SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
We are open to fiction and nonfiction submissions year round.
THE STORIES WE WANT
Story Sanctum is a shrine of sorts for sacred storytelling, where writers and readers can unite around what makes us human. We are looking for compelling fiction and nonfiction stories with a clear point of view that captures the truth and beauty, sacredness and strangeness, heartbreak, horror and hope of the human condition.
For us, sacredness transcends any one religion and does not have to be religious at all. We welcome any stories that honor the sacredness of life found in the human experience.
We know what it feels like to receive rejections. It sucks. If your story fits within our criteria, and you follow the submission guidelines, we are rooting for your story to make it. If it doesn’t, we will let you down gently, and encourage you to try again.
We love featuring new and emerging writers and helping them build up their publication credentials.
GUIDELINES
Fiction stories can be up to 6,000 words.
Nonfiction stories can be up to 6,000 words.
We give writers the option to receive $10 per story or to apply the full amount toward boosting the story on social media (this brings in an average of 100-400 more views). If your story is selected, we can add links to your twitter account and/or website.
We are seeking 3 months’ exclusive worldwide publication rights for original works and non-exclusive worldwide print and electronic rights thereafter for both original works and reprints.
We want to publish your story online at Story Sanctum and keep it there indefinitely.
We’re also acquiring the right to offer ebook versions of the stories we publish; and to publish a print and ebook anthology of all the stories that appear online during a 1-2 year period.
For original fiction, we want to be the only place publishing it for the first 3 months; after that, you’re welcome to publish it anywhere else in any format you like.
Please only submit one story at a time for each submission window.
We take simultaneous submissions; we just ask you to notify us right away if your work is selected elsewhere.
We usually manage to respond to everyone within a month of the submission window’s closing. Feel free to query if it’s been longer than a month since the end of the submission period.
Don’t resubmit a story we have passed on unless we request revisions.
FORMAT REQUIREMENTS
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Stories must be single-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman or Courier font.
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The story title, your byline, a word count, and contact information should appear on the first page.
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Stories should be submitted to: CONTACT@STORYSANCTUM.ORG
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Put “SUBMISSION: (Story Title)” in the subject line.
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In your cover letter you should include:
Name
Story Title
Fiction or Nonfiction
Short Bio (no more than 100 words) with any previous publications (if any)
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Submit your stories in an attachment using .doc, .docx, or .rtf format.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO READING YOUR STORIES