SUBMISSION TERMS & CONDITIONS
Last updated: April 2026 | Applies to all story submissions
THE QUICK VERSION
(This summary is a plain-English overview only. It is not legally binding and does not replace the full terms below.)
- You own your work — forever and always.
- We just have permission to show it to readers.
- We'll always credit you and link to your stuff.
- Submission is free. Being featured is an honour, not a transaction.
- You can ask us to remove your work at any time.
- Submitting doesn't guarantee you'll be featured.
1. YOU OWN EVERYTHING
You retain 100% ownership of your work. Submitting your story to us does not transfer any rights, intellectual property, or copyright to us — not now, not ever.
What you are granting us is a non-exclusive licence to publish and promote your submitted excerpt. "Non-exclusive" means you are completely free to simultaneously submit the same work to publishers, literary agents, writing contests, other newsletters, or anywhere else you choose. We have no claim on it.
2. WHERE YOUR WORK MAY APPEAR
If selected, your excerpt will appear in our weekly email newsletter and may be archived on our associated website for readers to browse. We won't publish it anywhere else without asking you first.
To help spread the word, we may also share a short snippet (a sentence or two) and your name or handle on our social media accounts (such as Instagram, X, or Reddit) to promote that week's issue. By submitting, you give us permission to do this.
3. CREDIT & YOUR LINKS
Your name (or pseudonym — your call) will always appear prominently alongside your work. No exceptions.
We will also include up to two links of your choosing — your social profile, personal website, Substack, Amazon author page, wherever you'd like to point readers. Just let us know what to include when you submit.
4. NO MONEY CHANGES HANDS
Submission is completely free. There are no fees, entry costs, or hidden charges.
We are also not currently paying for featured excerpts. Being featured is offered for promotional and community discovery purposes — a chance to get your opening chapter in front of real readers. We'll be transparent if this changes in the future.
5. TAKING YOUR WORK DOWN
If you later sign a publishing deal and your publisher asks you to remove the sample from public archives, just send us an email and we'll take it down promptly. We want to support your publishing journey, not complicate it.
You can also request removal for any other reason. We'll honour reasonable requests within 7 days.
6. WHAT WE ASK OF YOU
Originality. By submitting, you confirm the work is your own and does not infringe on anyone else's copyright, trademarks, or intellectual property. If you've used any third-party material (song lyrics, quotations, etc.), you're responsible for having the appropriate permissions.
No AI-generated content. Submissions must be written by a human author. We won't knowingly publish AI-generated writing, and misrepresenting AI content as your own is grounds for immediate removal.
Community standards. We reserve the right to decline any submission that contains hate speech, content targeting protected groups, or material we determine violates the spirit of our community — without obligation to explain further. Explicit content must be clearly flagged at submission.
7. SELECTION & NOTIFICATION
Submitting your work does not guarantee you'll be featured. We receive many submissions and can only spotlight one writer per week. Our selection is based on fit, timing, and editorial judgement.
If your excerpt is chosen, we'll email you at least 48 hours before the newsletter goes live to confirm and give you a chance to update your links or bio.
If you're not selected, you won't hear from us unless you follow up — but we genuinely appreciate every single submission.
These terms may be updated occasionally. Any significant changes will be announced in the newsletter. Continued submission after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated terms. Questions? Just reply to any of our emails — we're real people and we'll write back.