Queer the Verb
is a literary publication about queerness.
Submissions Guidelines
Queer the Verb is currently not paying. Sorry, but there's just not enough money behind it at the moment. You'll gain publication and promotion only.No AI or AI-assisted works will be accepted here. Queer the Verb is strongly anti-generative AI and only publishes works made by humans. If there is reason to believe your work was made with AI, it will be discarded.Your work must have some sort of queer theme to be considered for publication in Queer the Verb.Absolutely no hate speech will be tolerated here. Queer the Verb is minority-run and pro-doing-whatever-you-want-and-being-whoever-you-are-and-everybody-deserving-rights. No racism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, or etc. prejudices will ever intentionally be platformed here.Queer the Verb does not currently accept previously published works. However, because it's a crockpot of bullshit not to, Queer the Verb will consider works that have been previously self-published on your personal social media or personal blogs, as long as they haven't been sold or published elsewhere. Feel free to submit your Tumblr rant poem or Instagram scrawl or whatever.
YOU ARE ALLOWED TO SUBMIT ONE SUBMISSION PER CATEGORY PER ISSUE. IF YOU HAVE ALREADY SUBMITTED TO A CATEGORY, BUT YOU WANT TO SUBMIT TO THAT CATEGORY AGAIN, PLEASE WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT ISSUE'S SUBMISSION PERIOD TO DO SO.SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN INDEFINITELY, OR UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.CATEGORIES CURRENTLY OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS:POETRY - 1-5 poems per submission.SHORT STORIES - 8k word limit for submissions. No minimum word count (after all, "brevity is the soul of wit"). If you're a little over 8k, I'll still consider your work, but try to stay around 8k maximum.ESSAYS - Non-fiction pieces such as: reviews, analysis, commentary, opinion pieces, personal anecdotes, etc. These can cover any topic, fiction or non-fiction, as long as you are able to relate it to queerness in some way. 8k word limit maximum.Please send all submissions to: [email protected]Submissions by attached .pdf files are preferred. If you're unable to make or attach a .pdf file of your work(s), you may submit your work(s) in the body of the email, instead. I will attempt to work with it.
Email subject line for submissions should read something like "Submission - Author Name - 'Name of Work(s)/Collection'" (eg: Submission - Jane Doe - 'Poems for Foodies'") for simplicity's sake, but I don't care that much.Queer the Verb may contact you if one of your works is believed to contain typos or other mistakes. It happens to everybody and will not immediately equal a rejection if you misplace punctuation or misspell a word. However, generally speaking, grammatical or etc. oddities will be presumed to be purposeful, artistic choices; Please check your work for mistakes before sending.Queer the Verb asks for First Rights and Non-Exclusive Electronic Rights to publish your work. After publication, the rights revert back to you and you retain the rights to your work. Yay.Cover letter is optional, but appreciated. Queer the Verb wants to hear how you found the zine and what inspired you to submit! Please include anywhere you've been previously published for reference. Brief explanations/short summaries of your works are also appreciated.(NOTE: If you republish a work you first had published here, Queer the Verb appreciates a shout out, but no tears will be shed if you don't.)However, please include a brief third-person bio of yourself in your email. Even just a single line, party people. Queer the Verb won't immediately reject you if you forget, but I may contact you for one. Anonymous submitters are, of course, exempt from this.OPTIONAL: In your email, you may include any social media accounts/blogs/Substacks/etc. of yours that you'd want Queer the Verb to boost. I want to help you find your community.The main goal of Queer the Verb is to platform minorities and previously unpublished authors. Diversity is a priority. You are encouraged, but not required, to share your marginalized identities in your cover letter and/or works.Simultaneous submissions are encouraged, but be sure to promptly contact Queer the Verb if one of your works has been accepted elsewhere. Congratulations in advance!For whatever reason, if you want to take back your submission, or part of your submission (such as individual poems from a collection), please contact [email protected] and let me know.NOTE: Please do not contact Queer the Verb about whether or not your submission has been accepted until at least four weeks have passed since the deadline. Queer the Verb is currently a staff of one editor who is the sole responder to emails, so please be patient with response times. I'm just one guy.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: "How soon after submitting can I query about my submission?"
A: Please wait at least four (4) weeks after the submission deadline before querying about the status of your submission.Q: "I'm not queer at all. Can I still submit?"
A: Yes, just don't be an asshole. The main requirement is that your piece has something to do with queerness. However, submissions by queer people are and will always be prioritized.Q: "What if I've never been published at all before?"
A: Go ahead and submit anyway. You need zero resume to get published here; I judge based on quality and connection to the works. In fact, I am delighted that you'd reach out to Queer the Verb for first-ever publication. I would be honored to be the first place a writer got published. One of the reasons I started Queer the Verb was the hope of helping queer people break into the industry with first-ever publication.Q: "Do I have to use my legal name? Can I submit anonymously?"
A: You can use whatever name you are most comfortable with. You are encouraged to submit anonymously (credited as "Anonymous" or "Unknown") if it makes you more comfortable. Your comfort and safety are a priority. Anonymous submissions are exempt from 3rd person bios, unless you wish to include one.Q: "My work contains reclaimed slurs. Can I still submit it?"
A: Basically, yes. If there are reclaimed slurs and/or slurs for the sake of commentary in your works, please say so in your email. Just a brief note is fine.Q: "Do you accept fanfiction?"
A: Currently, no. I am a reader and writer of the stuff myself, but the laws surrounding publishing it are very strict, and vary too much from country to country, for a magazine of this nature. Hopefully one day copyright laws will be different enough to allow it. If you want to submit a piece about a copyright-protected work, it has to be in the form of an essay.Q: "Are there any kinds of content or topics off-limits for submissions?"
A: The only hard NO is hate speech/bigotry/conservative politics (but that should be obvious). Everything else is fair game, until further notice. Go ahead and send me your graphic, your gross-out, your grotesque.Q: "Why is the publication called that?"
A: It's the idea of being queer as an active state of being, or queering actively. Historically, to queer something meant to pervert it, so it's a bit of a naughty, powerful reclamation to choose to make queering something a positive sentiment about living life earnestly and honestly and happily. I basically queered the word queer. It's definitely not an original sentiment, but it's one I believe in. It's also a joke based on the trope of bands calling themselves Verb the Noun.Q: "How can I support Queer the Verb?"
A: Submitting, reading, sharing, and following are the best and easiest ways you can support Queer the Verb. Positive comments mean a lot, as well, both to me and, I'm sure, to any of the others published in Queer the Verb. I will never put Queer the Verb behind a paywall.FURTHER QUESTIONS SHOULD BE SENT TO: [email protected]