Submission guidelines

Welcome to Painted Pebble’s community. PPLM is a quarterly, no fee/no payment publication which celebrates short form writing, no matter what the genre. Our issues are released online and in PDF in the first month of each quarter, (July 1-31, October 1-31, January 1-31, and April 1-30) in a format which can be printed out and easily distributed in communities, anywhere someone might enjoy a little lit.

While we have calls under each genre, we don’t feel genre’s divisions are useful for our readers and submitters. We enjoy short-form works in all its iterations, all submissions go into the same pool of work being considered. 

Eligibility:

• We welcome work from anyone ages 18 and up worldwide. 
• Submissions must be your own work, and created in English.
• We accept work that has been translated into English, with original text and complete, accurate attributions. Please make sure you have the full permissions of the original author. 

Formatting your submission:

• Remove your name from the work you are submitting. The only place your name should appear is in the cover letter.
• Name each file with the title of that piece. If it doesn’t have a title, please do not use “untitled” – instead, please use the first few words of your piece. 
• We request that work that is “after” another author attribute both the writer they are responding to, and the title of the original piece. 
• If your work quotes lines from another piece, we ask that the source text and original author be properly attributed as an endnote.
• We are looking for visual pieces which engage with language in some way beyond merely illustrating a piece of writing. Please submit these in the visual art category. We are not looking for other kinds of visual art at this time.  Visual poetry, collage and other forms which rely on image may appear only as an online exclusive, because of the constraints in publishing the PDF issue in booklet size and black and white.

• NOTE: if your work requires alternate file formats, please email us here: [paintedpebblelitmag@gmail.com] before submitting to inquire about a process that will work for both of us.

Please include in your cover letter:

• A complete list of titles you are submitting
• A brief 50-word bio in third person, including your preferred name, pronouns, socials.
• We especially encourage people who have lived on the margins to submit. If you would like to include a brief note about that experience, please add it to your cover letter. 
• In order to care for your readers (including us!), please include a content notice or trigger notice in order to offer a chance for a mutual act of consent should your work require it.

Length: Your submission can be poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or somewhere in between. We welcome hybrid pieces, so long as they abide by the 350 word limit.

• Poetry: Please send us up to three poems (24 lines max for each poem.) Prose poems should be under 350 words each.
• Visual poetry: Please send us up to three pieces, which can include photographs and photographs of three-dimensional pieces. The images need to be as high-quality as you’re able to send. They must include language of some kind. Please do not send us images which do not manipulate language on the page somehow. We are not looking for other kinds of visual art at this time.
• Prose: Please send up to three pieces, no longer than 350 words each. 
• Please submit only once per submission period. 

Rights & Publication

• We ask for first North American Serial rights. PPLM will archive all published pieces online at paintedpebblelit.com and in a print version of the magazine, available to download.
• All rights revert to you after publication; Please acknowledge Painted Pebble Lit Mag in any future publications.

Ethical Considerations

• We will always reject submissions which are intentionally incendiary. 
• We publish only work created by people. We will not publish work which uses AI.
• We don’t publish reprints, including work which has already appeared on social media or personal blogs and websites.
• Simultaneous submissions are expected and welcome. Please withdraw your work from Duosoma if it is accepted elsewhere.

• If you have appeared in a prior issue, please wait 6 months before submitting again.
• If you do not hear from us after 3 months have passed, please add a note to your submission in Duosoma.

We’re fully volunteer staffed, and like small book exchange boxes, our hard work is freely given. While we can’t offer a payment, we’re so grateful for the chance to publish your work. PPLM will be nominating for Best of the Net, Pushcart Prize, Best Small Fictions, and Best Microfiction in 2025.

RIGHTS:  We ask for first North American Serial rights. PPLM will archive all published pieces online at paintedpebblelit.com and in a print version of the magazine, available to download. All rights revert to the writer after work is first published online. Please acknowledge Painted Pebble Lit Mag in any future publications (congratulations!) of your accepted poems.