therumpus.submittable.comThe Rumpus Submission Manager

View Your Submissions The Rumpus Submittable only displays categories that are open for submission. If you do not see a category, please reference the below reading periods for information on when you can submit. Beginning May 2016, The Rumpus began to pay feature writers and book reviewers. Each month, we set aside $400. All eligible contributors are able to opt in for payment at the end of the month, and the money is divided between those writers who opt in. Please note that we are currently only able to pay contributors via Paypal , international ACH payments are not possible . We know that this amount is not enough, and we are always working toward being able to pay a standard industry rate to all feature contributors and book reviewers. One way we are working toward this is by through a new Membership program . We hope to build enough ongoing support to increase the funding pool for contributors sooner than later. We are often overwhelmed by the breadth and quality of our submissions. To allow our volunteer editorial staff to better handle the workload and respond to your work in a more timely fashion, we’ve instituted reading periods for certain sections of The Rumpus. Please note, that during our open reading periods, we’ve regularly receive 500-1,000+ submissions within a couple of weeks and over 6,000 submissions total every year. We are beginning to set submissions caps on genres where our teams are often flooded, so we can be more timely with our responses. Please do not submit the same piece to multiple categories at the same time. All work must be previously unpublished , which includes personal blogs and social media. Please only send one submission to a given section at a time; when we’ve responded with a decision, you are welcome to submit to that section again. Response time can vary from a few days to a few months. Please allow 3-4 months before sending status queries for essays, fiction, book reviews, and ENOUGH. Please allow 8 months before sending status queries for poetry and our Funny Women column. Your patience is appreciated. Please note if you are an annual Rumpus member you should’ve received a link to a "magic" portal via a Member welcome email that ensures a 1 month initial response time . Please use that link to submit to any of the open calls below OR to submit to specific genres (poetry, fiction, essays) outside of our usual open reading periods. Agents and publicists: we strongly prefer that writers submit their own work to us. The Rumpus has an exceptional and diverse editorial team; bypassing Submittable results in fewer readers and editors looking at your work. Rumpus Original Fiction open reading periods are February 15 through March 15 and August 15 through September 15. 5,500 words max. Rumpus Original Poetry open reading period is July 1-14 OR until we reach 500 submissions. Essays open reading periods are January 1 through February 28, June 2 through August 1, and September 1 through October 31. Comics open reading periods are Aug. 1 through Oct. 31 and Jan. 1 through March 31. ENOUGH open reading period is February 1 through February 29, 2024 We Are More open reading period is March 15-April 15, 2024 If you’d like to submit Fiction, Poetry, and Essays up to an additional 4 x a year outside of the the open reading periods , become an annual Rumpus Member. *Please note this perk does not apply to monthly members. Interview pitches and finished interview submissions are accepted year-round and should be sent directly to our Interviews team (interviews@therumpus.net). We are no longer using Submittable for interviews. Book review submissions are accepted year-round and should be sent through Submittable. Reviews of poetry collections should be directed to "Poetry Book Reviews" and all other reviews should be directed to "Book Reviews." Sign up for our e-newsletter here . If you’re a beginning author, we also offer a 5-week asynchronous course called The Writer’s Welcome Kit , to help support folks at the start of their writing journeys. Collaborative Criticism and Close Reads Guidelines for Collaborative Criticism and Close Reads Guidelines SUBMIT to Collaborative Criticism and Close Reads Edited by Aram Mrjoian, Editor-in-Chief The Rumpus seeks rolling submissions (no end date) for two new columns , Collaborative Criticism and Close Read, edited by our editor-in-chief, Aram Mrjoian. Submissions for both columns can be submitted as full drafts or pitches. For pitches, please provide a paragraph about what you want to write and how you’ll execute it, a short author bio, and links to two pieces of recent criticism you admire. These columns will be published on a rotating basis based on availability on our editorial calendar. Rumpus members are also welcome to submit drafts or pitches for both columns through the members submission portal. Collaborative Criticism column The Rumpus seeks critical work co-written or produced by two or more people. Submissions should be 1000-5000 words, but flexibility will be given to longer projects. Such works can take a variety of forms and could include: Literary or artistic debates between two writers as mini-essays or complementary reviews. Critical essays co-researched or co-written. Interviews or conversations that focus on a larger critical or cultural conversation rather than a forthcoming book. Hybrid collaborative criticism. Close Read column The Rumpus seeks short essays exploring a specific page, paragraph, or sentence from a book, film, piece of music, or other media. As opposed to a review, this is an opportunity to really dive into a tiny sample of writing, regardless of whether it was published last week or a hundred years ago. S ubmissions may range from 500-5000 words with some flexibility. Adoptee-themed Month - Letters to Adoption Ends on Guidelines for Adoptee-themed Month - Letters to Adoption Guidelines SUBMIT to Adoptee-themed Month - Letters to Adoption Call for Submissions: Adoptee-themed Month, Letters to Adoption, edited by Lauren J. Sharkey. I’ve written mine in the shower, on my way to work, waiting in line at the grocery store. The letters to my biological mother are filled with questions I know will never be answered. Or maybe, the answers are what frightens me. Either way, they remain drafts in my phone, papers in my drawer...truths never confessed. In keeping with The Rumpus’s commitment to provide space for underrepresented voices, I am excited to be opening submissions for our second Adoptee-themed Month, Letters to Adoption. We are seeking 750-word letters that challenge what it means to be grateful, letters that may label their authors another "angry adoptee." We often hear about how adoption makes families whole, but what those stories fail to mention is all the questions adoption doesn’t answer. We want to read letters that demand answers, that seek truth, that keep its authors up at night. Letters may be submitted in any of the four categories: Letters to Biological Mothers Letters to Biological Fathers Letters to My Younger Self Letters to Adoptive Parents Notes: You must identify as an adoptee, former foster youth, or otherwise relinquished individual to submit for this theme month. Submissions will be read anonymously. Letters are to be submitted unsigned. Signatures will be added post-acceptance. If you submit to, and are accepted to, more than one category, you will have to choose a single piece for submission. Compensation information can be found here . Other questions and concerns can be sent to lauren@therumpus.net . Publication will be November 2024 . Parallel Practice Guidelines for Parallel Practice Guidelines SUBMIT to Parallel Practice We are looking for essays on parallel practices , the things we do that are not writing but that inform and illuminate how we create. Submissions should be between 1,000-4000 words in length . Essays must be previously unpublished. This includes personal blogs and social media. This is a...