encouraged, just let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere. At this time we cannot accept previously published material (including work posted on personal blogs and websites). We will respond to every submission eventually, but if you haven’t heard from us in six weeks, feel free to reach out.

Currently, we are not able to pay our contributors. The most we can do is buy you a beer (or coffee). We don’t yet have a newsletter, but if you would like to be added to our eventual mailing list, let us know!

Accepted submissions may be edited for grammar or spelling. Any changes will be cleared with the author before publication. If you publish with us, we ask that you wait one calendar year from publication before you submit again.

We will not accept anything that was created, written, or co-written by AI.

FICTION

Please submit only one piece of flash or short fiction. Flash fiction should be no more than 1,000 words. For short fiction, we prefer works between 1,000 and 6,000 words, but we will accept longer stories if they are exceptional.

Poetry

Poets can submit up to three poems in one document. Multi-media works will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Wildcard

In every issue, we want to give the opportunity for you to tell us something interesting that may not fit neatly within the categories of fiction or poetry. An essay about endangered trees, an advertisement for a haunted hotel, a rant about local grocery store chains (you know who we’re talking about).

If you have something that fits the theme of our current issue, especially if it relates to the region of Southern Appalachia, hit us. Works between 1,000 and 6,000 words are preferred.

Visual Art

We accept submissions of visual art for our themed issues. Please direct art submissions to editors@frenchbroadslit.com. Note that except for our cover, all art will be printed in black and white. We accept work of any subject matter, including erotic art.

The Legal Stuff

We acquire First Rights for all unpublished works as well as non-exclusive electronic archive rights. All rights revert back to the author following the work’s publication in French Broads Lit. You can re-publish and anthologize your work at will. Content can be removed from the website on request, but cannot be removed from print copies. If your work is subsequently reprinted elsewhere, we ask that you please acknowledge French Broads Lit as the location of first publication.

We will never send you anything without your permission and will not share any contact information with third parties.