Submissions

Rules for All Submissions

Make it clear and easy to read

Use Shunn Modern Manuscript Format. If that’s a problem, just make it neat and readable. A basic serif or sans-serif 12 point font will do. Submit work in .doc, .docx, or .rtf only. Attach your work as a document in an email to the requested address in the submission request.

We will not accept any document that uses AI.

Statement of inclusion

Our approach to diversity and inclusion is simple. Cultivate an environment where everyone puts their best self forward without fear of reprisal based on race, gender, age, religion, identity, or experience.

No Nazis. No bots.

Helping words take flight

If possible, our editors will work with you to improve your piece. It’s possible you will send us a piece we feel we cannot help you improve on. But we feel the writer/editor relationship exists to bring out the very best a poem or prose piece can be.

Projects Open for Submissions

No submissions currently open.

I will be reading novellas in August, earlier for “friends of the press”. If you think you might be a friend, but don’t know for certain, email Johanna at johanna@cicadasongpress.com.

Following that we will have a call for a book of poetry by a single author and a call for a book of short stories by a single author.

Novellas accepted in August (2026)

A novella is a work of fiction between 17,500 and 45,000 words. To see if we are interested in publishing yours, please send:

  1. the first 5-6 pages of your work as a Word, rtf, or PDF file, attached to an email, Word is best

  2. a query letter in the body of the email. This is my only chance to get to know you and your other work, so please include it.

See formatting requirements above (but I will accept PDFs as well, not Pages). If you submitted a novella last year, please do not send the same novella—but I’d love to read a different one.

I will read only one submission from each author. If yours is on the shorter end of the novella range, I may ask about a second one. (Or pair it for publication with another author.) I may chose to publish one, two, or none of the submitted novellas.

Send submissions, queries, and questions to: JohannaATcicadasongpressDOTcom

What I like in a novella:

  1. a story that carries me away

  2. characters who feel real

  3. adventure (I was a child in the 70s and 80s. Watch the movies from those years to see what I mean.)

  4. genre fiction or mass market fiction (While the literary novella is a wonderful thing, it’s not what I’m looking for.)

  5. stories that blend genres

  6. (not too many) tropes (unless you plan to subvert them)

  7. settings with real atmosphere (Can I taste it?)

  8. humor (or at least a sense of humor)

    My favorite authors include: Isabel Allende, Charles DeLint, Octavia Butler, N.K. Jemisin, Ursula K. LeGuin, Colson Whitehead, P. Djeli Clark, Naomi Novik, Alix E. Harrow, V.E. Schwab, R.F. Kuang, T. Kingfisher, Amal El-Mohtar, Nalo Hopkinson, James McBride, Susan Dennard, Ai Jiang, Katherine Addison, Margaret Atwood, Nisi Shawl, and Nnedi Okorafor. In no particular order.