• About
  • Submission Guidelines
  • Fissured Volumes
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Fissured Tongue Series is the online magazine imprint of Inverted Syntax Press. 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 We love work that is non genre, those that straddle multiple categories, however you may submit previously unpublished work to the following categories:  flash fiction, flash nonfiction, and poetry.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. To get a better sense of what we are looking for, check out our Store for print issues 1-5 and our Fissured Tongue Volumes. We also suggest checking out our instagram, facebook, and twitter feeds and stories to see what's on our minds, what we are 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 of what we are looking for 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. 

Virtual Readings and Nominating for Awards
When we publish new volumes, we typically invite writers to join us virtually for reading parties to celebrate the published work. We also select pieces published in Fissured and promote them on our social media feeds. 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. 

Beginning in fall of 2024, Inverted Syntax magazine moves from its five year print format to our established online format of the Fissured Tongue Series. There will no longer be a print issue of the magazine. However, we are embarking on a new venture of publishing poetry books. [With the help of Bookmobile for printing and Itasca Books for distribution services, Inverted Syntax will be publishing and debuting between 3-5 full-length poetry books beginning in the fall of 2026. If you are interested check it out here]. 
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​Fissured Tongue Series Submission window
June 5 - August 15  ​
Submission Guidelines:
Inverted Syntax strongly encourages diverse and inclusive voices, especially those from under-represented and vulnerable communities, to consider submitting work to the Fissured Tongue Series.

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 anti-semitism, NO xenophobia, absolutely no work that in any way perpetuate stereotypes. 

What we accept:

  • 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. 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.​
  • We no longer accept long nonfiction and long fiction

Guidelines
  • All work must be submitted through Submittable. We do not accept work via mail or email. 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.
  • The general submission fees ($4) covers our administration costs.​ Please wait for a response from us before sending us another submission.
  • Do not list any identifying information within the submission or in the attached file name. 
  • However do include: Own Voices Statement:  ​ 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" where you should provide  appropriate context for your relationship to that group. Please do not provide any other identifying information about yourself in the work you submit.
  • Start each new piece on a new page and Please use page numbers
  • Our website is set up in Garamond, but if you prefer your piece to be published in a different font, it will have to be published as a pdf or image.
  • Attach your work in both .doc/ .docx and pdf. format. We prefer you send us both docx and pdf format of the submission 
  • We attempt to preserve the original formatting by all means possible, but there are some limitations when working in our online space.
  • If your work is accepted we may make editorial suggestions. You will have a chance to review it before it is published.​ ​​
  • When should you expect to hear from us We have a very limited staff of rotating volunteers and at one point, rotating interns. 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. 
  • Simultaneous Submissions We accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify us immediately if your work has been accepted elsewhere. 
  • 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. 
Inclusivity statement 
We value and respect all volunteers, readers, subscribers, submitters, and participants, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education, and/or disability. Inverted Syntax editors are committed to creating an inclusive, supportive, and welcoming environment where our community of contributors and supporters feel valued. 
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Inverted Syntax stands in solidarity with the Palestinian plight for liberation. Read our October 2023 letter for more information. 
Woman Holding Sign That Reads 'To Stand With Palestine is to be Human'

​To stand with Palestine is to be human.
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​Read Inverted Syntax's letter of solidarity with Palestine:
Editors' Letter to the Community
Featured Art Unidentified Variety of Birch by Andrea Rexilius,  mixed media collage, 11 x 17 inches, 2018, cropped and blurred. Published in Inverted Syntax print issue 2019
Fissured Tongue Series #1, #2, #3 were edited by Managing Editor Jesica Davis 
Fissured Tongue Series #4, #5 were edited by Managing Editor Yesica Mirambeaux with assistance from E.A Midnight