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These are submissions guidelines for the Author's Journal of Inventive Literature. This magazine publishes fine traditional literature on an ad-hoc schedule.

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Please send submissions of inventive literature to alana.k.asby@vulgarismedia.com. The subject line should read JOURNAL SUBMISSIONS.

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As long as the email is neatly and legibly presented, we are mostly not concerned about the format of the submission. The actual literature is best submitted in an attachment. Please do not place extra spaces between your paragraphs.

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Please send formal, ranged-formal, or musical poems; poetically-written essays or character sketches; and traditional, plotted stories. Please don't send narrative essays. Poetic essays are more or less the same thing as prose poems: poetic writing formatted like prose rather than broken into lines. We publish old-fashioned, imaginative poetry; and old-fashioned imaginative stories with virtue-seeking heroes and strong structure.

 

For more information about the kind of poetry and stories we publish, please start here.

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To submit to our Christmas writing contest for alternative-schoolers, please start here.

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Please send work according to one of the following themes, and be aware that publication will likely be delayed for quite a while due to our ad-hoc "Slow Literature" publishing approach. The exception would be Life of Children, a special Christmas issue which will go out in December 2021, snow or shine.

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Issue V The Life of Integrity

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Please do not submit discursive nonfiction to the Journal. If you want to air an opinion, share an observation or some research, or lay out a thought experiment or bit of reasoning about inventive literature, please submit a 100 to 10,000 word essay to alana.k.asby@vulgarismedia.com in an attachment. The subject line should read WEB SUBMISSIONS. Do understand that in so doing, you are giving us permission to publish your essay on the Discourse page of this website, and that others will be able to respond to it. We do not pay for discursive essay. However, you will be given attribution prominently displayed on the website. Discursive essays are judged on clarity of expression, coherence of argument, and depth of insight. Good style never hurts.

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For inventive literature published in the Journal, we pay one author's copy of the print Journal, and $20 per poem or $30 per story. We rarely accept previously published work (usually only if circulation was very small.) Occasionally, if an author submits good work that doesn't quite fit our needs, we will commission a work. This pays $50. All advance payments will be considered an advance on royalties. Once it is earned out, contributors will begin earning royalties as the issues sell.

 

We only accept English language literature. We do not usually publish previously published work, translations, or excerpts of larger works. However, we do not consider work to be previously published if it only appeared online and is no longer available anywhere else. If a work was previously self-published, is no longer available in digital or new print form, and sold no more than 100 copies, we may consider it.

 

We do not charge a reading fee.

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We may ask for editing and revision, and provide direction. If you cannot accept that direction, publication will be impossible. You cannot withdraw your story after you have already been paid for it. Submitting work implies that you accept these terms and that once you are paid for your work and accept payment (if you do not attempt to return the payment within 3 days) you are subject to these terms as to a binding contract.

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Rights are as follows.

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I. For previously unpublished literary work

  A. You must own the copyright to your submissions

  B. We acquire 6 months exclusive print and electronic rights, worldwide, in English, from the day of issue publication

  C. We retain perpetual non-exclusive print and electronic rights in English thereafter

  D. Payment is an initial $20 advance on royalties for poems, or $30 advance on royalties for stories. Commissions pay $50. These rates reflect update policies beginning with our fourth issue, Life of Children.  Previous rates still apply for past issues. Royalties are calculated by dividing half the profit from sales of each specific issue between all contributors for that issue. Editors who have worked on the issue in question, or who were doing work for the Academy while that issue was in preparation, equally divide half of what remains. The remainder belongs to the Academy for growth of the Journal and other activities. For writers, profit is divided proportionally by word count (1st issue, Life of Beasts) or by number of contributions (subsequent issues, according to revised policy.)

  E. Copyright always belongs to the author.

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II. For work published in Issues 1 through 3

  A. You must own the copyright to your submissions

  B. We acquire perpetual non-exclusive print and electronic rights in English.

  C. Payment is an initial $15 advance on royalties, or $10 for previously published work. Royalties are calculated by dividing half the profit from sales of each specific issue between all contributors for that issue. Editors who have worked on the issue in question, or who were doing work for the Academy while that issue was in preparation, equally divide half of what remains. The remainder belongs to the Academy for growth of the Journal and other activities. For writers, profit is divided proportionally by word count (1st issue, Life of Beasts) or by number of contributions (subsequent issues, according to revised policy.)

  D. Copyright always belongs to the author.

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Addendum: Beginning with literature accepted for publication in the AJIL after February 1st, 2023, our non-exclusive perpetual rights are extended to new forms of publication, including but not limited to anthologies, readers, and other repackaging of the work to increase sales. Royalties are the same in this case. If you were published before the above date and would like to opt in for expanded exposure and opportunities for payment, please let us know.

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We no longer accept artwork for the journal, but we are looking for highly skilled artists to help with graphic design for the website and for book and journal covers. Please send samples to alana.k.asby@vulgarismedia.com. We are a small organization and do not pay the standard rate. Our model is to offer small advances, development and name-building opportunities, and high royalties.