General Submission Guidelines

Please review the editors' preferences and tips to writers. We may not be able to completely pin down what we want—and we do want to be taken pleasantly by surprise—but you may find the quotes helpful.

When you submit your work, please include a brief bio to introduce yourself.

If your work is accepted for publication, we ask only for the right to publish it for the first time, on the Web and in print. All rights revert to the author after publication by The Baltimore Review. All accepted work will be archived on the website.

Simultaneous submissions are permitted. Please notify us immediately if you need to withdraw your work from consideration. Submissions in more than one category are permitted, but please do not submit work more than once per reading period.

Reading periods are August 1 through November 30 and February 1 through May 30.

You will be notified of our decision within three months. Really. We're aiming for a response time well within that timeframe. If you don't hear from us within three months, please contact us.

The website will be updated quarterly with new poems, stories, and creative nonfiction. Our new video category opens with the spring 2012 issue, and we hope to include videos in each issue. See the blog and information on the Submit page for more information about what we have in mind. Winning contest entries (see themes in blog and by clicking on "Submit") are published in winter and summer issues, along with non-theme submissions. The theme for the summer 2012 issue is HEAT. We also welcome photos and photos of original artwork through the submission system for the contest issues.

Payment for general submissions is Web exposure and a copy of the collection in which the author's work appears.

We look forward to reading your work.