Thank you for your interest in submitting to Lit Shark Magazine!
We’re grateful for the opportunity to read so many great works, beautifully rendered ideas, and excellent executions of genre. But most importantly, we love reminding each other that we don’t have to live these things alone: our thoughts, our experiences, or our art.
To Submit to Lit Shark Magazine:
Thank you for submitting to Lit Shark! To submit, please email publishing@litshark.com.
The subject line of your email should be, “[Issue #] Lit Shark Sub,” so we can match your submission up with the proper theme. Include your name, contact info, and author bio in the body of the email.
If the submission is a reprint, that must be stated in the body of the email, along with the information about the earlier printing(s).
Your submission should appear in ONE document, and it should not include your name or other identifying information, so we can ensure a fair, unbiased reading of your work. We prefer PDF or Word Docx.
Poetry: Up to 5 poems or 10 pages
Fiction, Short Nonfiction, and Novel Excerpts: Up to 15 pages or 4500 words
Plays: 10-minute plays or up to 10 pages
General submissions are ALWAYS welcome, but some of our issues are themed, so please be mindful of what our themes are for the year, so you can submit your work to the most fitting issue possible.
Reprints are acceptable, but please include the previous publication information in your submission email.
Simultaneous submissions are always welcome, but please let us know as soon as a piece is accepted elsewhere so we can take it out of consideration. Replying to your initial submission email would be the easiest for us!
Lit Shark’s Submission Schedule:
Submissions are considered on a rolling basis at Lit Shark; our doors are always open. Submissions are also always free! We’re publishing FOUR issues this year, PLUS a Best Of 2025 Anthology and our PAID Poem of the Month Contest.
That said, if there is a particular issue you’d like your work to appear in, or a specific contest you want to submit to, here is our 2025 timeline:
You also can submit your work EARLY (i.e., if you had something ready for our Spooky issue right now); just make sure to note in your submission WHICH issue you’re applying for so we can properly consider it!
Issue 10 of Lit Shark Magazine: The Spring Edition
Submissions Due: May 15th
Our first two issues of the year are always “general” issues in the sense that anything goes, and all will be considered. Priority is, of course, always given to marine- and nature-themed works, but all works are still considered. Just keep the graphic, sexual, and violent themes to the lighter side, given our overall audience.
Issue 10 of Lit Shark Magazine: The Spring Edition will appear at the end of May 2025.
Issue 11 of Lit Shark Magazine: The SHARK WEEK Edition
Submissions Due: July 15th
The theme for this issue: nature, marine life, and reactions to SHARK WEEK, SHARKFEST, and other similar documentaries (you can respond to documentaries and programs from ANY year; you’re not restricted to only this year’s programs!). Poetry responses, fiction inspired by fun facts, essays written based on newfound interests, etc. Put your spin on it, but make it fishy and sharktastic!
Issue 11 of Lit Shark Magazine: The SHARK WEEK Edition will appear at the end of July 2025.
Issue 12 of Lit Shark Magazine: The Spooky (TEETH) Edition
Submissions Due: October 15th
Spooky poems and chilling stories, dark retellings, campy horror and ghost stories, and shark tales that would make JAWS or THE MEG tremble. Send us your creepiest, coolest, and campiest!
Issue 12 of Lit Shark Magazine: The Spooky (TEETH) Edition will appear on Halloween 2025.