Submission period is OPEN.
The following information covers everything you need to know about submitting your work to The Merrimack Review. Please note that we cannot consider submissions that do not adhere to our guidelines.
You can click here to submit to The Merrimack Review.
What are we looking for?
We only accept submissions from current undergraduate (associate/bachelor's) or graduate (master's/PhD) students. Submissions should display a strong understanding of craft and cause readers to react, both emotionally and intellectually. They should be previously unpublished, meaning work that has not already appeared in another magazine, on another website, in a book, etc. Work that appeared on your personal blog is fine by us, but we have a preference for stuff the public hasn't seen before.
How long can it be? How many can I send? What about formatting?
Please send written work as .doc, .docx, or .rtf files. All documents should use a standard font (e.g., Times New Roman). Please send art as .jpg files.
What about multiple submissions?
We want to encourage your creativity, no matter how many ways it manifests itself. To this end, we allow submissions of multiple genres, but there are a couple rules:
And what about simultaneous submissions?
Simultaneous submissions, meaning you're sending your work to The Merrimack Review and other magazines at the same time, are totally cool with us. You will be asked to indicate if this is a simultaneous submission when you upload your documents to our submission manager, and please tell us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
How do I send you stuff?
We do not accept email submissions. Anything we receive via email is deleted unread. All submissions must come through our online submission manager, Submittable. If you've never used Submittable before, you will be prompted to create an account when you click the link above. This takes only a moment, and then you will have your account ready to use here and on many other magazines' sites. Please ensure your contact information is accurate.
When you are ready to submit to us, you will be asked to include a title for your work. Make this your last name, first name. For example, a correct title looks like this: Smith, John.
We don't want a cover letter, but please add a short (2-4 sentences) bio in the space provided, written in the third person. We only require that this includes where you go to school. Otherwise, this can say what you do for a living, a couple other places you’ve been published, or something about what you do other than write. We’re not terribly strict about what you say here, but we do ask that you refrain from discussing or interpreting your submission. A perfectly fine bio looks like this: John Smith is an MFA student at the University of Arizona. His poetry has appeared in Ploughshares and Memorious. When not writing or reading, he divides his time between working on his start-up literary magazine and preparing to run his first marathon.
You will then be asked to upload your documents. Make sure you upload them in the proper categories. Please send everything at once instead of submitting in dribs and drabs.
When can I send you stuff?
The submission period for Fall 2017 is currently open, and will last until November 24, 2017.
When will you tell me if my work has been accepted?
Our editors will review pieces and respond within a three (3) month period from the date of submission. If your work is accepted, please confirm you still want us to publish it. If you haven't heard from us two (2) weeks after the submission period has closed, please query via email (see About & Contact).
If my work is accepted, how soon can I submit new stuff? What if my work is NOT accepted?
If your work is accepted, please wait an issue before submitting again to help us ensure each issue provides new, diverse voices and ideas. For example, if you are accepted for issue 1, please hold off on another submission until issue 3. If your work is not accepted, you can submit to the next issue.
I've never published anything before. Am I out of my league here?
Definitely not! The reason we accept only student work is to provide new and emerging writers/artists with a place where they don't have to pit their work against contributors who have multiple books or exhibits to their name. Having said that, if you have published work before, we still encourage your submissions. Remember, any undergraduate or graduate student is welcome to submit, regardless of academic institution or program of study.
So my work got accepted, and I have confirmed I want it to appear in The Merrimack Review. What happens now?
Your work will be published in our next issue. All rights revert to you after that.
What do I get in return for my work?
We cannot offer any payment at this time; we have a limited budget and can't give you money. Instead, we expose your work to lots of admiring readers.
Important Notice: Plagiarism of any kind will not be tolerated. Your submission will immediately be declined if any copyright infringement is found. Please refrain from submitting anything that is a condensed version of a movie or book you have read. Although we encourage the world to inspire you and give you creative ideas, unique and original work will see publication.
The following information covers everything you need to know about submitting your work to The Merrimack Review. Please note that we cannot consider submissions that do not adhere to our guidelines.
You can click here to submit to The Merrimack Review.
What are we looking for?
We only accept submissions from current undergraduate (associate/bachelor's) or graduate (master's/PhD) students. Submissions should display a strong understanding of craft and cause readers to react, both emotionally and intellectually. They should be previously unpublished, meaning work that has not already appeared in another magazine, on another website, in a book, etc. Work that appeared on your personal blog is fine by us, but we have a preference for stuff the public hasn't seen before.
- Poetry: Any form is acceptable.
- Fiction: We want short stories and self-contained novel excerpts. Subject matter and language should be tasteful and artistic. Creatively express yourself, but the integrity and professionalism of the magazine is important to us.
- Nonfiction: Send your best memoirs, personal essays, travel or food writing, and book reviews. Variety is encouraged. Nonfiction is a growing genre with much creative license that our magazine is eager to publish!
- Art: This particular aspect of the magazine is the most lenient because art covers a broad spectrum of creation! We are looking for all types of artistic expression, whether it be sculpture, painting, drawing or photography, and for the submission to be a well-photographed image of your piece.
How long can it be? How many can I send? What about formatting?
- Poetry: Poems should be a maximum of one single-spaced page in Microsoft Word, no matter how the lines are formatted. Send no more than five (5) poems per issue. They should all be in a single document, and each one should start on a new page.
- Fiction: 2000 words maximum. Send one (1) fiction submission per issue. Please number the pages and double space the lines.
- Nonfiction: 2000 words maximum. Send one (1) nonfiction submission per issue. Please number the pages and double space the lines. If your nonfiction is supplemented by photographs or other visual media, as may be the case with travel or food writing, please submit the photographs (or whatever) as separate documents in that same nonfiction submission. Please include no more than two (2) such images.
- Art: Submit as many as five (5) photographs or five (5) drawings per issue. Submit one (1) comic, preferably no more than a dozen standard-sized panels. Submit no more than two (2) pieces of graphic design.
Please send written work as .doc, .docx, or .rtf files. All documents should use a standard font (e.g., Times New Roman). Please send art as .jpg files.
What about multiple submissions?
We want to encourage your creativity, no matter how many ways it manifests itself. To this end, we allow submissions of multiple genres, but there are a couple rules:
- Fiction and nonfiction are the longest things we accept, so if you're going to submit one of these, we ask you limit yourself to just that one submission. In other words, if you want to send your short story, you can't also send poetry, nonfiction, or art. We have a small staff that can get overloaded rather quickly.
- For shorter submissions, your total should never exceed five (5). For example, you can send two (2) poems, two (2) pieces of graphic design, and one (1) comic. Basically, you can submit any combination of poetry and art as long as you don't exceed the limits under "How many can I send?"
And what about simultaneous submissions?
Simultaneous submissions, meaning you're sending your work to The Merrimack Review and other magazines at the same time, are totally cool with us. You will be asked to indicate if this is a simultaneous submission when you upload your documents to our submission manager, and please tell us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
How do I send you stuff?
We do not accept email submissions. Anything we receive via email is deleted unread. All submissions must come through our online submission manager, Submittable. If you've never used Submittable before, you will be prompted to create an account when you click the link above. This takes only a moment, and then you will have your account ready to use here and on many other magazines' sites. Please ensure your contact information is accurate.
When you are ready to submit to us, you will be asked to include a title for your work. Make this your last name, first name. For example, a correct title looks like this: Smith, John.
We don't want a cover letter, but please add a short (2-4 sentences) bio in the space provided, written in the third person. We only require that this includes where you go to school. Otherwise, this can say what you do for a living, a couple other places you’ve been published, or something about what you do other than write. We’re not terribly strict about what you say here, but we do ask that you refrain from discussing or interpreting your submission. A perfectly fine bio looks like this: John Smith is an MFA student at the University of Arizona. His poetry has appeared in Ploughshares and Memorious. When not writing or reading, he divides his time between working on his start-up literary magazine and preparing to run his first marathon.
You will then be asked to upload your documents. Make sure you upload them in the proper categories. Please send everything at once instead of submitting in dribs and drabs.
When can I send you stuff?
The submission period for Fall 2017 is currently open, and will last until November 24, 2017.
When will you tell me if my work has been accepted?
Our editors will review pieces and respond within a three (3) month period from the date of submission. If your work is accepted, please confirm you still want us to publish it. If you haven't heard from us two (2) weeks after the submission period has closed, please query via email (see About & Contact).
If my work is accepted, how soon can I submit new stuff? What if my work is NOT accepted?
If your work is accepted, please wait an issue before submitting again to help us ensure each issue provides new, diverse voices and ideas. For example, if you are accepted for issue 1, please hold off on another submission until issue 3. If your work is not accepted, you can submit to the next issue.
I've never published anything before. Am I out of my league here?
Definitely not! The reason we accept only student work is to provide new and emerging writers/artists with a place where they don't have to pit their work against contributors who have multiple books or exhibits to their name. Having said that, if you have published work before, we still encourage your submissions. Remember, any undergraduate or graduate student is welcome to submit, regardless of academic institution or program of study.
So my work got accepted, and I have confirmed I want it to appear in The Merrimack Review. What happens now?
Your work will be published in our next issue. All rights revert to you after that.
What do I get in return for my work?
We cannot offer any payment at this time; we have a limited budget and can't give you money. Instead, we expose your work to lots of admiring readers.
Important Notice: Plagiarism of any kind will not be tolerated. Your submission will immediately be declined if any copyright infringement is found. Please refrain from submitting anything that is a condensed version of a movie or book you have read. Although we encourage the world to inspire you and give you creative ideas, unique and original work will see publication.
