SUBMISSIONS
Submissions reopen 1 March to 1 April, 2025 for Issue 4 (Summer 2025).
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We gladly accept work submitted for Paid Feedback and Editorial Services throughout the year.
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Following our Submissions Guidelines significantly increases your chances of publication.​ By submitting work for our consideration, it is assumed you are familiar with who we are as a magazine and what we are able to offer contributors.
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Quick facts about submitting to us:
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Contributors from around the world are welcome to submit.
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We do not charge submission fees (with the exception of paid additional submissions)
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There are no themes or genre limitations - just send us great literary work.
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We have a "No-AI" policy because we believe in putting human creatives first
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Every submission is read.
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We love emerging and working class writers
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We welcome creators from diverse backgrounds, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, differently abled, and all ages from 18+
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We accept reprints, excerpts of longer works, and simultaneous submissions
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We respond just 2 months after submissions close
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Expedited responses and feedback options are available here
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CONTRIBUTOR PAY:
At present, we cannot pay contributors or provide contributor print copies. This will change as we grow and secure funding.
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PUBLICITY:
Magazine contributors are listed on our website, on the cover page of our magazine, and listed and/or tagged in social media posts closer to the time of publication. Our digital magazines are free to view as PDFs on our website and the link is sharable. However it is not possible to link to an individual work in a PDF due to the nature of technology. Blog contributors are highlighted individually on posting day via social media, with a sharable link to their individual work. The reason blog contributors are more easily searchable is due to the nature of SEO and differences in publication format. Contributors are welcome to tag themselves and share their work on social media, and we attempt to repost as much as possible. However, we cannot offer dedicated publicity for individual contributors.
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WE ACCEPT:
Work that is primarily literary in nature that can include elements of genre and/or experimentation. But we are not the place to send your truly dark and disturbing musings. Please review our Content Restrictions below.
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*NON FICTION: can include interviews, cultural essays, humour, memoir, travel writing, creative non fiction, hybrid, art criticism, and reviews. Please note: reviews should be evergreen due to our publication schedule.​​
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*REPRINTS AND NOVEL EXCERPTS: If you retain all rights and it has been 6 months (or longer - as per the publication agreement with original mag) since your piece was published, we'd love to consider it. In your cover letter, please indicate
the name of the previous publication, date of publication, and links (if available).
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GENRES:
Fiction, non fiction, flash fiction, scripts (theatre and film), visual art, comics, photography, song lyrics, hybrid works (however you define it), and poetry.
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CONTENT RESTRICTIONS:
DO NOT send any audio or visual recordings, hyperlinks, AI generated or plagiarised content. No work that glorifies pornography, pedophilia, graphic violence, body horror/gore, sexual violence/rape, assault of any kind against women, children, animals, LGBTQIA+, racial/ethnic/cultural or religious groups. No hate speech, hate-based ideology, racial slurs, misogyny, or 'shock value' content. This not a restriction against literary and/or intelligent discussion of adult themes. Inappropriate submissions will be deleted and submitters will be banned (as in, all future emails will be filtered into our trash folder).
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SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS: please notify us as soon as your work is accepted elsewhere.
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CATEGORIES & WORD COUNTS: ONLY SUBMIT TO ONE CATEGORY (see below for extra submission option)
FICTION - one piece only, max 6K
NON FICTION - one piece only, max 6K
FLASH FICTION - up to two pieces, max 1K each
PLAYS/SCREENPLAYS - one piece only, max 20 pages
POETRY & SONGS - up to three pieces, max 3 pages total
ART/PHOTOGRAPHY - up to 5 images
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EXTRA SUBMISSION (paid)
You may submit one extra submission in one additional category of choice. To purchase, click here.
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Additional Paid Options:
Expedited Response, Editorial Feedback can be purchased here.
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TERMS & CONDITIONS. before accepting an offer of publication from us, it your responsibility to read and agree.​
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Scroll down to review our No-AI POLICY and HOW TO SUBMIT guidelines.​
HOW TO SUBMIT
Format Guidelines
To stand out from the crowd, please follow these guidelines:
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1 - Subject line: include CATEGORY & TITLE OF WORK
(ex, “Play – Exiles ”).
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2 - Body of email: include a brief Cover Letter with:
-the TITLE OF WORK
-WORD COUNT (or number of pages/images, as applies)
-indicate if the work has been PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED (with name of publication, date, and/or links)
-SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES (if applicable)
-ARTIST BIO max 50 words written in the 3rd person.
Bios over the limit will be edited to fit space constraints.
-ABOUT YOURSELF: including the name you wish to be published under (if different),
where you're from, or anything else of interest.
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Example Cover Letter:​ (cover letters let us know you're human)
"Hello Editors,
Please consider my play, "Exiles" for your upcoming issue or blog. It's 20 pages, excerpted from a longer work that was previously published by A Famous Press, 2020. I retain all rights. My social media handle is @not_a_real_handle across all platforms.
ARTIST BIO: James O'Famous is a writer from Dublin. He has published novels, plays, and poetry. Currently he lives with his wife and children in Italy.
Best wishes, James"
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NOTE RE: PRONOUNS AND IDENTIFIERS
We certainly encourage self-identification, neurodivergence, disability, and inclusion of pronouns, but we understand not everyone has the safe option of making that information public. Please don't “out” yourself just to get published! Do whatever is comfortable and safe for you. You matter, either way.
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4 - Attach your work as .DOC or .DOCX (or .JPEG, .PNG for images)
Do not send links to Google or shared drives; no PDF, RFT, or .Pages.
Prose - double spaced, readable standard font
Poetry/Songs - single spaced, readable standard font
Scripts - see BBC Writersroom website for free formtting guides
No author names in your work. We read submissions blind.
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5 - File names - CATEGORY & TITLE OF WORK (example, "Fiction - The Dead").
For Poetry or Art with multiple works, include CATEGORY & FIRST TITLE OF WORK.
No author names in your title. We read submissions blind.
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6 - Send submissions to "thebelfastreview@gmail.com"
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EVERYONE WHO FOLLOWS INSTRUCTIONS TOTALLY ROCKS!