Thank you for choosing ‘The Hemlock’. Please go through the following guidelines before submitting.
Submissions Now OPEN for Fiction Writing Contest & Blog
Submissions CLOSED for Issue 09 (Winter 2025) & Anthology Volume 2
We request you to Read complete Guidelines before Submitting your work.
Guidelines for Regular Submissions
‘The Hemlock‘ receives submissions of Poetry, Fiction, Non-fiction and Visual art. We publish 3 issues a year covering Spring, Summer and Winter.
For the Spring Issue: Submissions are invited from February 1st to March 15th.
For the Summer Issue: Submissions are invited from June 1st to July 15th.
For the Winter Issue: Submissions are invited from October 15th to November 30th.
(Note: These are the general submission periods. The actual submission period may vary due to several factors. Please refer to the latest notification on the site and our Instagram handle for the commencement dates and deadlines for the submission.)
Poetry:
1) Submitted works should be original, typed in Times New Roman with a single space between lines. Please do not submit incomplete pieces.
2) Each submission can contain a maximum of 3 poems and 5 pages in total. Please send all poems in one single document.
Fiction and Non-Fiction:
1) Submitted works should be original, typed in Times New Roman with single space, and containing from 1000 to 4000 words. Pieces longer than that will not be accepted.
2) Each submission may contain either one complete work of fiction or non-fiction. If you wish to submit 2 pieces consisting of 1 fiction and 1 non-fiction, then please submit them separately.
3) Pieces shorter than 1000 words are considered Flash Fiction, which should be submitted under the same category mentioned with the submission. We only accept two pieces of Flash Fiction at a time.
Visual Arts:
1) Visual arts may comprise photographs, paintings, or mixed media. Maximum 10 works at a time. Artists must submit high-resolution images of original visual art with a maximum of 50 words of description for each image.
All selected works appear in our digital issues. However, only 20-30% of them make to our Print Issues. We’ll notify about the medium of publication upon selection.
We aim to respond typically within five to six weeks. In case of expedited response, it is less than 2 weeks. If you don’t hear from us, please contact : thehemlockjournal@gmail.com
Submissions Closed for Issue 09 (Winter 2025)
Guidelines for Blog Submissions
We accept Creative Non Fiction, Personal Essays, Memoirs, Reviews, Interviews, Literary News, Literary Criticism and Book Excerpts for the Blog Submissions. Word Count should be between 400 to 2000. (In case your work does not fit into above categories, please let us know. Mail your query or pitch us your idea to thehemlockjournal@gmail.com)
Guidelines for Annual Anthology
The Hemlock’ publishes an anthology once a year. The first-ever anthology released in July 2024 is available for purchase.
Poetry
1) Submitted works should be original, typed in Times New Roman with a single space between lines. Please do not submit incomplete pieces.
2) Each submission can contain a maximum of 2 poems and 5 pages in total. Please send all poems in one single document.
Fiction
1) Submitted works should be original, typed in Times New Roman with single space, and containing from 1,000 to 3,000 words. Pieces longer than that will not be accepted.
2) Pieces shorter than 1000 words are considered Flash Fiction, which should be submitted under the same category mentioned with the submission. We only accept two pieces of Flash Fiction at a time.
3) We do not accept Non-fiction for Anthology.
Visual Art
Visual arts may comprise photographs, paintings, or mixed media. Max 10 works at a time. Artists must submit high-resolution images of original visual art with a maximum of 50 words of description for each image. In case of Anthology Submissions, the Visual Arts submitted to us are accepted only for cover photos.
Please note:
Submissions will be accepted only through the Google form
All submissions should include a cover letter with the author’s or artist’s bio, headshot and name exactly as it should appear in the publication.
We do not provide feedback or editorial comments on bios submitted by the authors/artists.
We only accept original works by their creators. In case of Translation, we need your prior approval of the original creator. All works go through a process of assessing any hint of plagiarism before review.
Please send your written work in Word or Docx file and PNG and JPEG for Visual Art.
Previously published works are welcome if the author retains all the rights. Mention it in your cover letter too.
The Hemlock Journal retains the rights to publish the submitted work, if selected, in its upcoming issues, whether in Print or Digitally.
Terms of use
- By submitting your work to The Hemlock Journal, you grant The Hemlock Journal the non-exclusive right to publish your piece in our upcoming Issues, Anthologies and other formats, whether in paperback, or any digital format now or in the future, which also includes publication on the blog, social media and ebooks in future as a part of promotional use of the work.
- Your selected work may reappear on any of the above medium as under the category of ‘From the Archives’ anytime in future.
- The rights remain with the author and the artist. You are free to re-publish your work elsewhere after publication with The Hemlock Journal.
- As of now The Hemlock does not charge any submission fee, entry fee, or publication fee from contributors.
- While we deeply value the work of our contributors, we regret that we cannot guarantee to provide complimentary contributor copies or any share in royalties at this time. We spend that small share of money towards editing, formatting, publishing, maintaining the website, running social media campaigns and conducting contets, seminars etc.
- Our intention is to provide a platform where voices from different places can come together and be read by wider audiences.
Privacy Policy
The Hemlock Journal collects only the information you share with us, such as your name, email, and submission files. We use this data only to manage submissions, communicate with contributors, and publish accepted works on its Website and Social Media and in Print and Digital Issues. We do not sell or share your information except with essential service providers or if required by law.Your data is stored securely and can be accessed, corrected, or deleted upon request. Our website may use basic cookies. For any privacy concerns, contact thehemlockjournal@gmail.com.
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Book/Interview Review Service:
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Thank you for trusting us as the right place for your submission and we look forward to your creative works of art!
We heavily rely on Donations we receive and the sell of books. Please don’t hesitate to buy The Hemlock Journal Issues or The Hemlock Anthology. Or, you can donate to us. Thank you!!!
No material published in ‘The Hemlock Journal’ may be reprinted or reproduced, in whole or in part, without the permission of the authors. Authors retain the complete right of work after the publication in ‘The Hemlock Journal’ to reprint, or reproduce. However, ‘The Hemlock Journal’ is free to use any of the submissions that have appeared on The Hemlock’s blog or in its Issues or anthologies for future endeavours. We request authors that ‘The Hemlock Journal’ will be credited with the first publication.
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