Submission Guidelines
Thanks for your interest in Shadow Falls Review. We publish a wide range of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and visual art. Beginning, emerging, and established writers and artists are encouraged to apply.
General Guidelines
Shadow Falls Review is committed to uplifting the work of underrepresented voices: writers of color, Indigenous writers, LGBTQ+ writers, and writers with disabilities are all encouraged to submit.
Your submissions will be reviewed with sensitivity and care by graduate students in the Creative Writing and Publishing program at the University of St. Thomas. We're looking for work that demonstrates intentionality, revision, and voice. We are accepting pieces which invoke emotions within the reader, leaving them with a lasting impression even after their eyes leave the page.
Contributors are given two copies of the issue in which their work appears. SFR will also promote and market their work as much as possible.
Shadow Falls Review acquires First North American Serial Rights. Rights revert to the author upon publication in our printed journal, but we ask that we are acknowledged should the piece be published elsewhere.
Submissions from current St. Thomas students or from alumni of the last five years are ineligible. We ask all contributors to wait at least two years before submitting again.
Response times vary, but if you have not heard from us by April 1 feel free to reach out at editors@shadowfallsreview.com.
We are open for submissions August 15-January 15. Multiple submissions are acceptable, but please only submit once per genre per submission period.
We do not accept previously published work. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable so long as you notify us and withdraw your piece if it is accepted elsewhere.
Submissions are accepted only through Submittable. Submissions sent via mail or email will be discarded.
Please include your name, email address, and a word count at the top of the first page. Please use page numbers, and include a short cover letter with a third-person bio (no more than 150 words).
All writing submission files should be either DOCX or PDF.
Please only submit one story at a time. (You may submit up to three flash pieces in a single document, each no more than 750 words.) Stories must be 5000 words or fewer. While we enjoy stories that play with genre, traditional genre writing (mystery, horror, sci-fi, romance, western, etc.) is unlikely to find a home here.
Fiction
Submit 3-5 poems in a single document. Each new poem should begin on a new page. There is no length restriction per poem. While we encourage experimentation with form, understand your work may need to be reformatted to fit our page size.
Poetry
We accept a wide variety of nonfiction genres, including literary essays, personal essays, flash, and hybrid work. Nonfiction pieces must be no more than 5000 words.
Creative Nonfiction
Submit up to five pieces of unpublished visual art. Please format your submission as image files (JPG, TIFF, or PDF) at a high resolution (at least 300 dpi).