Basic Info

We are currently open to submissions of both fiction and visual art.

Please do not submit previously published work. Our printer / distributor gets weird when your stuff is already freely available online.

We accept simultaneous submissions. If we send you an acceptance and your story has already been accepted elsewhere, congrats!

AI is a disease that the corporate parasite class uses to keep us proles in servitude. If you’ve used it in any part of your creative process, don’t submit.

Give us three months to respond to your work. If we haven’t gotten back to you by then, feel free to send us a query.

Fiction Guidelines

Content and Length

Please read the About page and the first issue of the editor’s column before submitting. These pages will tell you if your story is a right fit for Fins Like Arms.

Submit one story between 1,000 and 40,000 words in length. Wait for a response before submitting another story.

We like poetry and creative nonfiction, but we do not publish them.

Formatting Guidelines

Send all submissions to finslikearms@gmail.com.

Include a query letter in the body of your email (not as an attachment). Your query letter should include the word count of your piece, the title, a brief synopsis, and an author bio written in third person.

Attach your story to your email as a Word document. Use a readable font, and double space your manuscript. If your story has special formatting, please make note of this in your query letter.

In the subject line of your email, include your name, the title of your piece, and the submission type in this format: “Fiction Submission: Jamie Doe, Intriguing Story.”

Visual Art Submissions

We’re open to multiple styles and types of visual art. The only caveat is that it has to look good as a book cover (and lots of things can).

Send all visual art submissions to finslikearms@gmail.com.

Include a query letter describing your piece in the body of the email, as well as a bio written in third person.

Attach your artwork as a JPEG or PNG file to your email.

In the subject line of your email, include your name, the title of your piece, and the submission type in this format: “Visual Art Submission: Jamie Doe, Jaw-Dropping Art.”

We can’t offer payment at this time, but all contributors will receive a copy of the issue in which they appear. If your work is accepted, you grant Fins Like Arms first-time North American publication rights.