where faith meets art
We publish twice a year. This is to allow our staff enough time to bring together a high quality issue. Our current publication schedule is:
For June publication
Subs open December 1st to January 31st
Reading period February to April
For December publication:
Subs open July 1st to Aug 1st
Reading period August to October
Please note any work sent outside the submission period will be deleted from our inbox
(If you have sent work before December 2022 don't worry - we'll still include your submission for the issue 3 reading period!)
Fiction
Short stories: up to 3,500 words
Flash fiction: up to 800 words
Bring us your epic shorts or quiet reflections, your colourful characters and mysterious worlds. Genre-bending is encouraged!
Poetry
Please submit 2-4 poems per person per submission period. We will only consider previously unpublished, original poetry.
Lead us through your heartfelt meditations and hushed prayers. Weave us poetry that make our hearts tender and our souls sing.
Creative non-fiction
Up to 3,500 words
Tell us your stories of faith, of the way it has shaped your world view, of the way spirituality has connected you to a deeper part of yourself.
Art
Photography, digital art, traditional art—whatever is your calling! If you are submitting traditional art, please try to scan your artwork to the highest quality before submitting. If you take a photo of your artwork we are unlikely to accept it as the quality can often be poor.
Please note our word count limits for fiction and CNF are the 'sweet spot' of what we want to read; they are not absolute. Keep in mind any work over 5,000 words is unlikely to be accepted.
Submission guidelines
We are a new litmag looking for flash fiction, short fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction and artwork. We're open to most genres. We have a few specific guidelines we ask you to follow to be more likely to get an acceptance.
What we're looking for:
Original work that has an element of faith or spirituality
Faith does not have to be the main point of the piece, but it needs to be included to some degree
Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, just let us know if your work has been accepted elsewhere
We accept previously published work (except for poetry). We also champion new writers and artists!
For example, your character might be of a particular faith and casually mentions this in conversation. Or you might be exploring the world of existential questions. Big or small, we want it all!
We welcome work from authors of all faiths or no faith. We ask that your work be respectful of religion and that any negative experiences be written in a tasteful and mature manner.
What we're NOT looking for:
Work that is offensive, especially to any marginalised groups
Content that depicts gratuitous violence/sex/erotica. We will delete your submission and block your email without response.
Any element of plagiarism.
If your work requires a content warning, we'd appreciate it if you could put this at the top of your submission.
You can read our editors' bios to find out the kinds of work we'd love to see, but you are most welcome to submit anything outside of this too. If you're not too sure whether your work would be a good fit for us, don't self reject! Submit to us anyway as you never know where your work will take you.
The technicalities:
Submit your work to overtlylit@gmail.com
Submissions should be in a standard font and size with your name on the work.
Please make sure your work is PROOFREAD as much as possible. There's no rush to submit your work and having an extra pair of eyes before submission is always helpful.
You can submit up to 3 pieces of work per issue (we will only publish one per issue). Please check the poetry section above for specific requirements.
Accepted file types for written work is: .doc, .docx, .pdf (this just makes it easier for us to read on our devices)
File types for art: .png, .jpeg, .jpg
We're not too fussy about cover letters but to make it easier for us please put 'SUBMISSION - NAME - FICTION/CNF/ART/POETRY' in the subject.
Send us a short, third person bio so we can get to know you more.
We aim to respond to all submissions with a decision within three months after the submissions period closes. If you have not heard back within this timeframe, please drop us an email.
At the moment we are unable to pay for the pieces that we accept. We will champion your work on our social media accounts and wherever else we can spread the word!