Authors & Artists Eligible
Geminga is a neutron star so small it was difficult to detect. With Geminga: $500 for Tiny Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, or Art, 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: $12.50

Prize: $500 cash, 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 fall 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Works should be unpublished except on a personal blog or website.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 through Submittable or Duotrope, but only one piece per submission. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please withdraw your piece if it is published elsewhere before the winner is selected.

Sunspot Lit accepts all types of prose including essays, memoir, travel, teleplays, film and stage scripts. Submissions under the Flash category can be one or two pieces of flash fiction or nonfiction, with the length of the entire submission not to exceed 1,000 words.

Up to three poems are also accepted under this call, with the total submission not to exceed three pages.

Flash graphic novels of 1 to 4 pages are welcome.

Artwork can be one or two images

Note that mix submission formats(for example, provide one poem and one flash piece as a single entry) are not accepted for this open call. 

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

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.

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.

Sunspot Lit accepts all types of prose including essays, memoir, travel, teleplays, film and stage scripts. Submissions under the Flash category can be one or two pieces of flash fiction or nonfiction, with the length of the entire submission not to exceed 1,000 words.

Up to three poems are also accepted under this call, with the total submission not to exceed three pages.

Flash graphic novels of 1 to 4 pages are welcome.

Artwork can be one or two images

Note that mix submission formats(for example, provide one poem and one flash piece as a single entry) are not accepted for this open call. 

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

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’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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.