Current Cycle
Submissions for Spring 2021 are currently closed. Stay tuned for the Fall 2021 submissions cycle.
Send us work that moves us. Work that pushes the envelope. Our team of creative and passionate editors is ready to see your words and artistic visions. Please read our guidelines below. Some have changed recently to clarify requirements.
How We Work
We seek to provide a safe space for every trans and cis woman writer at any stage in the writing process. Submissions are read blind by a rotating team of editors, and we use a collaborative approach in the selection process. We hope to support all voices, but if your work is not right for us, you have the opportunity to request insightful and respectful feedback from our editorial team. If your work is chosen, you can expect to work closely with a genre editor to bring it all the way home.
Submission Guidelines
Submissions are blind and accepted electronically. Please read the guidelines carefully before hitting Send.
VoiceCatcher publishes new writing that has not appeared in print or online. If you’ve published a piece on your own website, blog, or self-publishing site, please remove it before submitting to us.
We accept simultaneous submissions but ask that you notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
We only accept submissions from women writers and artists who consider themselves residents of or strongly connected to the greater Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington, areas.
We love to support returning voices, but if your work was published in our most recent issue, we ask you to wait at least one cycle before submitting again. This keeps the journal fresh and allows us to support as many new and emerging voices as possible.
If your work is accepted, you agree to grant us First North American Serial Rights and Electronic Archival Rights. At publication, all rights revert back to you. If your work subsequently appears in print or online, you agree to give credit to VoiceCatcher. We agree to contact you for permission to reprint your work.
The What and How
We accept electronic submissions. Edit and proof your work before submitting. Please include the following information:
- A short bio—100 words or less—written in third person, included as a Word or PDF attachment.
- Your written piece(s) as a separate attachment, in a single Word or PDF document. Use the title(s) of your work as the file name of your document.
- Submissions are blind. Please remove all identifying information from the document containing your piece(s).
- Only submit work one time AND in one genre per cycle. Multiple submissions and/or submissions in more than one genre can NOT be considered.
Poetry
In a single Word document, submit up to three poems. Each poem should not exceed 50 lines.
Keep submissions blind. Use the title of your work as the saved file name on the document.
Single-space your poems for stanza breaks.
Insert page breaks between poems.
Use Times New Roman 12 pt. font.
If lines in your poems are indented, please use the SPACE BAR (NOT the TAB Key) to indent. This helps us keep the correct visual format.
If your poem has a “justified right margin,” we will do our best to preserve the line breaks, but there may be some variance due to font styling on the website.
Prose (fiction, creative nonfiction, flash fiction, memoir)
Submit one piece of prose per submission cycle in a single Word or PDF document.
Include the word count of your piece. No more than 3,000 words.
Double-space and indent paragraphs by half an inch.
Use Times New Roman 12 pt. font.
Keep submissions blind. Use the title of your work as the saved file name on the document.
Visual Art
Send up to five pieces that have not already appeared in other print or online publications.
Have electronic images cropped and colors adjusted to best represent your artwork. Send in RGB color format.
Use at least 300 dpi, no more than 600 dpi. Size for width must be between 450–1000 pixels; size for height between 300–700 pixels.
Submit as JPG or TIF files using your art title as the file name to keep submissions blind. Example: Racehorse at Rest.jpg.
Please let us know the size of the original piece and media for each piece submitted. Example: Shadows (11″ x 14″, digital photograph) or Light Beside Her (16″ x 20″, acrylic on canvas). If your art is selected for publication, we will ask you for a short artist statement to accompany the digital presentation.
Young Voices
We especially encourage women creatives between 14 to 18 years of age to submit to VoiceCatcher. Young Voices is open to writers in the greater Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington, areas.