The Artisanal Writer is an online magazine that explores the craft and practice of writing. Starting January, ’23 we are accepting original, previously unpublished, Literary Essays and Book Reviews (recently published poetry, fiction and/or creative-non-fiction) year-round from Canadian, American and international writers writing in English.
Normally, we publish craft essays of about 1000 – 1200 words, but if you have a remarkable piece that could run a little longer, please check back with us using the form below. Please send in PDF, OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, or RTF document file format, no more than one literary/craft essay on any subject (in a single document). Please include a word count at the top of the document. See here for an example.
We do not accept unsolicited Book Reviews. Please send a statement of interest using the form below. Upon acceptance, you will be provided the Review guidelines. Please ensure your submission is compliant with our Review Guidelines. Reviewers must declare any conflicts of interest (friends, family, co-workers) and must declare that they are indeed at arm’s length from the material reviewed. If you are interested in sending books to AW for review, please contact respective editors (see Editorial Board) to organize review copies and catalogues.
While we do accept simultaneous submissions, if your work is accepted for publication elsewhere, please let us know immediately. We do not accept translations or work that has been previously published in any form, print or online.
Make sure the text is single-spaced (unless spacing is used for artistic effect); use a 12-point font, in Calibri or Times New Roman font. Attach a document in PDF, OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, or RTF format only. Please proofread your work carefully for grammar, spelling and punctuation. If you are using illustrations, place them within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end. Include your name and full contact information with each submission. Include a bio of up to 50 words with each submission.
If the Essay or Book Review is accepted for publication in the Artisanal Writer, the work will be published online under an Attribution-Non Commercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND) Creative Commons License and you will retain copyright to the work.
All submissions must be made in a single document adhering to the aforementioned format and guidelines via the Duosuma submission platform (see below). We do not accept submissions in any other format. Do not email or snail-mail submissions.
We are a small non-profit and are currently staffed by writers and artists who largely work on a volunteer basis. We read every submission and try to respond quickly (often within a few weeks) and writers who have not received a response within 90 days are encouraged to query regarding their manuscript’s status. Please wait to hear back from us before submitting a new unsolicited manuscript.
We are not a paying market yet, we hope to be one soon. We request an optional $5 reading and processing fee for all submissions. The fees help us pay our contributors and sustain the publication. A voluntary $10.00 fee will guarantee an expedited answer within two weeks. Paying an expedited submission fee does not increase your chances of acceptance, but it does go a long way to help us sustain our journal and help us reward our contributors and staff who work tirelessly to promote quality literary work.
Use the Submit button below to submit your essays and reviews.
Use Below Form to submit your Abstract / Pitch / Inquiry / Statement of Interest