Updated monthly, always on the first.
IN SHORT:
Email submissions (.doc, .rtf, .docx, .odt, .pdf formats) to write/@/africanwriter.com (remove the two slashes).
NO SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS PLEASE.
A LITTLE MORE:
African Writer Magazine is open to all genres of literature from Africa and the African Diaspora. We publish prose fiction, creative non-fiction, folktales, poetry, short plays, essays/creative features, interviews/profiles, reviews, and the occasional book excerpt, etc.
We usually confirm receipt of submissions within a week (if you don’t hear from us, look in your spam folder), and a final decision is usually made and acceptance email sent within 30 to 45 days. Give us that time to properly evaluate your work.
SUBMISSIONS:
Please ensure all entries are single line spaced, and in standard Times New Roman 12pt. font.
LENGTH:
Please keep the short stories under 6000 words (it’s meant to be read in a sitting, right?). For poetry, submit at least 2 to give the readers a proper sampling of your work (unless it is an extended poem). If you submit more and they all scale our editorial fence, they may be published in tranches. We love tranches!
DO:
Specify the genre of your submission.
Please ensure that the submission is properly edited for errors. A ton of entries flounder at the first reading over minor errors.
Please include a brief, one-paragraph biographical profile, your email address and social media handles (optional), and how you would like your name to appear on our website (important!).
Optionally, attach a profile picture.
All submissions (.doc, .rtf, .docx, .odt, .pdf file formats) can be emailed to write/@/africanwriter.com (delete the two forward slashes).
DON’T:
Again, we do not welcome simultaneous submissions, please. They often get pulled at the last minute, after the submission has been planned into an edition, and web pages built. It’s always a mess when they get withdrawn, so, no.
DEADLINES:
We’re always open. Our rolling submission calendar means there is no true deadline limitation. The 15th of the month is a loose cut-off date for entries hoping to get published by the 1st of the next month. Most contributions are published (or not) within a month (to six weeks) of receipt and the writer is notified via email.
RIGHTS:
Your work remains yours, forever. It is your copyright, always. Feel free to add it to a collection you’re working on. By your submission, you grant African Writer Magazine a two-prong permission: the first is to publish and exhibit the work on our website, www.africanwriter.com, in perpetuity. You also grant African Writer Magazine the permission to feature the same material in a printed African Writer Magazine or book (anthology), should we decide to publish one. We will notify you (via your email on file) before any hard copy of your work is published, to work out the details specific to that potential step. If you have questions, please email us. Thanks.
FEES:
African Writer Magazine would like to evolve someday into a publication that pays for submissions. For now, African Writer Magazine is a self-funded, online publication dependent on dedicated volunteers to keep the wheels on the road, and so, unable to pay for submissions. If that changes, as we continue to grow the readership and appreciation of literature and writers from Africa and Africans, we will let you know. Thanks.
Please send an email if you have questions. Like you, we’re writers. We understand. Email write/@/africanwriter.com (delete the two forward slashes)
Thank you.
– Naza Amaeze Okoli, Editor