Zero Readers is a process-oriented literary journal; this means we handle submissions & publishing with an eye specifically on feedback and revision. We endeavor to provide detailed, personal feedback to writing we feel drawn to & to subsequently request revisions, as well as to publish those revisions with great frequency. We believe ZR can be a positive & helpful force for writers’ development, above/beyond simply being a repository for poetry, or just another name in writers’ bios.
Online submissions open for brief windows when we feel like it, announced in both in this space & via twitter @ZeroReadersMag.
Submissions CLOSED
Submission guidelines
All submissions
- Simultaneous subs are okay, assuming you let us know if your poems were accepted elsewhere. PLEASE DON’T WAIT to tell us if your piece was picked up somewhere else.
- Racism/sexism/ageism/ableism/other nasty isms discouraged.
- A short bio (100-ish words). Cover letter not required, but if you’ve got something important to say, let it rip.
- Please wait one year between submissions—we keep a really low cap on subs so we can write quality feedback & would like to share that love with as many people as possible. Multiple & repeat submissions within a 1-year span will not receive responses.
- Submissions via Google Form during announced windows.
Poetry Submissions
- Up to 2 previously unpublished poems in one .docx or .rtf file—please, no .pdfs.
Prose Submissions
- 1 piece in a .docx or .rtf file—please, no .pdfs. Max 3000 words, DOUBLE SPACED
Stuff we’re supposed to tell you:
– Sorry, we can’t pay at this time.
– Zero Readers retains first-time digital & print rights for your published work. All other rights revert to the author. If there’s a conflict with printing your work in our omnibus print version, please do alert us.
– If a piece that originally appeared here is reprinted elsewhere, it’d be really cool if you shouted us out.