• Poetry submissions should be no more than 50 lines. When submitting your poem, please ensure that it’s formatted in the way you want it to be published in a PDF document. All types of poetry are accepted (and encouraged)

  • This includes, but is not limited to; short stories, vignettes, and narratives that are condensed to an ideal word count of 2000 words. (Remember, fiction writing doesn’t have to be linear. Show me a snapshot of a story from the middle, the end, the beginning or the beginning of the end!)

  • This includes, but is not limited to; essays, discursive texts, stream of consciousness prose and journal entries. Whatever your heart desires.

What am I looking for?

Please submit all entries to thesecretgardenjournal@gmail.com

SUBMISSIONS CLOSE AUGUST 25TH, 2025.

By submitting to The Secret Garden Journal, you are giving us permission to publish your work on The Secret Garden Journal website and social media pages, plus in future print issues. Work will always be credited to the artist unless otherwise specified.

Preferably, submissions of fiction and non-fiction would be no more than 2000 words, and submissions of poetry would be no more than 50 lines.

However, I understand the turmoil of having to cut down writing that you are proud of, so this word count is more a recommended suggestion than a mandatory rule of submission. 250-500 words over the word count isn’t a dealbreaker, however, please do not submit entries that are over 2500 words, unless they are showstoppingly brilliant and will change the course of literature as we know it.

Please also ensure that all entries have a name, pseudonym or initial, or they will be marked as ‘anonymous.’ A unique title for your work is strongly recommended, and so is a short artist bio of about 150 words (see our previous issue for references if you’re unsure).

Please submit as a PDF if your work has a unique structure, or send an enquiry if you need to submit your work using any other format.