Subtropics seeks to publish the best literary fiction, essays, and poetry being written today, both by established and emerging authors. We will consider works of fiction of any length, from short shorts to novellas and self-contained novel excerpts. We give the same latitude to essays. We appreciate work in translation and, from time to time, republish important and compelling stories, essays, and poems that have lapsed out of print. We do not consider work that has been published in any other print or electronic journal and are happy to accept simultaneous submissions.
Subtropics accepts electronic submissions only via Submittable. There is a $3.00 charge for each submission. Submit one story, one essay, or up to four poems in one document. Please include your contact information, including your email address, on the document. We cannot respond to submissions sent by mail or return manuscripts.
We ask that you submit only once during the reading period. Unfortunately we will not be able to consider subsequent submissions from writers to whose initial submissions we have already responded. Thanks for your understanding on this point.
The submission window is currently closed.
Please read an issue of the magazine before you send us your work in order to get a feel for the kind of writing we publish.
We ask that you submit only one story, essay, or group of poems at a time, and wait until you have heard from us before sending another. Once you have received a reply from us, please wait at least one month before sending another submission.
Please send no more than four poems in any one batch.
We try to respond as quickly as possible to submissions, and for this reason are not able to write personal replies.
In fiction we are skeptical of the second person, though willing to be persuaded.
For stories and essays, Subtropics pays a flat fee of $1,000 ($500 for a short short) for North American first serial rights. Poets are paid $100 per poem.
Thank you for your interest in Subtropics.