Submissions
Whether you’re a brand new writer who hasn’t even posted your work on Instagram, or an established writer who stumbled upon our niche and said “That’s weirdly specific—I want in,” we have a place for you here.
Submission Guidelines
What We Love
Ghost stories of any kind. We also love monster stories (especially if it’s an obscure monster or a monster created by you.) We like cults and forests and things that live under the sea. Stories should have a paranormal element.
What We Don’t Want
Gratuitous or explicit sex. In fact, we aren’t really into the romance subgenre at all (though we are always up for a subtle and character-driven love story).
Anything hateful. Just don’t.
Genre and Style
We primarily publish flash fiction (up to 500 words), short stories (up to 2,000 words), poetry (up to about 50 lines, but we prefer under 20), and book and movie reviews (up to 1,000 words). If your work doesn’t quite fit these parameters, feel free to submit anyway! We’ll make exceptions for the right piece!
Your stories and poems absolutely don’t have to be set in the Pacific Northwest! That being said, we do tend to favor our grungy, rainy, coastal vibes, and we appreciate it if you work those elements into your story (OR you give us such a strong sense of place that we fall in love with your setting and start thinking about beginning a “Big Apple Ghosts” or “Windy City Ghosts” zine!)
Do We Pay?
Unfortunately, no. We will, however, link to your social media profiles, website, and Substack.
Reprints and Simultaneous Submissions
Reprints: got a previously published piece that deserves a second chance at life? We accept reprints as long as you hold the rights.
We accept simultaneous submissions. Let us know if you are published elsewhere!
Upcoming Submission Themes
Seattle (Open now until August 1): Keep sending us your poetry, stories, and reviews! Even though our Seattle issue is almost full, we’re always looking for pieces inspired by our beloved drizzly Pacific Northwest.
Graveyards and Funerals (Open now until August 15): We would love to see an unusual take on this theme. Tell us the story of the guy who does the flowers for funerals. Turn a slideshow full of memories into something horrific. Give us a funeral populated solely by ghosts, or a wake that only ends when the last attendee is dead. This month, we’re mostly interested in the super-short. Give us poems, flash fiction, or even single paragraphs that evoke emotion and atmosphere.
Monsters, Creatures, and Folklore (Open August 16 until September 6) : Whether your monster is a human serial killer, a modern take on a vampire, or something you’ve invented, we’re looking for the chilling, the gory, and the hauntingly beautiful this month!
November Issue: (Open September 13-October 4) Are you ready for something completely different? November’s theme isn’t a theme at all—it’s a wishlist. Here are the specific things we would like to see:
Larger-than-life cowboy and gunslinger type characters. We would even be up for a good horror-western!
Demon possession, exorcisms, and the intersection of religion with ghosts and spirits. Anything that would fit in The Conjuring universe would be a good fit this month.
Small towns and rural settings. We want hitchhikers on forgotten coastal highways and orchardists trying to figure out what’s wrong with their fruit trees.
Bonus points if it includes: golf, high school sports, podcasts and podcasters, music (especially 80s rock and metal), cigar culture, or speakeasies.
Signs and Omens (Open October 11-25): A ghost arrives with troubling news. There are more owls than leaves on the tree next door. Something extra falls alongside the rain. Give us stories about signs and warnings. Show us how things turn out differently than expected—or exactly as foretold!
Next Steps
You must be subscribed (free!) in order to be considered.
Note:
At Emerald City Ghosts, we love and respect our authors and have no interest in wasting their time! For that reason, we want to be upfront about our terms as early as possible. Here is the contract we ask our authors to sign:
Grant of Rights: By signing this agreement, I grant Emerald City Ghosts Magazine the non-exclusive right to publish my work and to use excerpts, the author's name, and biographical material provided by the author for promotional purposes.
Author Representations: I affirm that the work is original and does not infringe upon any third-party rights.
Editing and Formatting: Emerald City Ghosts Magazine reserves the right to make minor edits for grammar, spelling, and formatting, without altering the substance of the work. No significant edits will be made without the author’s consent.
Compensation: Contributors will not receive monetary compensation but will receive credit and promotion through Emerald City Ghosts Magazine’s digital platforms.
Termination: I understand that either I or Emerald City Ghosts Magazine may withdraw my work before publication by written notice.