Submission Guidelines

Backsliders is a member of the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP).

First things first... Do not use AI to write or create anything that you submit to us (or at all... AI sucks). We cannot state this strongly enough. AI is the enemy of creativity, the murderer of art. Create your own art. If we suspect that you have used AI in your submission we will delete it on the spot.

What We’re Looking For / Not Looking For:

• Think about our tag (The Intersection of Freedom and Loss) as you write or choose an existing piece to submit. We love nuance. 
• Read the magazine. Read early stories and poems and look at early art posted here. They represent the tone we’re looking for.
• This is not an avenue for bashing, insulting, getting revenge upon, etc. Don’t use names of real people, churches, etc. 
• We are not looking for hatred, either toward the church or toward God. 
• Try to find humor, grace, or at least some lightness.
• This is not an anti-christian space. We like what Jesus said, just not what many of his followers say.

Other Stuff You Should Know:

• We can’t pay for submissions right now.
• We want to hear from you. “You” means anyone. 
• When we say, ‘Fiction’ we mean literary, genre, whatever!
• When we say, ‘Nonfiction’ we do not mean a page from your autobiography WIP. Think creative Nonfiction, not an op-ed or research paper. 
• Get controversial if you want to. Use salty language if you want to. But good grief, don’t aim to shock. Don’t get sexy. Don’t include violence, hatred, dehumanization, bigotry, etc. We’re sure none of that needs to be said, but, you know, the internet…
• We know how much it sucks to get rejection letters. We’re writers too. If you get one, please know how much we appreciated your submission and please submit again.
• It is our goal to eventually do quarterly print issues featuring the published pieces we love most. We’ll see how things go.

Now to those Submission Guidelines:

1. Simultaneous submissions allowed, but notify us if accepted elsewhere.
2. Submission quotas (for now): up to one piece per category per submission period (short fiction, micro fiction, poetry, artwork, comic, nonfiction).
3. Formats:
   • Written: .doc, .docx
   • Art: .jpeg, .png, or other common image formats
   • Comic: PDF or image sequence
   • Google doc
4. Word counts:
   • Fiction & Nonfiction: ≤ 3,000 words
   • Poetry: ≤ 1,000 words
   • Microfiction: exactly 100 words
5. Cover letter: brief, and include a short third-person bio / contributor note.
6. Reprints: okay if author holds copyright; disclose in cover letter.
7. Originality: Again... NO AI-generated content. Be godlike and do your own creating.
8. Review timeline: target 4 weeks for response. It's early days and there's only one editor for now. Please be patient with me while I give all submissions fair consideration.
9. Rights: you retain your copyright; Backsliders asks for non-exclusive right to publish on backslidersmagazine.com and on Backsliders social media for promotion.
10. Editing: submit polished, ready-to-publish work. If it's not ready to publish, it will not be considered. Check your grammar, spelling, punctuation, verb tense, etc!
11. How To Submit:
    1. Email your finished, fully edited work to: backslidersmagazine@gmail.com
       1. If you'd prefer to use Duotrope here's that link: https://duotrope.com/magazine/backsliders-exvangelical-ex-christian-40431
1. In subject line, please indicate that it's a submission along with your category. i.e. "Submission - Fiction"
2. In the body, please include the following: Name, email, bio (less than 250 characters), title of your submission, genre, word count, and your brief cover letter / contributor note (please be concise here).
3. Attached file (see formats above).
4. Pat yourself on the back. Submitting takes guts.
12. If Your Piece Is Selected...
    1. We will contact you by email to let you know
    2. We will publish your piece along with your name, your >100 character bio, your social media links.
    3. We love imagery juxtaposed with text so we use Unsplash to choose an image to accompany written pieces (fiction, poetry, micro fiction, nonfiction). If you feel there is a certain image you'd like to be featured alongside your piece, send a link to it on Unsplash and we'll do our best to use it. We want your voice, aesthetic, and tone to come through as you imagine it.
13. If Your Piece Is Not Selected...
    1. We will contact you by email to let you know
    2. Please don't be discouraged. Try to submit again later.

Backsliders Contributor Agreement

In Short: Contributors retain all copyrights / rights to their work. This magazine only exists because of the creativity of our contributors. We would never want to hinder what you want to do with your work outside of this publication.

 1. Ownership  

You retain full ownership and copyright of your work. Nothing in this agreement transfers ownership to Backsliders.

2. Permission to Publish 

By submitting your work, you grant Backsliders a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to:

- Publish your work on the Backsliders website and related platforms  

- Display, format, and promote your work (e.g., social media, newsletters)

This license allows us to share your work but does not prevent you from publishing it elsewhere.

3. Credit  

We will credit you as the creator wherever your work appears, unless you request otherwise.

4. Edits  

We may make minor edits for formatting, clarity, or style. We will not make substantial changes without your permission.

5. Your Rights Elsewhere 

You are free to:

- Publish your work anywhere else  

- Reuse or adapt your work 

- License it to others 

We simply ask (not require) that you acknowledge Backsliders as the original place of publication when possible.

6. Your Responsibility 

By submitting, you confirm that:

- The work is your original creation  

- You have the right to share it  

- It does not infringe on anyone else’s rights  

7. No Payment  

At this time, Backsliders is unable to offer payment for contributions. We may revisit this in the future.

8. Removal Requests  

If you ever want your work removed from the site, contact us and we will make reasonable efforts to take it down. 

9. Agreement  

By submitting your work to Backsliders, you agree to these terms.