The Boring, Necessary Bits

We Want: Works with fantastical elements: scary, happy, creepy, heartbreaking, bizarre, hilarious, whatever. While you can see our “Loves” lower on the page, we’re pretty open to anything that’s worth picking up.

We (Probably) Won’t: Pick up works not tied to or containing fantastical elements. It’s kinda our thing. (However, some themes may lean more heavily on a specific genre or reality. Interpret accordingly.)

Where to Tread Lightly: We’re pretty open-minded and okay with just about anything, but there better be a reason for it to be in the work. The darker, more explicit you go, the more we’ll really need to see its necessity to the work. We don’t want shock / horror / violence for its own sake.

Definitely Will Not Publish: Any work that is hateful towards any race, creed, religion, gender, or identity. This aims to be an inclusive space. Any work created by generative AI.

We nominate for the Pushcart Prize and Best American Short Stories.

Unpublished writers and professional folks, all ages, from all walks of life are considered here.

Your work must be ORIGINAL. We will not accept any AI-Generated work.

Excluding non-fiction submissions, it must be complete. For these shorter forms, we need to see the whole thing to make an informed decision.

We accept simultaneous submissions but ask that you let us know if / when it gets picked up by another venue as soon as possible.

If your work is accepted, please wait one year before submitting again. (We want to include as many folks as possible!)

In that vein, if it comes down to someone who has been published by us before and a new voice, we will lean into the new voice.

Each Issue will be themed. However you interpret that theme is up to you. We do NOT need your reasoning behind it.

Please Note: Deadlines may close earlier if the issue fills!

2025 Themes and Deadlines

~ Mood : Stark - Dec. 14 - Let’s see what you can do with as little as possible. Give me barren words and emptiness. Give me sun-bleached bones. Give me snow-buried worlds.

2026 Themes and Deadlines

~ tiny - March 15 - Sometimes, the smallest things and moments can hit the hardest. Think “the one-inch punch.” Give me tiny moments, poems, stories, and art (figuratively and literally). Or, you know, something like Thumbelina.

~ Weird 4F - June 14 - I can’t get enough o’ that weird stuff. This will be our Fourth volume dedicated to weird shit. Feel free to check out earlier volumes for a “feel.”

Rights: We request one-time, first publishing rights in print and digital PDF forms. All rights will be retained by the creator. We simply ask that when / if published elsewhere, acknowledgment is given to its appearance within The Quarter(ly).

If a “Best of” or Collected Anthology is published, publication rights will be renegotiated for that publication.

Payment: We aim to be a paying venue, even if it’s just enough for a cup of coffee. Upon agreement of publication, we’ll pay contributors $5 and a PDF contributor copy.

However, in some instances where we’d like to publish a single poem, short work, or piece of art, we may not have the budget for a payout. We may offer publication for a Digital Copy of the PDF only. (We totally understand if you’d rather not, though!) Please feel free to let us know up front if you do not want to be considered with this option.

Here’s a brief, incomplete list of ways to increase your rejection chances:

• Start your story with a narrator waking up and / or not knowing where they are.

• Sending multiple submissions more than 1k words each, at one time.

• The “hook” of the first section / paragraphs that are in the present, then skipping back in time. This does not work on me.

• Lots! Of! Exclamation! Points! (Let the context guide the excitement.)

• Only sending rhyming poetry. (While I don’t mind some, rhyming poems are not a personal preference and increase the chance of rejection with each new rhyme.)

• Having the whole story / poem hinge on "the twist." (I'm not big on the reveal being the crux of the story.) Twists are good, but not when the story was written just for them.

• Submitting to the incorrect submission type. (For example, if you’re not sending art or comics, do not send it to the “Graphic Work” option.)

Vol. 1 ~ Other Voices - (Order Here!)

Vol. 2 ~ Myths, Fables, and Folklore - (Order Here!)

Vol. 3 ~ Let’s Get Weird - (Order Here!)

Vol. 4 ~ ENDS - (Order Here!)

Vol. 5 ~ Burn This Fucker Down (Order Here)

Vol. 6 ~ Let’s Go to the Movies -(Order Here!)

Vol. 7 ~ Weirder Still - (Order Here!)

Vol. 8 ~ Laughter and Tears - (Order Here!)

Vol. 9 ~ In the Dark (Order Here)

Vol. 10 ~ WET (Order Here)

Vol. 11 ~ W3IRD (Order Here)

Vol. 12 ~ ; (Order Here)

Vol. 13 ~ This is Where We are Now (Order Here)

Vol. 14 ~ What We Do With the Ashes (Order Here)

Vol. 15 - Animate Me (Order Here)

2025 Stats:

Vol. 13 - This is Where We are Now - 343 Submissions, 34 Acceptances, 30 Offered Payment, Acceptance Rate ~ 10%

Vol 14 - What We Do With the Ashes - 476 Submissions, 39 Acceptances, 27 Offered Payment, Acceptance Rate ~ 8%

Vol. 15 - Animate Me - 215 Submissions, 26 Acceptances, 26 Offered Payment, Acceptance Rate ~ 12%

Vol. 16 - Mood : Stark - Submissions, Acceptances, Offered Payment, Acceptance Rate ~ %

2024 Overall Stats: 1980 Submissions, 170 Acceptances, Acceptance Rate ~ 11%

Vol 9 - In the Dark - 709 Submissions, 49 Acceptances, 27 Offered Payment, Acceptance Rate ~7%

Vol 10 - WET - 357 Submissions, 35 Acceptances, 25 Offered Payment, Acceptance Rate ~ 10%

Vol. 11 - W3IRD - 595 Submissions, 55 Acceptances, 29 Offered Payment, Acceptance Rate ~ 9%

Vol. 12 - ; - 319 Submissions, 31 Acceptances, 25 Offered Payment, Acceptance Rate ~ 10%

In 2023, The Quarter(ly) received a total of 1,775 submissions.

Of those, 200 were accepted, for an approximate rate of 11%.*

90 Submissions were offered the option of payment, and 110 accepted a PDF as payment.

*Note that acceptance rates were higher / lower for different themes, as our lowest themed submission had around 300 subs, while our highest almost hit 650.