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. And please take a little time to check out our blog and to read some of the work in our current and past issues.
What to put in that Cover Letter box: When you submit your work, please include a brief bio to introduce yourself. Generally, a "thank you for considering my work" and a brief bio similar to those on our website is all that's needed. Note that for contest submissions, that information is concealed.
If your work is accepted for publication, we ask only for the right to publish it for the first time, online and in print. Please do not submit work that has been accepted for publication elsewhere. All rights revert to the author after publication by The Baltimore Review. All accepted work will be archived on the website.
We accept submissions only through the link at the bottom of this page. We do not consider emailed submissions or submissions sent through the postal service. Every poem, short story, and work of creative nonfiction we accept is selected from the Submittable queue based on merit and the needs of the journal.
Submissions in more than one category are permitted, but please do not submit work more than once per reading period in any category.
Among other resources for writers, NewPages.com has a Publications for Young Writers page. We encourage teen (and younger) writers to review this list before submitting work to literary journals. The Baltimore Review considers submissions from writers who are 18 years of age or older.
Simultaneous submissions are absolutely fine. If you need to withdraw your work, or part of your work, from consideration, let us know. Use the Withdraw option if withdrawing the entire submission; send us a message through Submittable if withdrawing part of your submission, e.g., one poem from a group of three.
Once your work has been accepted by a publication, always withdraw it from any other publications right away.
Our next submission period is February 1 through May 31, 2025.
Please do not withdraw and re-submit your work if making revisions. Simply note the minor edit or, if the changes are more extensive, attach the new version in the Submittable message. But it’s always best, of course, to take some time to thoroughly proofread your work before submitting. Thanks!
Response time: You will be notified of our decision within four months. We're aiming for a response time well within that time frame, usually one to three months, but we do receive thousands of submissions in each submission period, and we read each one of them. Thank you for your patience.
Fees: We do not charge fees for non-contest submissions and have no plans to do so in the future. We charge a modest $8 fee for contest submissions.
Payment for non-contest submissions is $50 via Amazon gift certificate or $50 through PayPal, if preferred, as well as a copy of the annual print compilation in which the author's work appears. We hope to continue this as long as funding is available. We also nominate our contributors' work for every possible prize. Contest prize amounts are announced with each contest. Current prize amount is $400 for the winner in each category.
Ready to submit? You will see additional details for each category, such as word limits and other guidelines, when you click the "Submit" button below and then the "Guidelines" link for each category." Please read those guidelines. They're brief and will only take a few seconds of your time. Honest. Submissions that do not follow the guidelines (e.g., prose that exceeds 5,000 words, a submission of more than three poems, a book review or other work that is clearly not creative nonfiction, multiple submissions during a submission period) will be declined.
Contests are announced on our blog, on social media sites, and on the Submit page for the Contest category during the Contest submission period.
