Inception, the contest for best opening, has been judged. Submissions received for this year’s program were a true joy to review, and made for some tough decisions when shaping the finalist list.

Finalists

The Devil in the Details / TJ Morley / Fiction

Deus in Machina / Karen Davis / Novel

Kentucky Blood (Book I) / Ashley Sheikh / Novel

Woodcutter / Danielle Stonehirsch / Fiction

BUZZKILL / Leila Springer / Fiction

A Dream of Tibet / Bill Schulz / Painting

Runners-up

Two Winters Long / Nathaniel Eddy / Novel / Best of Novels

Genesis / Rex Wilder / Best of Art

Grinders and Cream / Robert Hickson / Fiction / Best of Short Stories

Winner

Nightwalk / Bill Schultz / Painting

The winner received $500 and will be published in the next digital edition as well as the annual print edition. The runners-up and finalists will also be offered publication. Congratulations to everyone called out as a best in category, finalist, semifinalist, and quarterfinalist.

Everyone is welcome to submit to Sunspot. Remember that our calls for longer poetry, fiction, and nonfiction close earlier than the calls for shorter works. Click here to find out what we’re accepting now.

To support great literature and art, consider preordering a print copy of the 2023 edition. Shipping to US locations is included in the price.

The journal’s annual Goldilocks Zone contest, for works that combine excellence with audience appeal, is also open.

Angel Leya, a staff member of Sunspot Literary Journal, offers feedback on genre fiction, which includes short stories and novel excerpts. She specializes in fantasy and paranormal, with experience in light sci-fi, contemporary romance, and YA.

Leya is the coauthor of the USA Today bestselling book, Shifted (Siren Prophecy series), with over 12 additional novels, novellas, and short stories to her name. She’s been published in  several anthologies, including Fiddlehead Press and The Alliance of YA Authors. She specializes in giving practical advice, with a bent toward characterization and dialog, as well as word flow, breaks in logic, and hooks.

Submissions are capped each month, and the form will shut off once the cap is reached. Visit Sunspot Lit’s Submittable page for options and guidelines.

Sunspot Lit seeks all types of fiction and nonfiction including essays, memoir, travel, teleplays, film and stage scripts. Single works of fiction or nonfiction should run between 1,001 and 3,500 words.

Graphic novels should run 5 to 10 pages.

Please note that collections are not accepted in this category.

Send in your work before the quarterly deadline using Submittable or Duotrope.

Authors & Artists Eligible
The Goldilocks Zone appears wherever conditions make a planet habitable. Sunspot Lit is looking for the single short story, novel or novella excerpt, artwork, graphic novel, or poem that combines excellence in craft with reader or audience appeal, and thus falls into the Goldilocks Zone. Literary and genre works accepted.
Fiction and nonfiction submissions are eligible to receive feedback for an additional fee. This is entirely optional, and selecting feedback or entering the contest without feedback will have no bearing on the judging rounds. Each submission will receive a brief writeup a few paragraphs in length (about half a single-spaced page) commenting on critical strengths and weaknesses. This option is not available for art or poetry. Feedback option available only through the Submittable form.
First prize is $500 plus publication. Runners-up and finalists are offered publication. No restrictions on theme or category. Maximum of 2,500 words for short stories or nonfiction, 24 lines for poetry, and 8 pages for graphic novels. No size requirements for painting, photography, video stills or sculpture, although each entry is limited to one image.
Open: August 1, 2023
Close: September 30, 2023
Contest entry fee: $12.50
Prize: $500 cash and publication for the winner; publication offered to runners-up and finalists.
Enter as many times as you like, but only one piece per submission. Simultaneous submissions are accepted. Please withdraw your piece if it is published elsewhere before the winner is selected.

Enter here on Submittable, or here on Duotrope.

This is from the San Diego Writers:

Submissions for San Diego Writers, Ink’s A Year in Ink,Volume 17 anthology are open now until September 10 at 11:59 PM! The annual publication represents a sampling of the tangible results of SDWI’s diligent scribbles. Co-editors for this year’s publication are Kimberly Lee (Prose) and Katie Manning (Poetry). Submissions can include short stories, novel and memoir excerpts, creative nonfiction, satire, flash fiction/nonfiction, and poetry. Open to San Diego residents, SDWI members, and SDWI instructors. SDWI members and instructors submit for free; non-members/instructors can submit for $5 per piece. Visit here to learn more!Link to Submit: 

https://writeyourstorynow.org/all-programs/a-year-in-ink/

Sunspot Lit seeks fiction and nonfiction, including scripts and screenplays, from 17,501 to 29,000 words in their current open call for novelette length works. 

Graphic novels should run 41 to 85 pages. 

Please note that collections are not accepted in this category.

This call is open for only a limited time. Send in your work before the deadline using Submittable or Duotrope.

Sunspot Lit seeks fiction and nonfiction, including scripts and screenplays, between 3,501 and 7,500 words. 

Graphic novels should run 11 to 25 pages. 

A single poemof 4 to 10 pages is also accepted.

Please note that collections are not accepted in this category.

This call is open for only a limited time. Send in your work before the deadline using Submittable or Duotrope.

Authors & Artists Eligible
The Goldilocks Zone appears wherever conditions make a planet habitable. Sunspot Lit is looking for the single short story, novel or novella excerpt, artwork, graphic novel, or poem that combines excellence in craft with reader or audience appeal, and thus falls into the Goldilocks Zone. Literary and genre works accepted.
Fiction and nonfiction submissions are eligible to receive feedback for an additional fee. This is entirely optional, and selecting feedback or entering the contest without feedback will have no bearing on the judging rounds. Each submission will receive a brief writeup a few paragraphs in length (about half a single-spaced page) commenting on critical strengths and weaknesses. This option is not available for art or poetry. Feedback option available only through the Submittable form.
First prize is $500 plus publication. Runners-up and finalists are offered publication. No restrictions on theme or category. Maximum of 2,500 words for short stories or nonfiction, 24 lines for poetry, and 8 pages for graphic novels. No size requirements for painting, photography, video stills or sculpture, although each entry is limited to one image.
Open: August 1, 2023
Close: September 30, 2023
Contest entry fee: $10.00
Prize: $500 cash and publication for the winner; publication offered to runners-up and finalists.
Sunspot asks for first rights only; all rights revert to the contributor after publication. Works, along with the creators’ bylines, are published in the next quarterly digital edition an average of two months after contest completion, as well as in the annual print edition.
Works should be unpublished except on a personal blog or website. Artists offered publication may display their pieces in galleries, festivals or shows throughout the publication contract period.
Enter as many times as you like, but only one piece per submission. Simultaneous submissions are accepted. Please withdraw your piece if it is published elsewhere before the winner is selected.

Enter here on Submittable, or here on Duotrope.

Authors & Artists Eligible

Beginnings have the power to spark passion or curiosity. They might immediately connect a specific place and time with an emotional tone. The best openings offer a feeling, atmosphere, action, or image that is gripping, and hints at more to come. A poem handles this differently than a flash piece, which handles an opening differently than a novel. The first photo, painting or frame presented in a gallery, series, or graphic novel strives for the same intent. Openings contain a spark that promises to burn. 

For Sunspot Lit’s current Inception contest, send your best opening. There are no restrictions on theme, category, or the length of the piece or collection from which the excerpt comes. Word limit is 250 for prose, 25 words for poetry. 

Graphic novel and comic book entries should be the first page (unlimited number of panels on that page) with a maximum of 250 words (cut the number of panels in order to meet the word count, if needed). 

Art entries should be the first in a series, the first in a gallery lineup, the first in a themed collection, etc. Entries are limited to one image of a painting, sculpture, mixed media form, collage, or other artwork. 

Feedback is available for fiction, nonfiction, and graphic novels for an additional fee. This is entirely optional and will not impact the judging process. The written comments will consider the work’s strengths, point out critical weaknesses, and make recommendations for any changes that would make the work stronger. The commentary will be provided 4-6 weeks after the contest closes. Feedback is not available for poetry or art, and will not be provided even if the feedback fee is paid.

Open: June 1, 2023

Close: July 31, 2023

Entry fee: $10

Prize: $500 cash plus publication for the winner. Publication will be offered to runners-up and finalists.

For full guidelines and to submit, visit Submittable or Duotrope.

Sunspot Lit seeks fiction and nonfiction, including scripts and screenplays, from 29,001 to 49,000 words in their current open call for novella-length prose. 

Graphic novels are included in this call, and should run between 51 and 100 pages. 

Please note that collections are not accepted in this category.

This call is open for only a limited time. Send in your work before the deadline using Submittable or Duotrope.

Check out this opportunity to work in a magnificent setting.

ROSEMARY’S HOUSE IS NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR OUR FALL RESIDENCIES IN GREECE

Join us for a life-changing writing workshop residency at Rosemary’s House, in a location that the ancients used to call “phlegra” or “land of fire” in Greece.  With the support of an esteemed mentor you’ll hone your craft in the company of just 13 select writers from around the world.

Whether you are working on a novel, memoir, play, musical, collection of poems, screenplay, pilot, or other genre-bending pursuit, this is an opportunity to propel your progress alongside a group of exceptional peers. 

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis! APPLY HERE 

(Apply by July 1st for our early-bird rate and priority review)
FALL MENTORS

August 24-31 Rebecca Abrams
An Oxford University Tutor, REBECCA is an author, editor, teacher and journalist. She is the author of eight works of fiction and non-fiction, a verse play,  and two stage plays. She has written for many years for the UK’s national press as a feature writer, columnist, commissioning editor and book reviewer. She is a regular literary critic for the Financial Times and the recipient of an Amnesty International Award for Journalism.

September 1-8 Sally Bayley
A University of Oxford Royal Literary Fund Fellow, SALLY  is the author of books featured in Radio 4’s Book of the Week and The Spectator Book of the Year; She is the host of the Podcast “A Reading Life, A Writing LIfe”.

September 9-16 Jake Brunger
JAKE’s film “Love Sarah” was #1 in New Zealand’s Box Office and #5 in Netflix Top 10 Films; His work has additionally appeared at the West End’s Ambassadors Theatre, Old Vic Theatre, and Noel COWARD THEATRE; He’s been a staff writer for multiple shows including an Emmy-Nominated Animated TV Series.

September 25- October 2nd Jenny Zhang
JENNY’s work has received the Pen/Bingham Award for Debut Fiction, LA Times Art Seidenbaum Award, and  the O. Henry Award; Her Work Has been Published with Lena Dunham’s Lenny Books via Random House; She Worked as a staff writer for HBO and Facebook and is currently adapting her work “Sour Heart” into a feature-length film for A24 (Moonlight, Euphoria, Everything Everywhere All At Once).

PLEASE DIRECT ALL QUERIES TO ANGELICA AT APPLY@ROSEMARYSHOUSE.ORG

Sunspot Lit seeks fiction and nonfiction, including scripts and screenplays, from 17,501 to 29,000 words in their current open call for novelette length works. 

Graphic novels should run 41 to 85 pages. 

Please note that collections are not accepted in this category.

This call is open for only a limited time. Send in your work before the deadline using Submittable or Duotrope.

Sunspot Lit’s poetry editor, Morrow Dowdle, offers feedback for poets.

Dowdle is the author of the chapbook Nature v. Nurture (Artagem Graphic Library). Her poetry has been featured in River and South Review, Poetry South, Dandelion Review, NonBinary Review, Pink Panther Magazine, Panoply, APIARY, The Schuylkill Valley Journal of the Arts, Edison Literary Review, River Poets Quarterly, The Griffin, Philadelphia Stories, and Prism, among other publications. She has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net.  She is an active member of the Living Poetry collective in the North Carolina Triangle area.

Sunspot is happy to offer three different options for feedback based on the length of the poem. Please note that poets can submit only one poem every three months.

Find out more by reviewing the guidelines on Sunspot’s Submittable page.  

Sunspot Lit seeks works of fiction or nonfiction, including scripts and screenplays, from 7,501 words up to 17,500 words in their Supernova category. 

Graphic novels should be 26 to 40 pages. 

A single poembetween 11 and 15 pages is also accepted. 

Please note that collections are not accepted in this category.

This call is open for only a limited time. Send in your work before the deadline using Submittable or Duotrope.

Sunspot Lit seeks fiction and nonfiction, including scripts and screenplays, from 29,001 to 49,000 words in their current open call for novella-length prose. 

Graphic novels are included in this call, and should run between 51 and 100 pages. 

Please note that collections are not accepted in this category.

This call is open for only a limited time. Send in your work before the deadline using Submittable or Duotrope.