SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
The Apple Valley Review is an international online literary journal. It is published semiannually, in the spring and fall of the year. Each issue features a collection of beautifully crafted poetry and prose.
We consider short stories, flash fiction, personal essays/creative nonfiction, poetry, and prose poetry. Please submit work that is original, previously unpublished, and in English. Translations are welcome if permission has been granted.
Manuscripts are read year-round, and there are no fees for submissions. Please send your submission via e-mail. Include your cover letter, a short bio, and the text of your writing in the body of a single e-mail message. We do not open unsolicited attachments.
Poetry
There are no length limits, but preference is given to short (under two pages), non-rhyming poetry. Submit a maximum of six unpublished poems at a time.
Send your work via e-mail to Leah Browning, Editor, at editor[at]leahbrowning[dot]net.
Include the word “poetry” in your subject line.
Type or paste up to six of your poems into the body of a single e-mail message. (Please disregard any difficulties with font or formatting that arise after pasting the text.) We will not open any unsolicited attachments.
In the same message, include a cover letter with your name, mailing address, e-mail address, and a short, third-person biography.
Short Fiction
Send one unpublished short story per submission. A single story may have up to approximately 4,000 words. For shorter pieces, please see the guidelines for Flash Fiction.
We do not publish true genre fiction (e.g., horror, science fiction, mysteries). However, we are open to writing with genre elements (e.g., fabulism, magical realism).
Novel excerpts must be self-contained.
Send your work via e-mail to Leah Browning, Editor, at editor[at]leahbrowning[dot]net.
Include the word “fiction” in your subject line.
Type or paste your short story into the body of a single e-mail message. (Please disregard any difficulties with font or formatting that arise after pasting the text.) We will not open any unsolicited attachments.
In the same message, include a cover letter with your name, mailing address, e-mail address, and a short, third-person biography.
Flash Fiction
Send a maximum of three unpublished pieces of flash fiction per submission. For our purposes, your flash pieces may have up to approximately 1,000 words each.
If you would like to submit microfiction and/or a series of linked stories, you may send up to six pieces, but please limit your series to 4,000 words total per submission.
We do not publish true genre fiction (e.g., horror, science fiction, mysteries). However, we are open to writing with genre elements (e.g., fabulism, magical realism).
Send your work via e-mail to Leah Browning, Editor, at editor[at]leahbrowning[dot]net.
Include the word “fiction” in your subject line.
Type or paste all of your flash pieces into the body of a single e-mail message. (Please disregard any difficulties with font or formatting that arise after pasting the text.) We will not open any unsolicited attachments.
In the same message, include a cover letter with your name, mailing address, e-mail address, and a short, third-person biography.
Essays/Creative Nonfiction
For longer essays, ranging from approximately 1,000 to 4,000 words, please send only one unpublished essay per submission.
Submissions of flash essays or other short forms of nonfiction prose may contain multiple pieces, but please limit your text to 4,000 words total.
Excerpts from longer manuscripts must be self-contained.
Please note that we do not publish essays that would generally be considered scholarly, critical, or inspirational; nonfiction articles suitable for a newspaper or general-interest magazine; or research papers.
Send your work via e-mail to Leah Browning, Editor, at editor[at]leahbrowning[dot]net.
Include the genre of your work (e.g., “essay,” “memoir,” “creative nonfiction”) in your subject line.
Type or paste your essay(s) into the body of a single e-mail message. (Please disregard any difficulties with font or formatting that arise after pasting the text.) We will not open any unsolicited attachments.
In the same message, include a cover letter with your name, mailing address, e-mail address, and a short, third-person biography.
Translations
Translations of contemporary poetry and prose are welcome if permission has been granted. The work you are sending may have been published in its original language, but your translation into English must be previously unpublished.
Please follow the guidelines regarding word counts and content for your specific genre above.
Send your work via e-mail to Leah Browning, Editor, at editor[at]leahbrowning[dot]net.
Include the word “translation” and the genre of this writing (“poetry,” “fiction,” or “essay”) in your subject line.
Type or paste your translation(s), and the accompanying work in its original language, into the body of a single e-mail message. We do not open unsolicited attachments. However, if you are concerned about difficulties with font or formatting that arise after pasting the text, please mention in your cover letter if you have the work available in a Word attachment (.doc or .docx). We will request it if necessary.
In the same message, include a cover letter with your name, mailing address, and e-mail address. Include short, print-ready, third-person biographies for both yourself and the author of the original work.
Specify in your submission the terms of your permission to publish your English translation. If you also have permission to print (or reprint) the original writing, please mention that in your statement.
If the work has been previously published in its original language, include the details of its original publication (e.g., the title and date for a magazine, or the title, publisher, country, and date for a book).
Please proofread both your translation(s) and the original poetry or prose very carefully before submitting.
Simultaneous submissions
Simultaneous submissions are accepted. Whenever possible, though, submissions will receive a response within approximately three weeks. If it is in alignment with your submission habits, we appreciate an exclusive reading for that period of time.
It is rare, but our responses are sometimes caught by spam or bulk mail filters. To make sure that you receive a message, adding the e-mail address for submissions to your list of approved senders can be helpful.
Withdrawals
We accept simultaneous submissions but ask that you notify us promptly if your work is accepted elsewhere.
Send an e-mail message to editor[at]leahbrowning[dot]net and include the word “withdraw” or “withdrawal” in the subject line. In your message, make sure to include the date that you originally sent your work. Specify whether you are withdrawing all or part of the submission.
Reading schedule
Submissions are read year-round. The deadline for any individual issue will be listed on our official Facebook and Twitter/X pages. Generally, the deadline for the spring issue is March 15, and the deadline for the fall issue is September 15.
Any piece of writing that is sent after the deadline for a particular issue will be considered for the next one. We do not keep a backlog.
Please expect to wait up to two months for a reply. Whenever possible, though, submissions will receive a reply within approximately three weeks. (Response times may be longer during holidays or when the volume of submissions is especially high.)
It is rare, but the responses are sometimes caught by spam or bulk mail filters. To make sure you that you receive our response, adding the e-mail address for submissions to your list of approved senders can be helpful.
Publication schedule
New issues of the journal are released in the spring and fall of each year. They are typically published in the months of April and October.
If you would like to receive an e-mail notification when a new issue appears online, please subscribe to our mailing list by submitting your full name, mailing address, and e-mail address to editor[at]leahbrowning[dot]net with the word “subscribe” as the subject. Your contact information will not be sold or shared, and you may unsubscribe from this list at any time. There are no fees associated with this subscription.
You are also welcome to follow us on the official social media pages for the Apple Valley Review. For updates on new issues, find us on Facebook (AppleValleyRev), Twitter/X (AppleValleyRev), Instagram (applevalleyreview), and Mastodon (applevalleyreview). Facebook and Twitter/X also have calls for submissions and occasional announcements. These pages are open to all friends, readers, and writers, both published and unpublished.
Editorial preferences
We prefer work that has both mainstream and literary appeal. In other words, please send us work that is both accessible and finely written.
Prose submissions may range from approximately 100 to 4,000 words. Shorter pieces stand a better chance of being published, but we are not strict about word counts and will read and consider slightly longer (or shorter) work.
Please send only one submission at a time. Follow the guidelines for your particular genre, and unless you are sending hybrid work of some kind, please do not mix genres in the same submission.
This is not currently a paying market. However, all work published in the Apple Valley Review during a given calendar year will be considered for the annual Apple Valley Review Editor’s Prize. There is no separate application process for the prize. From 2006 to 2024, the prize was $100 and a gift of a book of poetry, fiction, or essays.
Please note that we do not publish scripts, book reviews, author interviews, nonfiction articles, or research papers; true genre fiction (though literary pieces with genre elements are welcome); work that is scholarly or critical, inspirational, or intended for children; erotica or work containing explicit language; or anything that is particularly violent or disturbing.
These are purely editorial preferences. Work that is not a fit here may be perfect for another market.
If your work is accepted for publication, especially if there are any questions about the formatting of your work, we may ask you to send it to us in a Word attachment (.doc or .docx). In the meantime, please do not send any unsolicited attachments.
Copyright
Other than translations in their original language, we do not knowingly consider or publish work which has previously appeared elsewhere in print and/or online. By submitting your work to the Apple Valley Review, you agree to grant us first serial rights and the right to archive your work online for an indefinite period of time.
This journal is a member of CLMP (the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses, formerly the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses). In addition to appearing on our website, the contents of past issues of the Apple Valley Review have been preserved at worldwide research libraries by Stanford University’s LOCKSS system, archived in the Electronic Collection of Library and Archives Canada/Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, submitted to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and licensed with EBSCO.
As appropriate, we may also choose to nominate published work for awards or recognition. Individual works of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction that first appeared in the Apple Valley Review have later appeared as selections, finalists, and/or notable/distinguished stories in Best American Short Stories, Best American Essays, Best Microfiction, The Best Small Fictions, Best New Poets, Best of the Net, Best of the Web, The Wigleaf Top 50 (Very) Short Fictions, storySouth Million Writers Award, and New Poetry from the Midwest.
You retain all other rights. Once the issue featuring your work has been published, you are free to republish your work as you wish, online and/or in print. Any subsequent publication should note that your work was first published in the Apple Valley Review. You are also welcome to create a link to the Apple Valley Review (https://www.applevalleyreview.org) from your personal website.
Additional questions?
If you have additional questions, please read about the journal for more information about the Apple Valley Review and the answers to frequently asked questions. You may also visit the home page to access our current issue.