Updated on the 24/11/14 – Please read the full guidelines to be aware of the change in the submission process. 

We publish literary writing of the highest quality. We look for poetry and short fiction that startles and entertains us. Reviews, essays, memoir pieces and features should be erudite, lucid and incisive. We are obviously interested in writing that has a London focus, but not exclusively so, since London is a world city with international concerns.

Please refer to The London Magazine before you submit work, so that you can see the type of material we publish.

Poetry

• Abstraction is the enemy of good poetry. Poetry should display a commitment to the ultra specificities of language, and show a refined sense of simile and metaphor. The structure should be tight and exact.
• Poems should be no longer than 40 lines. We do not publish long, loose poems.
• The maximum number of poems you should submit is 6.

Short Fiction

• Short fiction should address mature and sophisticated themes. Moreover, it should have an elegance of style, structure and characterisation.
• We do not normally publish science fiction or fantasy writing, or erotica.
• We will consider short stories of up to 4,000 words in length.

Non-Fiction

• Non-fiction pieces should be between 800 and 2,000 words. Single inverted commas should be used for all quotes/speech. Titles of works including books, plays, film and paintings should be in italics.

When Submitting Your Entry

We have updated our submission processing system using a new online portal. This new process of submission will allow for submissions to be read and responded to far more quickly than the current emailing system.

To submit, please sign up for a submittable account and send in your submission through our online portal. This is the quickest and most efficient way to send us your submissions. All you’ll need to do is sign up with your name and email address.

Submit using our Online Portal

You can also email your submissions into the system:

Poetry Submissions: thelondonmagazine+36608@submissions.submittable.com

Short Fiction Submissions: thelondonmagazine+36609@submissions.submittable.com

Nonfiction Submissions:thelondonmagazine+36610@submissions.submittable.com

You must attach your submission to the email. This means that you will not need to set up an account, but you won’t be able to track your submission or edit it. If you email your submission to our online portal please make sure to include the name of your submission in the subject line of the email. Postal submissions will still be accepted and read.

Please note that the change of process will not affect the way in which work is judged. Pieces of engaging, high quality writing within word limits for fiction, non-fiction and poetry are most likely to get published.

The submission email (submissions@thelondonmagazine.org) will still be active but will be primarily for submission enquiries. Any submissions sent here will be read but the response time may be longer.

Postal submissions should be sent to:

The London Magazine
11 Queen’s Gate
London SW7 5EL

Please enclose a pre-paid, self-addressed envelope or international reply coupons for the return of the manuscript.

All submissions sent to The London Magazine must never have been published, self-published, published on any website, blog or online forum, broadcast nor winning or placed (as in 2nd, 3rd,, runner up etc) in any competition.