☞ We are currently closed to submissions.
Submissions to The Bulb Region will open sporadically so we encourage you to be on the lookout on our social media accounts. Any work sent outside of these windows will be discarded unread. We aim to return to all valid submissions within a month.
We’re looking for short stories, poems, prose poems, essays, hybrid things, and anything and everything that refuses to be named traditionally—transcriptions of audio notes sent to an ex in the middle of the night, frankenstein works where visuals meet letters, love letters, breakup letters, manifestos, what have you. Send us the thing you found at the bottom of your Notes app that still stings a little. Send us the micro that feels like a cracked streetlight. We love work that leans into risk, rhythm, humor, sincerity, strangeness, and the soft violence of being alive.
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THE NITTY GRITTY
Submissions to The Bulb Region will open sporadically so we encourage you to be on the lookout on our social media accounts. Any work sent outside of these windows will be discarded unread. We aim to return to all valid submissions within a month.
We’re looking for short stories, poems, prose poems, essays, hybrid things, and anything and everything that refuses to be named traditionally—transcriptions of audio notes sent to an ex in the middle of the night, frankenstein works where visuals meet letters, love letters, breakup letters, manifestos, what have you. Send us the thing you found at the bottom of your Notes app that still stings a little. Send us the micro that feels like a cracked streetlight. We love work that leans into risk, rhythm, humor, sincerity, strangeness, and the soft violence of being alive.
THE NITTY GRITTY
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Submissions are free and should be sent to thebulbregion@gmail.com
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Prose pieces should be kept under 1,000 words; for poetry, feel free to send 1-3 pieces in a single document, kept at a maximum of 5 pages in total. This goes for comic strips too, unless specific formatting is required.
- If you are sending prose under 400 words, you can include up to 3 pieces in your submission so long as they are collected in one document.
- Please specify in the subject line which category you are submitting to.
- Though we prefer previously unpublished material, we do accept reprints as long as the rights had been reverted to you or the journal that your work was originally published in is now defunct. In either case, please credit in your cover letter where and when it was first published.
- One submission per person each reading period, across all genres. Please wait to hear back from us before making a new submission. The work submitted to multiple categories will be discarded unread.
- Simultaneous submissions are encouraged, but please be kind enough to let us know immediately (thebulbregion@gmail.com) if your piece is accepted for publication by another literary journal.
- We accept translated literature as long as there’s a consent form filled out by the original author and the pieces are typed in English.
- All text submissions should be sent in a Word document (.doc or .docx) unless you’re submitting a comic book or a poem with a specific visual treatment, which you can share in a PDF document. Be mindful about using a simple, legible typeface.
- Please don’t forget to include a third-person bio in your cover letter. And please don’t forget to mention which category you’re submitting to.
- Don’t send us anything that promotes bigotry and violence.
- We don’t tolerate abuse toward our staff. Anyone who does so will be blacklisted forever (and be shared with other editors from other journals).
- All rights return to the writer upon publication, but we ask that The Bulb Region is credited if your work is reprinted or republished, like in an anthology or a short story collection.
- While you’re here, make sure to follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky, and please consider donating to our journal here: Support The Bulb Region on Ko-fi.