General Guidelines
When: We accept submissions for the print journal generally during three time periods: September, December, and May. Those reading periods will open on the first day of the month and close once we hit the submissions cap for that period. It’s possible that we might have additional short reading periods if needed, which would open on the first of the month as well. Visit this site and our social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) to stay informed.
miCRo submissions are open nearly year-round, except while we’re accepting entries for the Robert and Adele Schiff Awards during the early summer, or if we experience a backlog in that category.
Please send only one submission per calendar year for each print magazine genre unless we’ve encouraged your previous submission.
Where: Our online submission manager. (Those who have disabilities or are incarcerated can submit through the postal service; see our contact page for the address.)
Who: The Cincinnati Review welcomes submissions from writers at any point in their careers. Current and former students, faculty, and staff of the University of Cincinnati or their families are ineligible to submit unless they are more than two years removed from their affiliation with the university. We also ask contributors to wait a year after their appearance in any particular medium (print magazine or miCRo series) before submitting again.
What: We cannot consider previously published works, including those posted online, but we do accept simultaneous submissions (please contact us if individual poems are accepted elsewhere; please withdraw any prose pieces taken by another journal).
Our typical response time is six months, though we may take longer on occasion. Please don’t query until after a year: our submission manager system keeps the process reliable, so if your piece is listed as “received,” it’s still under consideration.
Please note: If we accept a piece, we prefer to work with the essay, poem, or story as submitted to us, not with later revisions, though we may suggest changes during the copyediting process.
We recommend that you read our mission statement and either work from the online series or copies of the print magazine before submitting your work. We also have some statements from our genre editors about the kinds of work they’re looking for available for your review.
How: The Cincinnati Review acquires first North American serial rights, including electronic rights; all rights revert to author upon publication. We pay $25/page for prose and $30/page for poetry in the print journal and $25 for miCRo posts or special features.
Specific Genre Requirements
miCRo
For our weekly online flash feature, curated by our graduate-student editors, please submit up to three pieces in a single file. For fiction, nonfiction, and hybrid works, each piece should be 500 words maximum. For poetry, submit poems 32 lines or less. For drama, scripts should be about three minutes in performance. Please include your name and contact information in the document. You may withdraw individual pieces from a batch of submissions by contacting us at editors [at] cincinnatireview [dot] com or using the contact form on this website.
Poetry
Please submit up to five poems at a time, totaling no more than ten manuscript pages. For longer pieces or sequences, send no more than ten manuscript pages total, and mention in your comments or cover letter that the submission is part of a longer work. Poet’s name and contact information should appear at least once in the file. You may withdraw individual poems from a batch of submissions by contacting us at editors [at] cincinnatireview [dot] com or using the contact form on this website.
Fiction
Submissions should be no more than forty double-spaced pages. Include name and contact information at the beginning of the work.
Fiction Translations
Submissions should be no more than forty double-spaced pages. Include the writer’s name, translator’s name, and translator’s contact information at the beginning of the work. Please provide a brief introduction to the writer whose work you have translated in your submission or cover letter. We do not publish the originals. Translators should secure rights to translate before submitting. We are especially eager to read translations from less translated languages.
Literary Nonfiction
We’re interested mostly in pieces of nonfiction less than twenty double-spaced pages, though you can try us for longer pieces if you think they’ll knock our socks off. Include name and contact information at the beginning of the essay.
Poetry Translations
Please submit up to five poems at a time, totaling no more than ten manuscript pages. Poet’s name, translator’s name, and translator’s contact information should appear at the top of every poem. Please include a brief introduction to the poet whose work you have translated in your submission or cover letter. We do not publish the originals. Translators should secure rights to translate before submitting. You may withdraw individual poems from a batch of submissions by contacting us at editors [at] cincinnatireview [dot] com or using the contact form on this website.
Drama
Please send us a query through our submission manager. Upload one document that includes both a one-page query letter with project description, author bio, and history of the piece submitted (has it been workshopped or produced?), and a sample of the play or screenplay, no more than ten pages.
