General Guidelines

Please read all relevant guidelines before submitting work.

Our reading period is from October 1 - March 1.

• The best submissions come from those who have read our back issues and understand our mission. Above all, we seek works of artistic excellence. Examples of excellent fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry published in the 2021 issue of Relief are now available to read online.

• Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please withdraw your piece immediately if it is accepted elsewhere.

• Submissions should use an easily readable font, such as Times New Roman or Garamond. (Our journal is printed in a serif font.)

• In your cover letter, please include a brief third-person bio, and make sure all your Submittable contact information is up-to-date.

• Do, however, leave out identifying information in your document, since we read all submissions blind.

• Wait until you receive a decision on a submission before sending a second (or third or fourth) submission. You certainly may submit to Relief again, but only one submission per genre at a time, please.

• Please wait one year if you’ve been published in the previous issue before submitting again.

Why does Relief charge for submissions?

Subscribing to Submittable allows us to more efficiently and personally communicate with our writers. After that cost, your money goes toward normal (shoestring) operating expenses. In the old days, of course, we used to spend for every submission to ship paper through the mail; we hope you'll think of this as your money going to better use. You can submit your fee with a credit card or PayPal.

Accepted Work

At the time of acceptance, authors will be sent a publication agreement. By accepting the work, we are assuming first publication rights, but authors will retain all future rights. Some pieces from each issue may be excerpted on the website. By agreeing to publication, authors also agree to online publication of this promotional excerpt.

Authors of accepted work will receive a complimentary contributor’s copy. One piece from each genre (poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction) will be selected for the Editor's Choice Award. Recipients will receive two contributor’s copies.

Fiction

• Relief seeks fiction of high literary merit that takes the struggles and joys of our everyday lives seriously.

• Stories should not exceed 8,000 words, though in general, we prefer to work with shorter pieces. In fact, flash fiction often has a better chance with us.

• You may submit up to three stories per reading period.

• Submit each story as a separate file within the same submission.

• Double space.

Creative Nonfiction

• We don't want memoirs or devotionals so much as exploratory essays with an emotional arc that may or may not be narrative.

• Creative Nonfiction should not exceed 5,000 words, though in general, we prefer to work with shorter pieces.

• You may submit up to three pieces per reading period.

• Submit each essay as a separate file within the same submission.

• Double space.

Poetry

• Poetry should not exceed 1,000 words.

• You may submit up to five poems per submission. Please wait until you receive a decision on a submission before trying us again.

• Submit each poem as a separate file within the same submission.

• We tend to like poetry that engages with authentic spiritual, emotional, and social experience with a good ear for the music of language.

• Poems that continue onto a second page should include a note of either “continued with stanza break” or “continued without stanza break.”

Graphic Narrative

• We are happy to consider short graphic narratives for print or web.

• As with other work, literary excellence is our highest priority.

• The dimensions of our print journal are 8.5” by 5.5”. We can feature work in full-color, and we are happy to work with you on the best way to print your particular art.