Pictura Journal will appear online in two formats: full pdf issues published in April, August, and December, and monthly smaller features as submission volume allows. Our goal is to release a print anthology every other year with content pulled from all published work.
Submissions are always open, but the soft deadline for submissions for each issue is the 15th of the month preceding publication. For example: if you send in a submission on July 16th, your work might not be accepted for the August issue but will instead be considered for December.
* Note: For 2024 only, there will be no April issue.
What We’re Looking For
Like the front page says: we’re looking for work that offers a vivid snapshot of the writer’s world — we want to see cracks in the plaster, last night’s empties on the coffee table, the shivering birch just outside the kitchen window. We want to see the mundane rendered with clarity & quiet moments given room to breathe.
We love concrete images and work grounded in a strong sense of place. “Night Walk” by Franz Wright, “Michiko Dead” by Jack Gilbert, “The Orange” by Wendy Cope, and “What the Living Do” by Marie Howe are some of our favorite poems. Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl”, and “Olga” by Lidia Yuknavitch are good examples of the kinds of prose we enjoy.
The Basics
All submissions are considered for all issues unless the writer specifies otherwise. We offer a token payment of at least $5 for each piece accepted for our April, August, and December issues only, paid through Paypal (preferred) or Venmo upon publication. Payments will be made in USD.
The small amount isn’t reflective of the quality of contributor work — it’s just what we can afford with our current funding.
We know it takes a lot of trust to submit work to a new journal, so we’re currently accepting previously published work, as long as you let us know where it originally appeared. We’ll always encourage simultaneous submissions, but please email hello@picturajournal.com to withdraw any pieces that are accepted elsewhere.
We will never publish anything that could reasonably be deemed offensive, including work containing graphic violence or abusive behavior, or themes and language expressing hatred for any marginalized identity. If you’re uncomfortable with your work appearing in an inclusive publication, we’re not the place for you.
Written work must be in English.
Please don’t submit if you’re under 18 years of age.
Do not send us anything generated by AI.
Include a cover letter and brief third-person bio with each submission. Do not put your name or identifying information anywhere within the document itself. If we publish your work, please wait four months to submit again. If we decline your submission, you may submit different pieces after four months.
Upon acceptance, creators of unpublished work grant Pictura Journal exclusive first serial rights and the right to archive that work online. If your submission has been published elsewhere, you agree to grant us reprint and archival rights.
Submissions are always free, but a donation of at least $2.55 will guarantee a response within three days or feedback on your submission. For at least $3.65 we’ll give you both. Feedback is not currently available for art submissions. Use this link to pay, and note that you did so on the submission form.
We’ll do our best to respond to regular submissions within three weeks.
Extras
Contributors to the April, August, and December issues will be given the opportunity to complete a feature interview on our blog, to be posted during the week before publication.
The Specifics
Upload all submissions using the form linked below. If for some reason you can’t use the form, send your work as an attachment to submit@picturajournal.com and include a bio and cover letter in the body of the email.
Poetry
Send up to five poems in one document. We prefer free verse and can’t guarantee that we’ll be able to replicate any special visual structure.
Prose
Send one or two pieces of fiction or creative nonfiction, each no longer than 1,500 words. Excerpts of longer works are fine, but they must make sense on their own.
Artwork
We’re also looking for artwork to accompany accepted writing. Submit up to three pieces of visual art, in the highest resolution possible. Please don’t send any artwork depicting graphic nudity or violence.