Five South accepts unsolicited submissions of short fiction, flash fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and humor for digital publication via our submission manager. Word Counts: Flash: 1000 Short Fic: up to 5000 Poetry: No limit, up to 5 pages Non-Fiction: See call for submissions One for the Road: No more than 3000 words Submission Fees: Flash Fiction: $3.00 for up to three pieces Short Fiction: $4.50 for one piece Poetry: $3.00 for up to 5 pieces Non-Fiction: $3.00 per piece Humor: $3.00 per piece. ✅ Simultaneous submissions OK. 💰 Payment Five South is thrilled to offer honorariums for select departments, per accepted piece: $10.00 for publication in our issues $5.00 for publication in One for the Road. Publication in The Weekly and our Non-Fiction blog are currently unpaid, but we're working on it! We accept all genres (including humor), but will not even remotely consider: hate, pornography, or pedophilia. All submissions must be in English and previously unpublished in either print or online including excerpts. Combine all pieces into one document. Withdraw your piece here. We suggest to all who submit that they read the most recent issue of Five South and our About Page to get to know our vibe. Emailing For Typos and Status Checking Typos and other minor mistakes are normal in the publishing process, as long as they don't alter content. Five South does not allow any revisions to submissions during the reading period - if your work is selected for publication you will be able make necessary corrections prior to publication. Status Checking: Unless it's been more than six months, please do not email checking the status of your piece.

If you're in a rush and need to hear back quicker than 3-6 months, you can now add a quick response at checkout. For $8.00 we will prioritize your submission and get back to you within 1-2 weeks.

Five South uses a bespoke submission manager that processes payments through Stripe. When you submit, you will receive a confirmation email from Five South and a receipt from Stripe. Rest assured, unless you hear otherwise, your submission has been received and you're good to go. If you experience any technical difficulties using our submission manager or have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out to editor@fivesouth.net.

Submissions not formatted correctly will be declined. Please double check your submission before you send. Taking the time to format your submissions properly shows you care about your work and the people reading it. Fiction General Rules: 12pt Times or Courier font Double Spaced We prefer .doc or .dox files, but in a pinch .txt is OK. Poetry General Rules: Please note we are limited in how our website will display your piece. Lines longer than 13 words will break. For pieces with longer than 13 words per line, we recommend submitting a PDF or JPG of your piece. 12pt Times or Courier font Format your piece how you would like it published. We prefer .doc or .dox files, but JPG and PDF are OK for pieces with long lines and/or unusual line breaks and spacing. Reedsy has a manuscript Word template you can download for free here.

We publish flash fiction stories and poetry once per week in The Weekly section of our journal. Submissions are open all year but occasionally close so we can catch up. Get on our newsletter to find out when they open or close. The same guidelines for general submissions apply to The Weekly. The Weekly accepts tip-jar submissions - pay what you like. The default amount is $1.00 due to the technical limitations of Stripe, our payment processor. For a fee waiver due to financial hardship, please email editor@fivesouth.net

Simultaneous submissions are acceptable as long as we are notified immediately if your piece is accepted for publication elsewhere. Please use this form or email editor@fivesouth.net to withdraw your piece.

All submissions received during the reading period will be read. Response time will vary according to the number of submissions. We make every effort to respond to all submissions within three to six months of receipt. If you don't hear from us after six months, feel free to give us a nudge.

Five South does not discriminate. We love all people and all people have stories to tell. While we want to remain an open (safe space) for all writers, we will not publish material that is outright hateful. What we want is totally subjective, but hopefully this will guide you in the right direction: Generally, we're looking for great stories that have a beginning, middle, and end. How you accomplish that is up to you. Even poems have stories, whether they're in subtext, creatively crafted spaces, or expressive use of language. By no means does "story" mean sticking to the conventions. We love pieces that surprise us, stray from the beaten path, and do something different. Try to remember the book, story, or poem you read as a kid - the one that made you want to write. How did that make you feel? That feeling is what we want. A good writer knows the difference between mystery and obscurity. Fiction Genres We Accept (examples, but not limited to): See this article for 35 fiction genres and their definitions. Poetry: We lean heavily toward poems with finesse that move and surprise us. We like a range of style and form. Send us your best narrative, persona, experimental, formal, visual, lyric and prose poems. Non-Fiction: Individual calls will be posted on social media and on this page. They will have their own requirements. Humor: Satire, funny fiction or creative non-fiction, and literary humor. For even more information, read an interview with Editor--in-Chief, Kristen Simental regarding submissions: Six Questions For...Kristen Simental and Editor Interview at Duotrope.

Submission fees make Five South possible and allow us to pay our bills and give writers and poets a honorarium. We ask for a standard fee of $3.00 for flash fiction and poetry, $4.50 for short fiction. Five South is a labor of love and is 100% reader funded, like PBS. If you are experiencing financial hardship and would like us to waive the fee, please please click here.

If your work is accepted, it will be subject to an agreement granting Five South exclusive online worldwide English rights. This common practice means we retain the right to be the only journal publishing your piece online. For secondary print anthologies and collections, published poets and authors must request approval from Five South prior to publication and give us credit as first publisher. We will almost always say yes to secondary print publication so long as we're credited. You retain the copyright to the work after first publication. If you have any questions regarding rights, please contact editor@fivesouth.net ​ By submitting your work for consideration, you represent that: (1) The work is not in the public domain, has not been published in any other publication in any jurisdiction in the World, has not been distributed or displayed to members of the public, and you have not made any agreement with another party inconsistent with granting first publication rights to us. (It is important for us to know if your work is to be included in a collection or larger work being prepared for future publication. Please let us know, right away, the title, publisher and planned publication date.) (2) The work is your original authorship and no other party has a claim to rights in it except as you specifically disclose at the time of your submission; (3) In the case of translations, you have obtained permission of the author or the author’s agent or estate to publish your translation. (4) There is nothing in the work that is libelous, invades personal privacy or deprives another of the right of publicity, or is otherwise actionably harmful or illegal. ​