Fiction

• 1-2 submissions including any combination of the following:

  • Flash Fiction = 1 - 1,000 words

  • Short Stories = 1,001 - 5,000 words

  • Longform = 5,001 - 15,000 words

Poetry

• 1-6 poems, with the combined page count of the poems being no more than 20.

Submissions are always open. However, since some opportunities are time sensitive, we have cut-off dates for those specific things. For example, we general stop considering new submissions for an upcoming issue within a month of the new issue’s publication date.

If we have available themes or contests, they are noted on this page. You don’t have to submit to those themes if you prefer.

That all said, our featured work is always being published, which gives you endless opportunities to submit your work for consideration.

We publish featured fiction and poetry on a weekly basis—poetry on Tuesdays and fiction on Saturdays. We also publish bi-annual issues on April 1 and October 1, as well as periodically publishing the Lil’ Onions Series, which are mini issues produced by our intern staff and guest editors.

Nope! You submit one time and your entire submission is considered for every available opportunity. We do all the work on the back end so it’s easier for you.

We aim for a response time of 4-6 weeks, but please be patient. You may reach out regarding your submission if you haven’t received a response within 8 weeks of the submission date.

Yes! We just ask that you withdraw your work should it be accepted elsewhere.

To withdraw your work, you can send a new email or reply to your original submission email. Either way, we will figure it out!

Also yes! You may submit both poems and fiction in the same submission period. If you want to submit poems and fiction, please send two submission emails—one for the poems, and another for the fiction. We put the emails into different folders on the back end for each of our editors to help us stay organized, so we need separate emails for poetry and fiction.

You will receive an auto-reply stating that we did. And we check our spam folder regularly, so even if your submission ends up there, we will find it!

Hang in there! We’re writers, too, and we don’t like being ghosted, so you’ll hear from us regarding your submission regardless of the final verdict. The email we send you will either be of acceptance, rejection, or confirmation that your work has been withdrawn. We try to offer individualized feedback when possible—especially for emerging writers—but no guarantees!

That’s okay! You are absolutely in the right place and have nothing to fear. While all writers are encouraged to submit, we especially encourage new and emerging writers to send us their work. Everybody starts somewhere, so why not try for that place to be here?

Please include them in the event your story contains something which warrants their inclusion (significant violence, depictions of pedophilia, depictions of rape, etc). In these cases, we like to know ahead of time what we’re about to read.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES will we publish anything racist, homophobic, sexist, transphobic, derogatory toward any marginalized group, AI-generated, or anything else deemed to be of poor taste. It is at the editors’ discretion as to what is categorized to be of poor taste. Should you choose to submit something ultimately deemed to be of poor taste, you will receive an email informing you that you’re banned from submitting further to our magazine, after which your email address will be blocked. Just be a good ‘lil onion.

Also, we do not accept submissions of previously published work, except for work published in magazines which are now defunct.

At this time, that would be $0.00, but we hope to change that in the future.

That said, we do promote the heck out of upcoming publications on social media.

If accepted, The Bloomin’ Onion acquires First North American Serial Rights and First Electronic Rights. All rights revert to the contributor following publication. The contributor agrees to credit The Bloomin’ Onion as the original publisher if the work is subsequently reproduced online or in print.