I N V E R T E D   
S Y N T A X

Inverted Syntax is a 2022 [CLMP] Best Debut Mag Finalist

G e n e r a l   S u b m i s s i o n   
​Guidelines

2023 Submission Window
​General Submissions open March 6 - July 1, 2023
SUBLINGUA PRIZE FOR POETRY Opens April 1- July 8

In light of the history of underrepresentation of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPoC) in the publishing world, and given the economic hardship of COVID-19, especially for BIPoC individuals, we will be offering free GENERAL SUBMISSIONS window for all BIPoC individuals. Please follow us on Instagram to get updates when that opens up.

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Overview

​Inverted Syntax is published twice a year, once online in Fissured Tongue Volume and once in print. Starting in 2020, Inverted Syntax moved to a new schedule for print issue releases. To accommodate this new schedule, we published a second issue printed in November 2020. Commencing in 2022, print issues will be released every November. Our Sublingua Prize for Poetry runs March through June every year but we will be opening in April this year. 

Inclusivity Statement All volunteers, readers, subscribers, submitters, and any participants, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education or disability are valued and respected. We are committed to creating an inclusive, supportive, and welcoming environment where our community of supporters and contributors can feel safe and at home. Inverted Syntax encourages diverse and inclusive voices, especially those from under-represented and vulnerable communities to consider Inverted Syntax. 

When do we open:
Our general reading window is typically from March until early July.
Our general submission window is open and Sublingua Prize for Poetry opens April 1.
2023 is our 5th year anniversary. 

What we publish:
Although we strongly resist the categorization of genre, for the purpose of assigning work to appropriate readers, our submission forms will be categorized by genre. We seek to publish unorthodox approaches to form and aesthetics. We love work that is non genre, those that straddle multiple categories, however you may submit previously unpublished work to the following categories:  flash fiction, flash nonfiction, and poetry. We also publish visual art. 
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To get a better sense of what we are looking for, check out our Store for print issues and our Fissured Tongue Volumes.
​We suggest you check out our instagram, facebook, and twitter feeds to see what we are talking about, leaning towards or excited about. Most importantly,  get familiar with our mission and our masthead. Read up on our bios and see what we may be reading these days.  

Just keep in mind that we hesitate to offer concrete definitions, because we don’t like limits. We might not know we love something until we see it. Send us what you think is missing—it could be what we’ve been searching for. 

What do we offer:
We don’t pay contributors, but if we publish you in print, we send you a copy and we work hard to promote your published work. We also throw a launch party and reading to celebrate published work and encourage you to attend. We also select pieces published in both Print and Fissured and promote them on our social media feeds.
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​Awards:
We also nominate for awards, such as the Pushcart Prize, the Best American series, Sundress Publications’ Best of the Net Anthology, and Best Microfiction. Nominees will be notified and listed on our site.   

GUIDELINES

Before you submit, check that your work meets our standards. Work is automatically ignored, rejected, declined, dismissed if it contains any manner of abusive behavior including bigotry and this extends to the creators of said work. To be clear: NO racism, NO misogyny, NO homophobia, NO sexism, NO transphobia, NO body-shaming, NO Islamophobia, NO xenophobia, absolutely no work that in any way perpetuate stereotypes. 
All work must be submitted through Submittable. We do not accept work via mail or email.
We do not accept any unsolicited submissions.
​The general submission fees ($4) covers our administration costs.
The Sublingua Contest fee differs.
Please note that we may extend our window or close our submissions early at times due to volume or to prepare an upcoming issue. ​ Please wait for a response from us before sending us another submission.

Note: Once we accept your work, it may take four months to a year to appear online or in print, depending on when your work was submitted and accepted within the submission cycle.

• Do not list any identifying information on the submission. We prefer to read blind. Our readers ignore work that have identifying information
• Start each new piece on a new page and Please use page numbers
• 12-point font 
• Garamond (this is the font we publish in so it makes it easier to receive work that matches this font however we do publish work in other font as part of  a creative project  )
• Prose should be double-spaced
• Send prose in .doc/ .docx and pdf. format. We prefer you send us both docx and pdf format of the same works in the submission. 
• The journal is 8.5 x 8.5. We attempt to preserve the original formatting by all means possible, but there are some limitations when working within a 7.5x7.5 after margins. Please keep this in mind when considering Inverted Syntax as a home for your piece.
• While we hesitate to impose restrictions on length, we do have limitations to consider when it comes to our print issue.
• If your work is accepted we may make editorial suggestions. You will have a chance to review it before it is published.​ ​​
• Own Voices Statement: We read blind but we do see your bio and any other personal information once your work is accepted or declined. Our volunteer readers can choose to not read work that doesn’t follow our guidelines.  Their biggest pet peeve is identifying information located in the attached work. We do, however, appreciate it if you include an Own Voices Statement on the first page without any other identifying biographical  information. ​ If your work centers the knowledge or experience of a marginalized group, please include an identity statement on the first page of your submission titled "Own Voices Statement" so we have appropriate context for your relationship to that group. Please do not provide any other identifying information about yourself in the work you submit.

Flash Fiction Submit ONE piece (800 words) or no more than TWO pieces of flash fiction (400 words each) in one document.  No exceptions. 

Flash Creative NonFiction Submit ONE piece (800 words) or no more than TWO pieces of flash fiction (400 words each) in one document.  No exceptions. We are not interested in scholarly articles.

Poetry Please submit 6-8 poems in a single document. Poems may be single-spaced. There aren't length restrictions for poems published in our online journal, however for our print journal, we prefer poems no longer than 50 lines or two pages. Each new poem should begin on a new page.  

Visual Art Please submit 6-8 pieces. We are open to any medium.  Send high resolution images of each piece as you would want them to appear. We no longer consider photography.​

Nonfiction We no longer accept long nonfiction
Fiction We no longer accept long fiction

Simultaneous Submissions We accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify us immediately if your work has been accepted elsewhere. 

When should you expect to hear from us We have a very limited staff of rotating volunteers and rotating interns. During the 2022 submission window we aimed to respond within 6 months of submission but have still not responded to all submitters. We typically start reading all subs in June - August. Because we require a balance of editors and readers and various perspectives on every piece, our response time can range from 3 months to a year. Also, if you were not selected from the Sublingua submission window, which we decide on in September, we may still include you in our Print Issue or Fissured Tongue series. 

Rights If your work is published in Inverted Syntax, you are granting us First Serial Rights. All rights revert back to the author upon publication. If you republish your work elsewhere, you agree to credit us as the first publisher. You also agree that your work may remain on our website permanently. Postcards received in the mail are usually all automatically accepted and published regardless of whether the work has appeared online or print before. 

Blog Articles  WE ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTING BLOG ARTICLES

Want to learn what we publish? Order copies of our Issues available from our store.

Issue 4: We're incredibly proud of this issue. It contains some of the most creative approaches to art and writing.  

Inverted Syntax's Print Issue Three (Nov 2020) features work by  new, emerging, and award-winning writers and artists, including winners of the 2020 Sublingua Prize for Poetry judged by literary luminary, Khadijah Queen.

Read work by Sherese Francis | Emily Marie Passos Duffy | Karolina Zapal 
Aaron Muller | Maya Salameh | makalani bandele | Emi Brener ​
Lawrence S. Early IV | Itiola Jones | Jo Stewart | Maurya Kerr 
Ayling Dominguez | Marietta Brill | Benjamin Stallings
Arnaav Bhavanani | Kiley McLaughlin | Luna Mac-Williams  
Lisa Berley | Meg E. Griffitts | Hildy Maze | Sol Jacobs
Desiree Dufresne | Robert Vivian | Jason Masino | Christine Imperial
Ami J. Sanghvi | Violet Mitchell | Dave Brennan | Rayoung Lee
Shoshana Surek | Devan Brettkelly | Zoë Johnson | Stephanie Niu
​Ronald Walker| Pune Dracker | Daisy Patton


​Inverted Syntax's Print Issue Two ( Feb 2020) features work by Kiki Petrosino, J Michael Martinez, Megan Kaminski, Martin McGovern, Raymond Luczak, Leonora Simonovis, Megan Spiegel, Salma Ahmad Caller, Joni Renee Whitworth, Jonathan Riccio, Jessica Reed, Violet, Mitchell, Emmy Newman, Richard Westly, Ted Snyder, Christy Sheffield Sanford, Bryan Price, Terri Witek, Wren Tuatha, Christina Haglis, Alysse Mccana, artwork by Hildy Maze, Claire Lawerenc, K Johnson Bowles, Carol Radsprecher, and Andrea Rexilius. We are also proud to features our Sublingua Prize for Poetry Winner, Runners-up, and Finalists in Issue Two. This includes Gabriella Vogt (winner), Jessica Fischoof, Adam Malinowski, Elizabeth Galoozis, Shaun Holloway, James Davis, Craig Chen, Susan Friberg, Emily Davis-Fletcher, and Angelo Maneage. Inverted Syntax is edited by Nawal Nader-French, Jesica Carson Davis, Allissa Hertz, Melanie Merle, and is supported in part through the Mile-High MFA at Regis University. Discover more published work at www.invertedsyntax.com

Past contributors include Rae Armantrout, Phillip Metres, George Kalamaras, Eric Baus, Khadijah Queen, Daisy Patton, Jill Khoury 

Send us your postcards for
the 4th Annual
The Art of the Postcard
​Submission Entry is Free

In 2019 ROXANE GAY TWEETED INVERTED ​

Inverted Syntax's first issue includes Philip Metres, Jill Khoury, Khadijah Queen, and others. Lots of interesting, at times challenging poetry. You can read here: https://t.co/CedGrjuVJO

— roxane gay (@rgay)

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