Sunspot Literary Journal is dedicated to hearing every voice. Part of that commitment includes publishing longform works, including those that qualify as novellas. For this call, single works of fiction or nonfiction, including scripts and screenplays, from 29,001 to 49,000 words can be submitted. 

Graphic novels should run between 51 and 100 pages. 

A single poem between 86 and 105 pages is also accepted. 

Sorry, story, essay, and poetry collections are not accepted in this category.

Submit your work here before midnight EST on July 31.

The latest edition of Sunspot Lit is now available for free download. Check out a novelette by Ron Pullins, translated poems from Pablo Neruda, and the strange and spectacular poetry and short fiction by other contemporary writers. Meditative art by Bangladeshi artist Surovi Akter graces the interior, with a collage by Robin Young on the cover. Download here. Please share the link to help support these artists and authors.

Just a reminder to check out this opportunity to spur your creativity in a lovely setting with Rosemary’s House.

Calling for Applications: Writing Residency in Greece

The Sunspot Lit community is warmly invited to apply to Rosemary’s House, a writing residency series in Greece with award-winning mentors. Apply now and use affiliate code SSL x RH to receive priority review on our rolling applications and early bird pricing. 

Be inspired by stunning vistas and select writers at Rosemary’s House. Every year, they put together a seven-night residency that includes workshops, mentoring, locally sourced meals, evening readings and cultural excursions. Make your dreams come to life with special priority given to readers of Sunspot Lit’s blog and magazine. Here are some of the details direct from the organizers:

The Sunspot Lit community is warmly invited to apply to Rosemary’s House, a writing residency series in Greece with award-winning mentors. Apply now and use affiliate code SSL x RH to receive priority review on our rolling applications and early bird pricing. In particular, Rosemary’s House recommends the following mentors for members of the Sunspot Lit community:

For Poets:

Safia Elhillo – August 30 – September 6, 2025

Sudanese by way of Washington, DC, Safia Elhillo is an award-winning poet and novelist. She is the author of the books The January Children, Girls That Never Die, Home Is Not A Country, and Bright Red Fruit. Elhillo received the 2015 Brunel International African Poetry Prize, and was listed in Forbes Africa’s 2018 “30 Under 30.”

Maggie Smith – September 28 – October 5, 2025

Maggie Smith is an acclaimed poet and NYT bestselling memoirist. She is the author of seven award-winning books: Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life, You Could Make This Place Beautiful, Lamp of the Body, The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison, and Good Bones, named by the Washington Post as one of the Five Best Poetry Books of 2017, Keep Moving, and Goldenrod.

For Fiction Writers:

Andre Dubus III – October 6-13, 2025

Andre Dubus III is a #1 NYT bestselling novelist. His nine books include New York Times bestsellers House of Sand and Fog, The Garden of Last Days, and his memoir, Townie, a #4 New York Times bestseller and a New York Times “Editors’ Choice.” His most recent novel, Such Kindness, was one of Amazon’s “The Best Books of 2023, Top 100.”

Fatimah Asghar – August 30 – September 6, 2025

Fatimah Asghar is an acclaimed poet, novelist, and screenwriter. A South-Asian American Muslim writer, they prioritize story over genre and are the author of If They Come For Us, When We Were Sisters, and the chapbook After. In 2017, they were a recipient of the Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation, and listed on Forbes’s 30 under 30 list.

For Nonfiction Writers:

Jonathan Katz – October 6 – 13, 2025

Award-winning journalist, former foreign correspondent for the Associated Press, contributor for publications like the New York Times, the Guardian, and Foreign Policy, author of two books, winner of the Overseas Press Club of America’s Cornelius Ryan Award, and shortlisted for the biennial PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction.

Applications are now open on a rolling basis, but there are only a few spots left, so we encourage you to apply at your earliest convenience. For questions and support, feel free to reach out to our admissions team at apply@rosemaryshouse.org. To stay updated, follow the RH Instagram @byrosemarys.

Authors & Artists Eligible
With Geminga, Sunspot Lit honors the power of the small. No restrictions on theme or category. Word limit is 100 for fiction and nonfiction. Micropoetry is limited to 140 characters. Graphic novels should be 4 pages or less. Submissions may be excerpts from longer works. 

Titles are not included in the word count. Epigraphs are included in the word count. Compound words separated by hyphens, numbers, and letters of the alphabet are counted as a single word. In the micropoetry category, characters include spaces, punctuation, numbers, and letters of the alphabet.

Visual art entries should be paintings, drawings, or sketches no larger than 25 inches square. Sculptural forms should be no larger than 25 inches in any dimension (length, height, or width).

Open: January 1

Close: January 31

Entry fee: $5

Prize: $100 cash, publication for the winner, publication offered to runners-up and finalists.

Submit here.

This is from our friends over at Winning Writers. This year, they’re offering more than $12,000 US in prizes. Here’s a brief rundown, with a link for more details:

The 33rd annual Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest is open for short story and essay submissions until April 15. Entry fee: $25. Prizes: $3,500 each for best story and essay, as well as $500 each for 10 Honorable Mentions. Publication online for all 12 winners. Read the guidelines and submit your work at winningwriters.com/tomstory

Sunspot Lit accepts all types of prose including essays, memoir, travel, teleplays, film and stage scripts. Using this form, submit:
One or two pieces of flash fiction or nonfiction; total length of submission not to exceed 1,000 words
OR
Up to three poems, with each poem starting on a new single-spaced page; max 30 lines of poetry per page; total submission not to exceed three pages
OR
A graphic novel of 1 to 4 pages
OR
Artwork; one or two images
In your cover letter, please indicate length and whether the piece is fiction, nonfiction, or poetry.
Please do not mix submission formats (for example, provide one poem and one flash piece as a single entry). Mixed submissions will be rejected without review.
Note that submissions that do not meet the guidelines will be declined without review.
Do feel free to submit in separate categories by using the same form any number of times. 

Sunspot Lit’s Angel Leya offers feedback on genre fiction, with a particular emphasis on novel excerpts. She specializes in fantasy and paranormal, with experience in light sci-fi, contemporary romance, and YA.
For works up to 5,000 words, you will receive a few paragraphs (about half a single-spaced page) of comments intended to strengthen your work. For works up to 12,500 words, you’ll receive around a full single-spaced page of comments. NOTE: Please do not request advice on where or how to submit work for publication, as this type of guidance is beyond the scope of the feedback on offer.
Submissions are capped each month, and the form will shut off once the cap is reached.
Angel 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 reads avidly (and writes) in the fantasy and paranormal genres, but she also has a soft spot for a good light sci fi or contemporary romance. Angel specializes in giving practical advice, with a bent toward characterization and dialog, as well as word flow, breaks in logic, and hooks.
Using this form, submit one story or excerpt. Submit as many times as you like using a new submission form for each story or excerpt. 

Sunspot Lit accepts all types of fiction and nonfiction including essays, memoir, travel, teleplays, film and stage scripts. Using this form, submit a single work of fiction or nonfiction up to 3,500 words. Graphic novels should run 5 to 10 pages. In your cover letter, please indicate length and whether the piece is fiction, nonfiction, or poetry.
Note that submissions that do not meet the guidelines will be declined without review.
Do feel free to submit in separate categories by using the same form any number of times. And a huge thank you for sending your work to Sunspot! 

Sunspot Lit is launching a new initiative to explore the intersection of artificial intelligence and creativity in prose, poetry, and art. For a limited time, the journal’s usual open calls will include an open call specifically for works created with the assistance of AI software, chatbots, or other programs. 

“Assistance” is being defined as moderate to significant reliance on AI to generate creative works: using programs or generators to create paragraphs or entire works of prose; lines of poetry or entire poems; and artwork. Minor assistance by any software program such as title generators, character name generators, or grammar correction is not considered to have been assisted by AI. 

Please note that Sunspot does not allow AI assistance for any of its standard open calls or contests; AI-assisted works will only be considered under this specific call. 

The cover letter must describe the type of AI assistance as well as the creator’s individual contribution to the final work (revisions, light editing, digital manipulation, etc.). Submissions for this open call will be considered for publication in the quarterly digital and annual print editions alongside non-AI assisted works. Published results will include a note that clarifies the work was created with AI assistance. 

The lowest fee allows you to submit artwork (a total of two images) or very short prose or 3 pages of poetry. Longer prose and poetry submissions, up to novella form, can also be submitted by selecting the appropriate fee from the dropdown menu.  
Be sure to select the correct fee option based on length. Incorrect fee selection will result in rejection without consideration.

Submit here to Sunspot’s initiative.

The second edition of 2024 is now available for free from Sunspot Lit. This issue showcases art by Aimee Bungard on the cover, a poem by Leah Skay selected for the Editor’s Prize, and the winners and finalists of the Inception, Solar Flare, and Goldilocks Zone contests.

Enjoy these works and much, much more by visiting Sunspot’s website.

To submit and possibly see your work alongside these new international creatives, check out the current open calls here. Longform authors might find the call for novella-length fiction and nonfiction, open for limited times each year, of interest. This includes longer graphic novels; other open calls take graphic novels that run to lower page counts.

San Diego Writers, Ink is pleased to announce that submissions for their A Year in Ink, Volume 18 anthology will be open starting on July 15, 2024 and will remain open until September 15, 2024 at 11:59 PM. Open to San Diego residents and members of SDWI. Learn more at writeyourstorynow.org!

Rosemary’s House has some unique programs for writers in October. Apply early and receive a significant discount to the fees while moving through your current or new work.

Residential Workshop Retreats: apply to one of our multi-genre residential workshops to expand your creative horizons, learn from talented peers, and receive diverse feedback. These retreats feature a daily group workshop and promote social discourse and investigation of story. We encourage writers of all genres to apply to the cohort(s) with the mentor of their choice. All genres and mediums are welcome! 
October 2-9: Mentor Heather Aimee O’Neill

Heather Aimee O’Neill has worked with hundreds of novelists, memoirists, short-story and essay writers in her roles as the assistant director of the Sackett Street Writers’ Workshop and as an independent editor and writing coach. She helps writers start, finish, polish, and find publication for their work. Many of her students and clients have gone on to publish with major publishers, including Viking, W.W. Norton, Harper Collins, Double Day, Flatiron Books, and Simon & Schuster, among others. As a Lambda Literary Poetry Fellow, Heather co-authored the poetry collection “Obliterations” with Jessica Piazza, published by Red Hen Press. Additionally, her poetry chapbook, “Memory Future,” earned the University of Southern California’s Gold Line Press Award. 

The Individualized Study Retreat: this retreat is geared towards writers who would like to spend the majority of their retreat writing, under the careful and intensive supervision of a writer with immense experience completing long-form projects. Writer Sally Bayley and Rosemary’s House have engineered this week to mimic a supervision term at Oxford University, with review of up to 10,000 words of a larger project and individualized mentorship sessions. 

October 2-9: Mentor Sally Bayley 

Sally Bayley is a writer of fiction and non-fiction. She is particularly interested in the shifting relationship between genres. Girl with Dove (William Collins, 2018), is a literary coming of age story. It has been lauded as a completely original work that invents a new genre. The second part of this sequence, No Boys Play Here (William Collins, January 2022), combines forms of drawing and song with scenes from Shakespeare’s plays. The final part of the trilogy, The Green Lady (William Collins, July 2023) sees the child-narrator complete her journey from reader to writer with the help of folklore and the laws of nature. Sally also hosts and performs the highly successful immersive podcast, A READING LIFE, A WRITING LIFE, which offers innovative forms of storytelling set to music and soundscapes as well as creative prompts for writers, readers and creatives. She is currently a Lecturer in English at Hertford College, Oxford. Sally teaches on the Sarah Lawrence visiting programme at Wadham College, Oxford. From 2018-2020 she was a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Oxford Brookes University.

Generative Retreat: Rosemary’s House is a grief-friendly space, and we are excited to be introducing a themed-generator week;  this year’s theme is: “The Healer’s Journey”. This residency will not feature a group workshop but will instead be centered upon generative writing exercises. We ask that applicants for this residency are considering stories that in some way relate to the theme of healing; alternatively or in addition, we invite applicants who are investigating writing’s therapeutic power. Whether you are looking to get started on a project or take the week to heal, this retreat is the space for you. 

October 15-22: Mentor Chloe Dulce Louvouezo Qadree 

Chloe Dulce Louvouezo Qadree is a Congolese-American author, creative and narrative strategist, and advocate for women whose work is driven by storytelling that advances narrative change. She helps emerging writers, organizations, firms, and women leaders translate their work into powerful stories that bridge divides and amplify unheard voices. For nearly two decades, Chloe has advanced inclusive storytelling at national and global organizations addressing inequities in gender, education, socioeconomics, and mental and maternal health. From visual storytelling to message development to event curation of world leaders, Chloe’s work has reached global audiences in the global north and south. Chloe is author of Life, I Swear: Intimate Stories from Black Women on Identity, Healing, and Self-Trust (HarperCollins Publishers, November 2021), through which she explores nuances and insights around identity, mental wellness, and healing from the lens of women from the Black diaspora. She currently serves as a Senior Communications Officer at The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where she produces human-centered stories and leads creative strategy.