Fresh-Cut Lit & More

SUBMISSIONS

Cleaver reads submissions year round, on a rolling basis, for our quarterly literary magazine.

Literary Submissions

We review submissions only through our Submittable portal. We are not able to consider work sent to us through postal mail or email. We are happy to read simultaneous submissions, with immediate notification if work is accepted elsewhere. Previously published work is not considered, although we will sometimes consider work previously shared on personal blogs. Translations are welcome with permission of the original author, or for works in the common domain.

Please note: Cleaver welcomes diverse human voices, but we do not consider AI-generated or AI-assisted work.

Book Reviews and Newsletter Submissions

Cleaver reviews books that have been recently published (within the past year or two) by small and indie presses, including shorter works such as poetry chapbooks and novellas. If you’re a reviewer interested in writing for Cleaver, if you’ve written a review you’d like us to consider, or if you’re an author, publisher, or publicist, please email Autumn Konopka directly with your query. 

Note: If you previously queried via our submission forms, you are welcome to follow up with a direct email.

A TIP FROM OUR EDITORS
The most successful pitches are those that make a direct, specific connection between the proposed work/author and Cleaver.

  • Why is the particular book or author relevant for us and our readers?
  • How does it relate to our mission, the work we publish in our magazine, the kinds of books we review, or the authors we interview/feature? 
  • And/or how does it relate to our interests and experience as readers and editors?
  • Finally, if you’re a past Cleaver contributor, make sure you let us know.

Autumn Konopka, Senior Editor (she/her)
Joy Manning, Editor (she/her)

NEWSLETTER PROMOTION & SHOUT OUTS
If you are a current or former Cleaver contributor with a book coming out and would like us to promote it in our newsletter and/or our social media, contact us via this form. 

Craft Essay Submissions

Cleaver publishes craft essays on writerly topics. If you are a poet, fiction writer, essayist, or graphic narrative artist and would like to propose a craft essay, contact the editors with a query before submitting.

A TIP FROM OUR EDITORS
Offer a reaction to or exploration of one’s personal experience as a prose writer/artist/creative; pieces that delve into something you’ve either found compelling, learned along the way, figured out, gotten obsessed with, found surprising, and want to share with other writers. Quirky is okay. Nothing too scholarly/academic/ pedagogical. Aim for between 800 and 2000 words. Please first take a look at what we’ve published before here.

—Lisa Romeo,  Prose Craft Essays Editor

For Poetry Craft Essays, contact Mark Danowsky.

 

AI Policy:
Cleaver welcomes diverse human voices, but we do not consider AI-generated or AI-assisted work.

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