The Illegalist     

Issue one is in the bag.

We are currently getting our wits about us, and plotting world domination through art and literature.

Check in with us in the coming weeks, as we will likely be looking for some co-conspirators.

So please hang onto those submissions for now.

———————————-

Submission Guidelines

The Illegalist is a new literary journal founded in Gloucester, MA by the good folks at Dogtown Books. The Illegalist will explore a number of themes across individual issues. 

For our inaugural printing, we are seeking work that incorporates Gloucester as a central theme; the city as muse, if you will.

We’ll leave it at that.

Submissions for The Illegalist arts and literature journal are open year-around to anyone with an interest in sharing new and unique ideas. As our themes and focus shifts, we will update you here. Our goal is to collect and  publish a spectrum of voices, perspectives, narratives, and forms, and we are truly honored to see the wonderful things that you have created. This includes those stories and voices which are often underrepresented, including but not limited to those in the BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, disabled, immigrant, or international communities. We accept fiction and non, poetry and art, but we don’t want you to feel limited to these definitions of genre. If it can be printed in two dimensions, we will consider it for publication. This includes maps, photography, collages, interviews, essays, music and stories with non-traditional layouts, and more. Literary works do not need to be written in the English language, but please provide us with an English translation if you are submitting.

We gladly accept works generated by A.I., but please include a note letting us know that you were assisted by a higher form of consciousness in your creation. We love surprises, as, hopefully, will our readers. Your work may have been previously published (if so, congrats, and please let us know where and when). We do not review content anonymously, but if you wish to submit as such, please remove your name from attachments of included text. These items will primarily be in physical print, with sections or excerpts otherwise published online.

The nuts and bolts:

Reading Period: 

Year-round, we never rest.

Reading/Submission Fee: 

None

Accepts Unsolicited Submissions: 

Yes

Accepts Simultaneous Submissions: 

Sure

**If you are accepted for publication elsewhere and wish to withdraw your submission, please let us know right away. If your work is published elsewhere and you would still like to be considered for The Illegalist, be sure you own the rights to the work and it can be published again. Also, let us know where it was first published.

Number of Debut Authors per Issue: 

8-10

Payment: 

No financial payment (1 copy of printed work per selected submitter)

Pay attention, this next stuff’s important….

Please submit words and artwork as attachments, with your full name in the title of each attachment, delivered to illegalsubmissions@gmail.com

Send us a bio no longer than 75 words. Your bio could include: your name, your connection to Cape Ann, any pertinent detail about the themes of your work, and/or any awards or accomplishments of which you’re proud. In case you missed it the first time around, please keep your bio under 75 words. If we have to edit it for you, things might get weird.

FICTION/NONFICTION:
One piece per category, that does not exceed 5000 words. Please include the word count at the top of the first page.

POETRY:
Up to five poems. Please submit all poems in one document or email, with each poem starting on a new page.

ART:
Up to five pieces of visual art, each submitted as a separate file with your full name in the document or image title, in a single submission.

HYBRID:
Up to three shorter pieces, or one long piece, not exceeding 5000 words or fifteen pages total.

Please include the word count (if applicable) at the top of the first page.

Send all submissions, inquiries and questions to illegalsubmissions@gmail.com

The Illegalist is a free-to-submit literary journal. 

We thank you sincerely for your interest and very much look forward to collaborating with you.