At Length will open for new submission during the summer of 2024 (May – August). To keep up to date on future submission windows, please follow us on social media (X [formerly Twitter], Facebook, or Mastodon) or write us an email (editors@atlengthmag.com) asking to be added to our newsletter. We promise not to share your information with third parties.
When we are reading new work, we accept all submissions over email. Please note the genre of your submission in your email’s subject line and attach your submission as a PDF or Microsoft Word document. Simultaneous submissions are allowed so long as you notify us immediately if your work has been accepted elsewhere. A cover letter is appreciated. Please refrain from submitting more than once during a reading period, and do not submit work that has been previously published—including on personal websites.
We encourage you to read some new work on At Length before considering us as a home for your work. Unfortunately, we do not have the resources at this time to pay our contributors.
Submissions Guidelines
Poetry: Please submit a single long poem, poetic sequence, or excerpt from a book-length poem. There are no specific length requirements—the long poem, as the Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry Poetics (2012) reminds us, is a flexible form that “foregrounds the writer’s role in making a distinctive way” through their material—but we imagine submissions of between 5-15 pages. (poetry@atlengthmag.com)
Fiction: Please submit a long short story, novella, or stand-alone excerpt from a novel-in-progress. Submissions ought to be self-contained and readable without prefatory remarks or glosses. We expect submissions to run between 7,500 and 20,000 words, though we remain open to work that runs a bit longer (or shorter) than these parameters. At Length does not consider genre fiction or young adult fiction and will return those submissions unread. (editors@atlengthmag.com)
Essays: Please submit a long essay or a stand-alone excerpt from a book-in-progress. As with fiction, essay submissions ought to be self-contained and readable without prefatory remarks; consider 7,500 to 20,000 words a good benchmark for length. At Length is interested in narrative non-fiction, personal essays, and belletristic literary criticism (please, no scholarship). (editors@atlengthmag.com)
Translations: Please submit a long, translated work, or a stand-alone excerpt from a translated-book-in-progress; include the source text with your submission. Please follow the genre guidelines given elsewhere on this page for your submission. Also, in your cover letter, please address the rights situation with regard to your translation (i.e., do you have permission, or is the source text in the public domain, etc.). (editors@atlengthmag.com)
Everything Else: Historically, At Length has published music criticism, photography portfolios, painting, and art criticism. We’ve published comics. We’ve published interviews. If you have a piece (or portfolio) that you think we might like, and you’re not sure what category suits it, we might find a home for it here. Please query us first before submitting to “Everything Else.” (editors@atlengthmag.com)