Submissions Policy - Submissions : Mslexia, a magazine for women's writing and women who write.

We treat your work with respect

Mslexia is staffed mainly by writers and we treat your work with the same respect we would wish for our own writing. Submissions are assessed by authors, agents and tutors at the top of their professions.

Eligibility

Mslexia was set up to support women writers and to showcase their work. We welcome submissions in English or English dialect. The majority of our submission categories are open to anyone who self-identifies as a woman, regardless of background or location. However, some of our more popular slots are reserved for subscribers only.

Eligibility: published vs unpublished

For submissions to the magazine, as well as submission to our yearly Showcase themed-writing, all work must be previously unpublished.

By ‘published’ we mean work published in print or online, in any country, that has been selected or commissioned via an independent editorial process that does not involve the author of the work in question.

Eligibility: simultaneous submissions

We understand how frustrating it can be to have your best writing tied up in a long submission process, so we are happy for you to submit your work elsewhere simultaneously. However, if the work is accepted for publication in Mslexia, we will expect you to withdraw it from consideration elsewhere. Similarly, if it is accepted for publication elsewhere, please withdraw it from consideration by Mslexia.

The submission process

If you are submitting online, you will receive an automated email acknowledgement that your submission has been received. If submitting by post, please enclose an SAE or include an email address if you would like to receive an acknowledgment.

All entries are read anonymously, so please do not put your name or contact details anywhere on the text pages of your entry. (This information should be restricted to your online Entry Form or to a cover sheet for postal entries.)

The file types we accept are: .doc, .docx, .rtf, .pdf, .txt, .pages, .odt. We do not accept image files, .jpg, .png etc. Any images sent for our Eyeverse, Writing Nest, and Bear Necessities category, must be sent in a word.doc or .pdf form, and please ensure the image is of print-quality (300dpi or above).

Deadlines

Below are a list of deadlines for our upcoming issues. The deadline closes at 23.59GMT.

Issue 101: 8 January 2024
Issue 102: 8 April 2024
Issue 103: 8 July 2024
Issue 104: 7 October 2024

Showcase themes:
Cats: 11 March 2024
Red: 10 June 2024

Most of our submission slots run on a rolling basis, so if you miss the deadline for inclusion in a certain issue don’t worry! We’ll ensure it’s put forward for consideration in the next one.

Poems for the Planet, Flash Challenge and Timepiece, have different themes each quarter, so make sure you submit before the deadline!

Features

Pitches for features are welcome at any time and can be sent via our online form or to editor@mslexia.co.uk

Please include a 200-word proposal, plus a brief CV and a published or unpublished example of your writing.

Features are treated slightly differently from our regular magazine submission slots as we don’t have specific deadlines for them. We normally commission magazine articles in December, March, June and September. At this time we revisit all pitches received in the previous 12 months, on a rolling basis, and frequently commission articles pitched many months previously. During that period, feel free to pitch your idea elsewhere – and good luck! If you have not heard from us after 12 months it’s unlikely that we will commission the article you have pitched, but please do try again with another idea, or with a fresh slant on your original pitch.

After you submit: what happens next?

The judging process

Submissions are assessed anonymously, to minimise unconscious bias, by professionals whose writing is published at a high level, who teach creative writing at a university, and/or who work as literary agents and editors. We never delegate this task to inexperienced staff members or volunteers.

All paper manuscripts are shredded when the judging process is complete and digital submissions deleted to uphold our commitment to your privacy.

Notifying you

If you have submitted to one of our magazine submission categories (Poems for the Planet, Flash Challenge, World’s Wife etc.,) we will inform you of the outcome of your entry around six-to-eight weeks after the deadline for the issue to which you submitted. If you do not hear from us within eight weeks, unfortunately your work was not selected on that occasion. The notification should reach you:

Issue 101: February 2024
Issue 102: May 2024
Issue 103: August 2024
Issue 104: November 2024

If you have submitted work for one of our themed Showcase call-outs, you will be informed by email of the outcome of your submission at the following times:

Cats: May 2024
Red: August 2024

If your submission has not been selected for publication, this email will contain an account of the range of work received along with general feedback on the judging process by the curator in question.

We regret we are unable to provide specific feedback on your submitted work, but personal feedback is available on certain types of writing at our online surgeries in the Mslexia Salon.

Payment

We pay for everything we publish in Mslexia, aside from some uncommissioned pieces in the ‘forum’ section of the magazine. Fees start at £30, and all our contributors receive a complimentary copy of the magazine.

Republishing work after it appears in Mslexia

If your work is published in Mslexia, we are happy for you to reprint it on your own website or social media, or submit it for possible publication elsewhere, provided this occurs after the original date of publication in Mslexia, and provided Mslexia is credited as follows: ‘This piece was originally published in Mslexia, the magazine for women who write, mslexia.co.uk’.

Monitoring diversity

Everyone published in Mslexia is sent a diversity monitoring form to help us assess whether we are reaching the broadest possible population of women writers, and responding appropriately to your interests and challenges. When considering those interests and challenges, we include issues of income, class, race, age, gender identification, sexuality, caring responsibilities, location, disability, mental and physical health and any other issue that that affects your skill, time and confidence to write and submit your work, and your reception when you do.