Copytext Magazine is an independent, biannual literary magazine dedicated to celebrating the artistic process by publishing creative works in the context of revision.
We are currently OPEN for submissions. Our submission window is February 15 – April 30, 2026.
Thank you for your interest in Copytext Magazine — we're glad you're here, and we'd love to witness your work and its process. Copytext publishes poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and visual art. Please familiarize yourself with our guidelines below; they are subject to change, so please review carefully before submitting. We also recommend that you familiarize yourself with our recent issue to ensure your work is a good fit for our mission, format and ethos. Both new and established creators are encouraged to submit.
We read and accept submissions during the Spring and Fall seasons to publish Summer and Winter issues. Copytext is currently an online-only magazine, but our editorial team is working towards a print issue for next year.
How To Submit
Submissions that do not follow our guidelines will not be considered for Copytext.
For all genres, we publish the following together:
- A first or early draft of the work (called Early Draft)
- A middle to late draft of the work (called Middle Draft)
- The final and best version of the work (called Publication)
When submitting, you will curate the three versions that our Editorial Team will consider. Your Early Draft might be the second version that you created, and your Middle Draft might be your seventh or thirteenth. We want to see authentic records of your process that show the meaningful artistic decisions that led you to the final version. As you select your versions, consider the story that your revisions tell. We are interested in the genuine evolution of your work, so please submit each version in its true form—i.e., resist the urge to post-hoc edit or polish (no matter how vulnerable or messy that may be). We mean it when we say we want your shitty first draft.
Explore Issue One for examples across genres.
We recommend that writers use our Submission Template, but it is not required.
- Please include exactly three versions of your piece. Any submission that includes more than three versions of the piece will not be accepted. Clearly label each version as "Early Draft," "Middle Draft," or "Publication."
- Please only submit once per reading period and only in one genre (poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or artwork).
- Along with your submission package, please include a short cover letter with your genre and titles, a brief third-person bio (no more than 100 words), and any salient details or crucial context. Keep it short, but don’t be afraid to show some personality and voice—we value the person behind the work! Feel free to include links to your social media pages.
- Simultaneous Submissions: We happily consider simultaneous submissions. Please let us know in your cover letter and notify us immediately via a message in Submittable if a piece is accepted elsewhere.
- Previously Published Work: We welcome submissions of previously published work that meet all the above requirements. To be considered, the work must be properly cited. Please explicitly state in your cover letter that the piece was previously published and confirm that you as the author currently have the rights to the work. Properly cite the previous publication by including a link to the specific webpage. If a link is not available, please include a picture or screenshot of the publication. If a piece has been published in multiple places, you must properly cite all previous publications.
- Your final version must be considered final. We do love revision, but not after submission. We expect submitted work to be ready for publication; send us only your very best, polished work. We will, on very rare occasions, work with contributors on minor edits after acceptance.
- Absolutely no AI-generated work. Copytext exists to honor the human creative process behind any great work of art; the use of AI is antithetical to our mission. Do not submit work that has been touched or generated by AI, in part or in whole. By submitting your work, you affirm you are the sole author or creator.
- Still have questions? Visit our website for more information and FAQs.
Each genre has additional specific guidelines. Please familiarize yourself with the requirements for each submission category below.
Topics & Themes
We are looking for the very best craftsmanship we can find—send us work that plays with your medium, that chases possibility, that sparks discovery. We have no formal thematic requirements or limitations; however, we are generally interested in work that:
- Tells stories of survival, resistance, and healing
- Imagines futures of care, justice, and liberation
- Reckons with collective grief, action, and response
- Explores the complex identities within and beyond the family system (childhood, parenthood, queer families and communities, estrangement, intergenerational exchange)
- Remembers legacies and lineages
- Centers indigenous knowledge, experiences, histories, and futures
- Engages with desire, sex, sexuality, the erotic, and ritual
- Honors all things: seeks to know the self
- Examines our digital age and digs into our modern mythologies
- Celebrates the natural world in its strangeness and beauty
- Is beautiful and offers comfort in times of grief
While these are suggestions of themes that we are interested in, we are open to any work that, through revision and experimentation, persists in telling a compelling story.
About Us
- Response Time: We aim to respond within two to three months; please inquire after 90 days. We respectfully and thoroughly consider each and every submission we receive.
- Submissions are free, always. Copytext will never ask for a reading fee. We are unable to pay contributors at this time, but we are actively building up resources to do so as soon as possible as we firmly believe compensation for creative work is vital.
- Awards & Anthologies: Your final version, what we will call “the Publication,” may be submitted to awards and anthologies. We may nominate selected work for Best New Poets, Best Of The Net, Best Small Fiction, and Pushcart. Early and Middle Drafts will not be submitted to awards, anthologies, or other publications and will never be presented as stand-alone works.
- Promotion: All work featured in Copytext will be featured on our website in perpetuity and actively promoted on our social media channels including Instagram, BlueSky and Substack.
- Copyright Agreement: Copytext reserves First Electronic Rights for all previously unpublished pieces and Non-Exclusive Reprint Rights for work that has been previously published elsewhere. After publication, the copyright immediately reverts to the author. Writers selected for publication will receive a contract detailing the full copyright and usage agreement in the acceptance email.
- Previous Contributors: If your work has previously been featured in Copytext, we ask that you wait one year before submitting again.
- Process Statements: If your work is accepted, we will request that you write a 200-word paragraph about your creative process in response to specific questions that we will send you about your work. You may choose to respond to the 1-2 questions that resonate with you the most. The Editors reserve the right to make minor proofreading tweaks or suggestions on this response.
- Before publication, we will send you a link to a digital proof of your work, with a request that you confirm for accuracy.
For all genres, we publish the following together:
- A first or early draft of the work (called Early Draft)
- A middle to late draft of the work (called Middle Draft)
- The final and best version of the work (called Publication)
When submitting, you will curate the three versions that our Editorial Team will consider. Your Early Draft might be the second version that you created, and your Middle Draft might be your seventh or thirteenth. We want to see authentic records of your process that show the meaningful artistic decisions that led you to the final version. As you select your versions, consider the story that your revisions tell. We are interested in the genuine evolution of your work, so please submit each version in its true form—i.e., resist the urge to post-hoc edit or polish (no matter how vulnerable or messy that may be). We mean it when we say we want your shitty first draft.
Explore Issue One for examples across genres.
We recommend that writers use our Submission Template, but it is not required.
Poetry: Your submission package may include up to three poems. For each poem, include two drafts and one final version. Please only submit work where all versions are less than 50 lines (or two pages). We welcome poetry in all forms, from experimental free verse and received forms to prose poems and erasure. We are able to recognize indentation, spaces, and line breaks. Please note that poems with longer line lengths may appear altered, especially on smaller screens.
For all genres, we publish the following together:
- A first or early draft of the work (called Early Draft)
- A middle to late draft of the work (called Middle Draft)
- The final and best version of the work (called Publication)
When submitting, you will curate the three versions that our Editorial Team will consider. Your Early Draft might be the second version that you created, and your Middle Draft might be your seventh or thirteenth. We want to see authentic records of your process that show the meaningful artistic decisions that led you to the final version. As you select your versions, consider the story that your revisions tell. We are interested in the genuine evolution of your work, so please submit each version in its true form—i.e., resist the urge to post-hoc edit or polish (no matter how vulnerable or messy that may be). We mean it when we say we want your shitty first draft.
Explore Issue One for examples across genres.
We recommend that writers use our Submission Template, but it is not required.
Fiction: Your submission package may include up to three pieces of fiction, up to 1000 words each. For each piece, include two drafts and one final version. We welcome fiction in all its forms, from flash and micro fiction to excerpts from larger works—just let us know what you have submitted in your cover letter. Please only submit work where all versions are under the word limitations.
For all genres, we publish the following together:
- A first or early draft of the work (called Early Draft)
- A middle to late draft of the work (called Middle Draft)
- The final and best version of the work (called Publication)
When submitting, you will curate the three versions that our Editorial Team will consider. Your Early Draft might be the second version that you created, and your Middle Draft might be your seventh or thirteenth. We want to see authentic records of your process that show the meaningful artistic decisions that led you to the final version. As you select your versions, consider the story that your revisions tell. We are interested in the genuine evolution of your work, so please submit each version in its true form—i.e., resist the urge to post-hoc edit or polish (no matter how vulnerable or messy that may be). We mean it when we say we want your shitty first draft.
Explore Issue One for examples across genres.
We recommend that writers use our Submission Template, but it is not required.
Creative Nonfiction: Your submission package may include up to three pieces of creative nonfiction, up to 1000 words each. For each piece, include two drafts and one final version. We welcome CNF in all its forms, from flash and micro pieces to excerpts from larger works—just let us know what you have submitted in your cover letter. Please only submit work where all versions are under the word limitations.
For all genres, we publish the following together:
- A first or early draft of the work (called Early Draft)
- A middle to late draft of the work (called Middle Draft)
- The final and best version of the work (called Publication)
When submitting, you will curate the three versions that our Editorial Team will consider. Your Early Draft might be the second version that you created, and your Middle Draft might be your seventh or thirteenth. We want to see authentic records of your process that show the meaningful artistic decisions that led you to the final version. As you select your versions, consider the story that your revisions tell. We are interested in the genuine evolution of your work, so please submit each version in its true form—i.e., resist the urge to post-hoc edit or polish (no matter how vulnerable or messy that may be). We mean it when we say we want your shitty first draft.
Explore Issue One for examples across genres.
Artwork: Your submission package may include up to three different artworks, documented via high-resolution PNG photographs. For each piece, include photographs for two early stages/versions as well as the final piece. We welcome submissions of paintings, textile art, sculpture, assemblage, and more — so long as we can accurately represent the work and its process via static online images, we’re open to any medium.
- We request that you clearly label each PNG file as follows: LastName_Title_Early/Middle/Final. For example, the PNG file for the final draft of “Untamed” by Lisa Cox in Issue One would be titled Cox_Untamed_Final.
- In the body of the email submission, you can also note the dates for your progress on the piece.