How to Submit
Founded in 2022, Gentle Visitations is an independent online magazine of literature and culture that accepts unpublished poems, short fiction, creative nonfiction, and book reviews exploring new directions in the humanities. These are the genres we are starting with; however, in the near future, we plan to include other genres such as interviews, comics, translations, and others.
An important part of Gentle Visitations’s mandate is to publish first-time authors. We want to give new and upcoming authors, particularly female authors, the opportunity to showcase their creative potential and talent.
Guidelines
Genre-specific submission guidelines are available below. If your submission does not follow these guidelines, it will not be considered.
While we do accept simultaneous submissions, we do not accept previously published work (including self-published material in print or online). If your work is accepted elsewhere, please withdraw your work from Gentle Visitations as soon as possible.
- Please avoid plagiarism or violation of copy rights rules as we strictly abide by these rules.
- Please attach your work in MS Word format (doc, docx).
- Upload your writing in a single document.
FICTION
Fiction piece must not exceed 3000 words.
POETRY
Please send no more than three poems at one time and upload them as a single file. Start each poem on a new page. Please don’t send poems longer than 30 lines. Poems may be single-spaced.
CREATIVE NONFICTION (CNF)
We publish a broad range of creative nonfiction including interpretive and personal essays, memoir, critical reassessments, cultural criticism (art, film, etc.), reported material, travel writing, and environmental writing written in a narrative style using storytelling techniques. Nonfiction piece must not exceed 3000 words.
BOOK REVIEWS
Most of our reviews are solicited by the editors. However, we welcome submissions from outside reviewers. Reviewers should cite the title, author, place of publication and publisher, year, number of pages, and price of the book or books in the review.
For example: Hybrid Tapestries: The Development of Pakistani Literature in English. By Muneeza Shamsie. Pakistan: Oxford University Press, 2017. pp. 676. $59.95.
We publish standard reviews (not exceeding 1000 words), which focus on only one book.
All writings should have:
- Indented paragraphs
- double line spacing
- 12pt font
- Times New Roman font
Include a short cover letter (stating the titles of the piece you are submitting, its word count, a 50-word bio, your contact details. The subject line should include the word “Submission” and the type of work (short story, poetry, etc.).
Declaration
On acceptance, Gentle Visitations asks for:
- First electronic rights to be the first to publish the work online.
- Non-exclusive Digital Format rights to publish the work in our downloadable PDF.
- Right to archive the work for as long as Gentle Visitaions exists.
Following publication, the rights to the work revert back to the writer. This means that after we publish your poem, story, etc. you keep the rights to your work and are free to publish it elsewhere. We only ask that you credit Gentle Visitations as the place your work first appeared.
Only submit ONCE per reading period. If you are accepted or rejected, please wait until the next reading cycle to submit again.
You will be informed via e-mail if your writing is selected for our magazine. If you do not hear from us after 2 months of submission deadline, it means that we will not be publishing your writing.
Please acknowledge Gentle Visitations as the journal of first publication when placing your work elsewhere.
To begin, begin