Thank you for your interest in The Violet Hour Magazine! If you are a writer, an artist, a creator of original work, then you’ve come to exactly the right place to publish and showcase your talent.

We now accept submissions in the following categories: Short Fiction, Short Nonfiction, Poetry, and Art (including photography, mixed media, and comics/graphic novel excerpts). Note that simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please notify us immediately if a piece you’ve submitted to us is accepted for publication elsewhere. We do not publish reprints.

We do not accept submissions which include hate speech/bigotry, erotica, self-harm, or graphic violence. For any further clarifications on content, feel free to get in touch with your questions through our Contact page.

Read on for all the details you need about submission guidelines for each category, and FAQ about publication formats, publication schedule, compensation, and rights.

When you’re ready, send your submission to contact@theviolethourmagazine.com , following the instructions detailed below.

We can’t wait to see your work!

*Submission Guidelines*

Fiction

• Each story should be no more than 500 words (there is no minimum word count).
• Please only submit 1 story at a time. You may submit again as soon as you have received a decision about your most recent submission. The editors will not consider a piece already submitted and rejected unless the author was invited to resubmit.
• Email should include an introductory message containing title, word count, and a short third-person bio to tell us about yourself (this will also be used in the event your piece is selected for publication). 
• The subject line should include the author’s name, submission category, and the name of the piece [e.g: JO SMITH—FICTION—”TITLE”].
• Submission should be attached to the email as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf file. Format as 12 point standard font, Times New Roman.

Nonfiction

• We accept essays, creative nonfiction, and book reviews.
• Each piece should be no more than 500 words (there is no minimum word count).
• Please only submit 1 piece at a time. You may submit again as soon as you have received a decision about your most recent submission. The editors will not consider a piece already submitted and rejected unless the author was invited to resubmit.
• Email should include an introductory message containing title, word count, and a short third-person bio to tell us about yourself (this will also be used in the event your piece is selected for publication). 
• The subject line should include the author’s name, submission category, and the name of the piece [e.g: JO SMITH—NONFICTION—”TITLE”].
• Submission should be attached to the email as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf file. Format as 12 point standard font, Times New Roman.

Poetry

• Each poetry submission should be no more than 500 words, or up to a maximum of 5 pages (there is no minimum word count).
• You may submit multiple poems at one time, as long as the collective total word count of all poems received in a single submission does not exceed 500 words. You may submit again as soon as you have received a decision about your most recent submission. The editors will not consider a piece already submitted and rejected unless the author was invited to resubmit.
• Email should include an introductory message containing title, word count, and a short third-person bio to tell us about yourself (this will also be used in the event your piece is selected for publication). 
• The subject line should include the author’s name, submission category, and the name of the piece [e.g: JO SMITH—POETRY—”TITLE”].
• Submission should include all poems within one document, attached to the email as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf file. Format as 12 point standard font, Times New Roman.

Art

• We accept photography, paintings, drawings, and comic and graphic novel excerpts.
• Submission may include: up to 5 pieces of photography, or 5 drawings, or 5 paintings, or 1 comic or graphic novel excerpt (1 splash page or up to 5 panels total). 
• Note that any photography containing a human subject and which is not a self-portrait will be required to be accompanied by a signed release form, expressing the consent of the subject to having their photograph published. The Violet Hour Magazine neither accepts nor condones images of individuals taken and made public without such consent. TVH Magazine will not publish photographs of children or photographs/drawings/paintings of an exploitative nature.
• You may submit again as soon as you have received a decision about your most recent submission. The editors will not consider a piece already submitted and rejected unless the artist was invited to resubmit.
• Submission should include an introductory message containing title and a short third-person bio to tell us about yourself (this will also be used in the event your piece is selected for publication). 
• The subject line should include the artist’s name, submission category, and the name of the piece [e.g: JO SMITH—PHOTOGRAPHY—”TITLE”].
• Submission should be attached to the email in 1 file which contains all images (low-resolution quality). Please ensure images are large enough within the file for full view of all details and any included text. File may be a .doc, .docx, or pdf. Upon acceptance, selected image(s) must be supplied at a resolution of at least 300 dpi or greater, and as a high quality .jpg that can be formatted for website posting.

*Publication FAQ*

Q: Do you really accept submissions from all ages?

Yes! We welcome submissions from any age-range. If you have work you want to publish, we want to see it! Please note, however, that for your own protection, if you are under the age of 13, The Violet Hour Magazine will limit the amount of contributor information published on our site and will require written consent from a parent or guardian prior to publication. A form will be provided upon acceptance of your piece(s). As a Canadian magazine, we currently have no strict children’s online privacy laws guiding us, but we take the privacy of children very seriously and strive to maintain a safe online space for all.

Q: Why don’t you publish poetry?

As of April 9th, 2023, we do publish poetry! We are pleased to announce that we have recruited a Senior Poetry Editor, and have opened our publication to poetry submissions. Please see the Poetry portion of the above Submission Guidelines included for more details.

Q: What format(s) will you publish my work in if it’s accepted?

For the 2022 publication year, pieces selected for publication will all be published to The Violet Hour Magazine website in blog post form. As of 2023, the final submission call of each year will be for an end-of-year ebook and print anthology.

Q: When will I get an answer about something I’ve submitted?

As writers and artists ourselves, we know the frustration of a long-unanswered submission (or getting no answer at all!). We solemnly pledge that every submission will be read in the order it is received, and everything received during an open submission call will receive an answer before the next scheduled publication date.

Q: When can I query about something I’ve submitted?

As we will make a point of answering each submission in a timely fashion (within 3.5 months of receipt, according to our submission and publishing schedule), we ask that you do not message us to follow up.

Q: When do you read submissions? And if my work is accepted, when will it be published?

We will receive, review, and publish based on the following schedule:

[Disclaimer: All dates listed are subject to minor changes, should any unexpected delays occur. We are, after all, a small operation, and life can be unpredictable! In the event of any delays, a notice will be posted to our Twitter and website, and any accepted contributors awaiting publication will receive an email. Any delays experienced will neither affect a contributor’s acceptance status, nor will it outright cancel the upcoming publication.]

January 1st to March 31st: Open for submissions.

April 1st to 7th: Submissions closed. Final selections made and contributors notified.

April 14th: Publication day! All selected pieces will be published to our website.

May 1st to July 31st: Open for submissions.

August 1st to 7th: Closed to submissions. Final selections made and contributors notified.

August 14th: Publication day! All selected pieces will be published to our website.

September 1st to November 7th (*shorter submission window in preparation for December holidays*): Open for submissions.

November 8th to 14th: Closed to submissions. Final selections made and contributors notified.

December 7th: Publication day! All selected pieces will be published to our website.

December 8th to 31st: *Closed to submissions. Submissions will reopen in January.*

Q: Do you pay contributors for their work?

At this time, as we are a brand new self-funding publication, we are not a paying market. However, we firmly believe writers and artists should be compensated for their work whenever possible, and will do so as soon as funds allow. 

We are exploring options for grants, and will soon be launching a crowd-funding page. Funds collected from that page will be put towards expenses such as web hosting, equipment, eventual expenses associated with future ebook and print anthologies, payment for contributors, and eventually payment for our own team of unpaid volunteers.

Q: Do I keep the rights to my work after you publish it?

Though you maintain ownership of and credit for your work, The Violet Hour Magazine will hold first serial publication rights for any selected piece(s) for 3 months following initial publication (digital and/or print). During this time, contributors must agree not to facilitate or permit the publication of the selected piece(s) through any other digital and/or print means, including personal blogs. All publication rights will revert back to you after 3 months, though your work will remain published on our website in perpetuity. If your piece is reprinted anywhere else following our established waiting period, we kindly ask for acknowledgement of its first printing in The Violet Hour Magazine.