Submit

Great Lakes Review is closed for submissions.

General Guidelines

  • We are currently considering fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and photography submissions only. Please do not submit interviews or artwork.
  • We accept simultaneous submissions but ask to be informed immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
  • We will consider only one submission per reading period (either fiction, poetry, nonfiction, or photography). Please do not submit in more than one category.
  • Your submission will be considered for both print and online publication.
  • Accepted submissions may be edited for spelling, grammar and punctuation.
  • We require first North American serial rights and non-exclusive electronic rights for our website and social media platforms. All other rights are retained by the author.

Regional Connection

Be certain that either you are or have been a resident of the Great Lakes Region of the United States or Canada or that the manuscript you’re submitting involves the Great Lakes region of either the United States or Canada. Great Lakes Review is a regional journal; therefore, the regional connection must be apparent.

Just to be clear, you can be a current or past resident of the Great Lakes and submit work that doesn’t necessarily have to do with the region, or you can be from somewhere other than the Great Lakes but submit work in which the Great Lakes is integral to the work. In short, you cannot be from somewhere other than the Great Lakes and submit work that has nothing to do with the Great Lakes.

Submission Statement

With your submission, please include a Submission Statement of three to five sentences explaining either your connection to the Great Lakes or your work’s connection to the Great Lakes. Please include this statement in the Submittable form and in the body of your submission as well, preferably at the start.

Please do not include explicit identifying information (name, race, gender, sexual orientation, or past publications) in your Submission Statement. We want to judge all submissions on the quality of the writing only. The Submission Statements will dictate whether or not the editors proceed considering your submission, so please take time to ensure your statement is anonymous and the connection to the region is explicit.

Fiction & Nonfiction Guidelines

Please submit a single short, flash, or micro story or nonfiction piece of up to 2,000 words. Your manuscript must be:

  • Submitted in 12-point, Times New Roman font
  • Paginated
  • Double-spaced
  • Submitted without identifying information of any kind on the manuscript itself
  • Submitted with your title(s) as your filename (your work will be deleted immediately if this isn’t done)

Poetry Guidelines

Please submit a single document containing no more than five poems. Your manuscript must be:

  • Submitted in 12-point Times New Roman Font
  • Left Justified (We love experimental forms but they’re near impossible to format properly through WordPress)
  • Paginated
  • Submitted without identifying information of any kind on the manuscript itself
  • Submitted with your title(s) as your filename (your work will be deleted immediately if this isn’t done)
  • Unpublished elsewhere, in any format

Single Photos

  • Please submit up to three individual photos taken in the Great Lakes region. In your submission statement, you may wish to clarify where and when your photos were taken.
  • We may publish accepted photos on their own or alongside pieces of fiction or poetry from other contributors.
  • Photos can be black and white or color. While we will not edit or retouch your photos, they will be converted to sRGB before publication.
  • High-resolution images are not needed while submitting, but please submit photos that are at least 1200 pixels wide or tall. We will collect your high-resolution photos upon acceptance.
  • We suggest an aspect ratio of 4:3 or 16:9. Square (1:1) and panoramic images are not ideal.
  • Please submit photos that have not been published elsewhere, including a personal blog, social media, Flickr, etc.

Narrative Map Project Guidelines

Please, submit a single nonfiction piece of 1,000 words or fewer. Be certain your manuscript is:

  • Submitted in 12-point Times New Roman Font
  • Paginated
  • Double-spaced
  • Submitted without identifying information of any kind on the submission itself

Additional Requirements

  • Be certain that either you are or have been a resident of the Great Lakes region of the United States or Canada.
  • Be certain to include a Submission Statement of three to five sentences explaining the relationship of the submission to the Great Lakes region. Most importantly, tell us the town or place within the Great Lakes that is represented in your narrative so that we can mark it on our virtual map.
  • Please, do not identify yourself in your Submission Statement or discuss previous publications, awards, or other writerly accomplishments. We want to judge the writing without other influences.
To read examples of submissions we like particularly well, look here: