submissions

⭐ The Basics:

Work must be original and previously uncurated. Please reference this thoughtful article by Tim Green on curation versus publication.

Our editors read submissions blind. To maintain this standard, submission files must not contain any information that would identify the author. Failure to follow this guideline may greatly decrease the likelihood of your piece being selected for publication. 

We pay $75 per piece for writing published in the seasonal issue as of Issue #15 ~ Spring 2024 ($100 for two pieces). We pay $25 per piece for book reviews and pieces appearing in our “Micro Monday” segment. We pay $50 for artwork used on the cover of our seasonal issues as of Issue #15 ~ Spring 2024. For international submissions, we are only able to send money via PayPal. 

There is a $3 fee for submissions for our Spring and Autumn issues. This fee allows us to use Submittable and our web platform.

The fee for our annual Honeybee Prize is $15 which is used to support the prize payout. Details about the contest can be found here. Info and results from last year are here.

There is currently no fee for submitting art, book reviews, or pieces to be considered for the “Micro Monday” segment.

We will respond to all submitted work. It may take from one to six months depending on when in the reading period the work is submitted. Artwork and book reviews may remain open for the duration of a calendar year. Thank you in advance for your patience.

We accept submissions via Submittable and those received via email or post will not make it into the queues of our editorial team.

If you have issue with the fee because of financial hardship, please send a message via email (found on our contact page).

⭐ General Guidelines:

Simultaneous submissions are accepted as long as we are promptly made aware of acceptance elsewhere. Simply withdraw your piece on Submittable. For individual flash pieces or poems, please initiate a message in Submittable indicating which title(s) are being withdrawn.

The Good Life Review acquires First North American Serial Rights and the right to maintain an archive copy of work online. All other rights revert to author upon publication with a request that if the work is reprinted, appropriate acknowledgment to The Good Life Review is made.

We do not publish offensive work or pieces which exhibit hatred directed toward a particular gender, race, ethnicity, ability, sexual identity, socioeconomic class, or other status, regardless of protected by law. In other words—if you are an asshole, we don’t want your writing or your money.

Each submissions should include work from only one genre/category (for example do not create a submission with both fiction and poetry unless it is to be considered as a hybrid piece). Please only one submission per category at a time and wait to hear back before submitting again.

Again, work must be original and previously uncurated. Give us your very best!

Genre specific goodies are below.

⭐ Reading Periods:

The Good Life Review is always open. Reading and selection for our seasonal issues is based on the following schedule:

February 1 – July 31 (Autumn Issue)
August 1 – January 31 (Spring)
November 15 – April 15 (Summer Honeybee Prize Issue)

As of February 2023 we publish micro prose and short poems on a semi-monthly basis on The Buzz blog. Pieces submitted to any category/project that meet the micro requirement (word count) will automatically be under consideration for this segment.

In addition, we also post book reviews. If you have a book review you would like us to consider, please send to editors@thegoodlifereview.com. We do not accept book reviews via Submittable.

We are always open for artwork to be featured in our seasonal issues which is free to submit. 

⭐ Poetry:

We are interested in work that pushes boundaries, both in content and form, especially language that moves us. Poems should emanate from textured, evocative images, use language with an awareness of how words sound and mean, and have a definite sense of voice. Each line should help carry the poem from first line to last. We are open to your experimentations and are especially interested in work that is speculative, narrative, surreal, fragmented, and lyrical. We also welcome prose poetry and strongly encourage underrepresented voices. Whatever shape it takes, we want exciting work that thinks through or challenges poetic traditions. In other words, The Good Life Review wants your excellent writing—period. Send us what you got!

• There is no length limit on individual poems, but please send no more than 5 poems per submission and no more than 8 pages in total.
• Poems should be typed with at least one-inch margins and a 12 point serif font, preferably Times New Roman. Please indicate a page break if a poem continues onto the next page.
• Longer lines and unique formatting are fine, however the presentation of these may be altered as text could wrap to a newline based on the display media/window size being used.
• Begin each new poem on a new page.

⭐ Flash and Micro:

What do we want? Every word pulls its weight; every sentence tells a story. We want flash that moves, that transforms and twists on the page. Characters that run their fingers through your hair and yank at the roots, yelling at you to look, feel, believe. A voice that lifts us up and carries us past the last line. In short, send us your best work and we promise to handle it with care.

• We consider previously unpublished flash and micro fiction and cnf (micro is less than 500 words, flash is under 1,000 words).
• Pieces should be typed, double-spaced and paginated with one-inch margins and a 12 point serif font, preferably Times New Roman.
• Include no more than three pieces in a single text file.
• For pieces over 1,000 words, we encourage you to submit via our fiction or creative nonfiction categories.

⭐ Nonfiction:

Send us your best, most polished work. We want to read essays that wake us up in the morning—ones that get our minds working and hearts thumping. We want prose that is artful with voices that are clear and cadent. Whether traditional or experimental, structure and form should enhance the content of a story that is both universal and painfully specific. Fresh perspectives, especially ones we may not have considered before, are encouraged. We want what you’ve got, and we’re eager to read.

• Essays should not exceed 5,000 words. Excerpts from memoirs may be considered but should be self-contained.
• Essays should be typed, double-spaced and paginated with one-inch margins and a 12 point serif font, preferably Times New Roman.
• For pieces under 1,000 words, we encourage you to submit via our flash nonfiction category.

⭐ Fiction:

We want to read good writing—polished, confident, well-developed stories that are engaging from the first word to the last. Experimental fiction is welcomed.

• We consider original, previously unpublished stories up to 5,000 words (if it’s a little more, we will keep reading, but the story has to earn it).
• Stories should be typed, double-spaced and paginated with one-inch margins and a 12 point serif font, preferably Times New Roman.
• For pieces under 1,000 words, we encourage you to submit via our flash category.

⭐ Stage & Screen:

Not every script has to be produced! Theater and film are long trodden forms and we want to see what divergent paths you’re making. For stage/screenplays, all genres and topics will be considered. Beyond keeping the audience merely engaged moment to moment, we are seeking works that push societal boundaries and stimulate the senses. From the opening line show us the exuberant, binding, heartbreaking, touching, thought provoking, moving, or whatever journeys your characters make. Send us the stories that only you can tell.

For Stage Plays:

• Only 10-Minute plays and One Acts up to 30 pages in length will be considered.
• Paginate each script.
• Please include a cover page with no identifying information as well as character breakdown list and staging instructions.
• Though cross-genre is encouraged, please ensure each script is formatted for performance: An example can be found here.
• Scripts diverging from standard playscript formats will not be considered.

For Screenplays:

• Only short films and television scripts/pilots up to 30 pages will be considered.
• Paginate each script.
• Please include a cover page with title and no identifying information.
• Though cross-genre is encouraged, please ensure each script is formatted to be produced. An example can be found here.
• Scripts diverging from standard screenplay formatting will not be considered.