Submission Guidelines

Issue 13 submissions are open from Oct. 20, 2024 to Jan. 4, 2025.

Our 24-hour submission event runs 12/7 00:00 a.m.-11:59 p.m. ET. Please submit normally, and you’ll recieve your decision within 24 hours!

Eligibility

International submissions are encouraged, but writing should be primarily in English or accompanied by an English translation. Writers must be 13–25 years old. Pieces must be the original work of the writer.

We accept and encourage simultaneous submissions and previously published pieces. If your work was previously published, please let us know its first place of publication so we can credit the appropriate publication. Aster Lit receives non-exclusive online reprint rights upon re-publication. 

If your piece has not been previously published, Aster Lit receives First Serial Rights upon publication. All rights revert back to the author upon publication. Once published, we kindly ask that you credit Aster Lit as your piece’s first place of publication in any subsequent reprints.

Genre Specifications

POETRY: 1–5 poems, up to 100 lines each poem.

PROSE: 1–2 pieces of prose, up to 3,000 words each piece. This includes fiction, creative nonfiction, essays, scripts, and novel excerpts.

ART/PHOTOGRAPHY: Submit a high-resolution image using .png, .jpeg, or .pdf using our form linked below.

How to Submit

Writing Submission Form

Art/Photography Submission Form

Our response time ranges from 4 weeks after submission to up to 2 weeks after submissions close. If you haven’t heard from us after 8 weeks, please feel free to query at submit@asterlit.org. Submissions that do not follow guidelines and/or are received outside of reading periods will not be considered.

Theme: Reprise

The theme for Aster Lit Issue 13 is “Reprise.” Pieces are not required to respond to the theme, but pieces that do will be considered for the Theme Award. We will be publishing a selection of pieces that respond to the theme as well as pieces that are independent of the theme. Click here to learn more about the theme.

Nominations

We nominate annually for Best of the Net, Pushcart, Best Small Fictions, and Best Microfiction.

Still have questions?

Read our FAQ!