Literary and Art Submissions
Thanks for your interest in MER! We publish creative work on mothers, mothering, and motherhood, in all its forms. We publish pieces on the decision to mother, conception issues, pregnancy, nurturing children, working and mothering, creative work and mothering, caring for the elderly, adoptive parenting, gay parenting, single parenting, etc. We are interested in the intersection between other identities and the mother identity, and in the interactions between cultural expectations and the actual experience of mothering. Well-thought out and carefully crafted pieces are appreciated, as are nuanced and layered works. The vast majority of our published work comes from submissions; we solicit very few, if any, work for the print issue. You need not be a mother to submit, as long as your piece is focused on motherhood.
Submissions for the print issue are currently closed, and will open April 24,2024–guidelines below. In addition, we offer several “short calls” throughout the year for online quarterly folios published on our website, merliterary.com. The calls are advertised on our website and social media (Facebook, Instagram, etc.), on Chill Subs, Duotrope, and through our newsletter, which you can sign up for here: http://eepurl.com/ihpw8X
We also publish book reviews (of literary works that focus on motherhood or women’s lives) throughout the year. We have lists of books available for review and also accept queries. If you would like to write a review for MER, check out some of the current reviews on our website and then email us at [email protected].
Lastly, we always accept pitches for craft essays, which can be submitted at [email protected].
Submission Guidelines
We publish literary work on mothering, mothers, and motherhood.
Submissions for MER will be open from April 24, 2024 to July 15, 2022 for literary submissions for our annual print issue. We publish poetry (up to 3 poems, no more than 5 pages), and flash and short fiction, creative prose/nonfiction, and hybrid works (up to 1000 words) on mothering or motherhood. We also seek mother-themed art. You need not be a mother to submit. Our calendar conforms to Eastern Time.
In the first week of submissions, April 24 – 30 we will accept free “early bird” submissions, until we reach our Submittable limit for free submissions (100). Please submit only one “early bird” submission to ensure everyone equal access.
Regular Submissions ($3 fee or free with subscription purchase) will be open from April 24 to June 15.
We will respond by November 2024. The issue will be published in April 2025.
What to submit
Please read our print journal and online quarterly to get an idea of the kind of work we publish before submitting. Current and back issues of the annual journal are available here, as well as PDF copies of the current and recent issues for $5 each. Additionally, we publish work online in quarterly issues; visit http://merliterary.com
Submit work that has not been published previously online or in print. Simultaneous submissions are okay, but please let us know promptly if your submission is accepted elsewhere, by using your Submittable.com account to add a note to your submission telling us which titles are no longer available for consideration.
Submissions will be considered for the print issue and for MER Online on our website unless you specify that you are only submitting for one or the other. If you have previously submitted to MER online or print, we request that you submit work other than that previously submitted.
PLEASE NOTE: If your work was included in the Mom Egg Review Vol. 22, please wait until next year to submit in the same genre to our print issue. You may submit in a different genre. If you submit work in the genre previously published, it will be considered for online publication only.
How to submit
We use Submittable for online submissions, and do not accept paper or email submissions.
You may submit only one free “Early Bird” submission. Thereafter and concurrently, we accept Regular Submissions, from April 24- July 15 2024. There is a $3 fee for each poetry submission (of up to 3 poems), nonfiction/creative prose submission, art, and fiction or cross-genre submission (up to 1000 words total—can be several short pieces that total under 1000 words).
Submit free if you subscribe to the upcoming issue for a special price of $14. When in Submittable, select the option you prefer.
Cover letter: Please include
–the title(s) of each individual work in the submission
–a brief(50-75 word) third person bio. (Please limit credits to up to three books and three journal/anthology publications).
All genres: Submit your work in one document named “Last name, First name, Genre.” (prefer .doc, docx, .txt, or .rtf, but if your work has unusual spacing, you may submit in pdf form).
Poetry: Please submit up to 3 poems in a single word or text document of no more than 6 pages with the file name Last name, First name, Poetry. Do not put your name on the pages themselves. Please number your pages and start each poem on a separate page. Important: Please left justify your poem without indenting and single space your poem unless indenting or extra spacing is an integral part of the poem.
Creative Prose, Fiction, Cross-genre: Please submit one piece up to 1000 words, or several short-short pieces that total fewer than 1000 words in all, in a single word or text document with the file name Last name, First name, Genre. Please double space, number your pages, and put title of the submission (but not your name) on top of each page.
Visual Art: Please submit up to four works of art (drawings, paintings, photos, etc.) that relate to mothers or motherhood, in a .jpg file at 300 dpi. (MER cover is color; interior art is black and white. If your art is selected, we will request a larger file.
Scholarship Submissions: We have a limited number of submission scholarships available. If the submissions fee is a hardship, you may submit during the “Early Bird” period or email us at MERsubmissions @gmail.com with your submission, cover letter and bio. Please put “Scholarship Application” as subject line.
Contact: [email protected] (Please be sure to add this address to your email program so that you can receive correspondence from us). We will add all submitters to our mailing list (we send a bimonthly newsletter) but you may unsubscribe if you wish.
Terms of publication
You represent that you created the piece, you own the rights to the piece, and allow us to publish it. If you collaborate with anyone or thing (eg. AI) in creating the piece, you must note that on the page. MER acquires first-time publication rights to the piece. We also reserve the right to republish it in a future electronic and/or print collections. Back issues are archived indefinitely. Rights return to the authors after publication; after the contributions have appeared in MER, the authors may republish their pieces in any manner they wish but it is requested they acknowledge prior publication in MER.
We are a volunteer organization, and are unable to pay for pieces at this time. A complimentary PDF contributor copy of the complete issue will be emailed to you prior to the launch date. You will also have the opportunity to purchase hard copies at reduced contributor rates if you wish.
Thanks for submitting to MER.