Seeking writers and artists who want to help shape the future of our magazine!

As of February 1st, 2024, we are OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS across all genres! 

Founded in January 2022, NiftyLit publishes short form literary content in the genres of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and flash. Since our beginning, we have sought to present exceptional, thought provoking work, with an emphasis on publishing emerging writers and artists from underrepresented, underserved, and marginalized communities. 

From our start and through the summer of 2023, NiftyLit utilized a unique publishing model that incorporated blockchain technology as a mechanism for commodifying art and writing such that our contributors could potentially earn from the sale of unique digital editions of their work (more commonly known as “Literary NFTs,” however, even as promising as the technology is, the term “NFT” has garnered a negative connotation due to scams and bad actors). Going forward, we believe it is in the best interest of our contributors and the magazine to operate with a more traditional approach (“traditional” may not be the right word to use here, since we recognize the many injustices and inequalities within the “traditional” publishing industry). 

Please find our general guidelines below. 

General Guidelines

NiftyLit accepts original work that has not been previously published (including on your personal blog or website) in the categories of short fiction and nonfiction/ memoir (up to 5000 words), flash fiction and essays (up to 3 pieces, up to 1,000 words each), and poetry (up to 6 poems). We also occasionally accept submissions for a more open-ended, “Pitch Us” category.

• Please read from work published at NiftyLit.io before submitting to see if your work is a good fit. 
• Simultaneous Submissions. NiftyLit does accept simultaneous subs, but please do let us know promptly if your work has been accepted for publication elsewhere, in which case, we will offer you a big congratulations on having your work accepted! (Even though we will also be sad to not get the chance to publish your work).
• One submission per writer at a time across all genres please, no exceptions. Please wait at least one month from the date you hear back from us before submitting again.
• Formatting. Do double space your work, preferably with a 12-point, serif font. Single-spaced poetry is okay, and experimental forms of font, line spacing, etc. are also fine by us if that’s the direction your writing hearts and minds take you.
• File Type. .doc and .docx files are preferred.
• Trigger Warnings. Please help us out here and include trigger warnings for your work (a trigger warning is a statement at the start of a piece of writing, video, etc., alerting the reader or viewer to the fact that it contains potentially distressing material). 
• Rights. Like most magazines, NiftyLit will take the rights to the first-time, electronic publication. You can read more about this on our copyright page. If you are selected for publication, we will be in touch with you to discuss other parameters pertaining to our publishing model, delineated in our master publishing agreements with contributing authors. 
• Illustrations. We typically pair all literary works published with original illustrations. This generally depends on the availability of our contributing artists, our publishing/ editorial calendar, and NiftyLit’s ability to pay for commission of original artwork. Important Note on Illustrations/ Visuals as of April 2024: we are experimenting with the use of AI generated artwork as a way of creating visuals to accompany the written word. If your work is accepted for publication, we may use AI generation tools to create visuals for your work. If not, we will likely source visuals from our pool of talented artists and photographers. We also invite authors to contribute their own visuals from time to time. If you do not want us to use AI generated artwork to accompany your piece please make a note of that in your submission  (your input is important to us!)  and, if you piece is accepted for publication, we will do our best to source a visual elsewhere. From time to time this may necessitate publishing writing without accompanying illustrations. 
• Publishing timeline. Pending any unforeseen complications during the editing process, publication typically occurs 6 to 9 months from the date of acceptance. Work selected for publication is already pretty polished, so most of this timeline has to do with our editorial calendar and the high volume of incredible submissions we receive. 
• Tips/ Donations: If your piece is accepted for publication and you have a donation page such as a PayPal, Patreon, Kofi, etc. please do let us know and we can definitely mention it at the bottom of your publication. 
• DO NOT SEND:
• Anything resembling hate speech or promoting bigotry or violence. We are passionate about building a community of creativity and kindness.
• Full length manuscripts
• Response Timeline. We are delighted to read your work, and will give each submission our full attention. As such, it does take time for us to respond to everything. We thank you in advance for your patience. We are so grateful for the opportunity to read your work.
• Newsletter. We send out a newsletter ~twice a month full of NiftyLit news and publication updates/ highlights. You can sign up for that here. 
• Duotrope. If you use Duotrope, please report your submission! If you can’t tell, we are all about data (and will do our best to protect yours!). 
• We’re on social. Here’s our Twitter and Instagram. If you like what you see/ read, give us a follow. 

IMPORTANT: We will not accept emailed submissions, with the exception of submissions from writers with accessibility issues or who do not have a Submittable account. If you feel you fall into this category, please email us at submissions@niftylit.io and we will gladly consider your work.

Sending you a big, warm welcome to our community! Thank you for supporting us as we grow. We know that it takes a community to build something truly special. Please feel free to reach out to info@niftylit.io with any questions, or for more information.

*By submitting your work, you agree to the terms of use. Please take the time to look them over.