We happily read submissions between February 1 and August 31. Submissions received any other time are returned unread. Please send a self–addressed stamped envelope for our reply.
The submission guidelines, like all such guidelines, only describe imperfectly what it is we publish in ACM. The best way to know what we publish is to read what we publish. If you haven't read ACM before, order a sample copy to know if your work is appropriate.
The specific submission guidelines for unsolicited manuscripts of poetry, fiction, creative non–fiction, and "et al." can be found by selecting the appropriate link to the left.
Simultaneous submissions are okay, but we expect to be notified immediately when a work has been accepted elsewhere and is therefore withdrawn from ACM consideration.
We do not accept electronic submissions. We just don't have the staff and resources to process the email.
To ensure the survival of literary journals and a place to publish your writing consider subscribing to at least one literary journal (if you don't already). If not ours, another.
Like most literary magazines, we're a non–profit, struggling operation which can't afford to pay much a barely token honorarium; but you do get a contributor's copy and a year's subscription. We try to send notice within 10 weeks, though it too often takes longer. We get about 75 manuscripts a week, which is a lot for our volunteer editors to handle. If we accept the work, we understand you grant us first serial rights, all subsequent rights are yours, though we expect any future publication to carry acknowledgment that the work first appeared in ACM.
Keep poetry to 4 pages unless you're convinced your long poem is irresistible. No "inspirational" or religious stuff.
ACM has always published nonfiction of many stripes, mostly in the Et Al. section. From now on, creative nonfiction will be honored with its own section. What is this slippery new genre? I'm conservative when it comes to defining ‘nonfiction‘ but radical when it comes to ‘creative.‘ Meaning—I love work that creatively takes off from the standard form of memoir or travelogue, that is raw, honest, and is about non–traditional subjects. I also like work that is traditional and linear as long as it is honest, fresh and urgent. And funny. Or just funny.
As for the nonfiction part—I want nonfiction to be accurate. As in, this is what happened. I'll grant that it's a convention of the form of memoir to recreate dialogue. Yet, I expect the writer to report what she remembers or has researched ot the best of her ability, to wrestle with memory in an interesting way, to refrain from inventing and collapsing time and creating composite characters. The only exception—and it's a big one—is: Anything goes if the reader's forewarned. I don't care if an essay is mostly projection or fantasy, as long as I'm told the ground rules up front. The other editors don't necessarily agree with me. We have high–blown arguments about ‘truth’ and ‘fact.’ I've been told indulgently, ‘Oh, you're like this because of your journalism background. Poor thing.’ Let me say this about that: They're wrong. Or at least I disagree. Now. I may change my mind later.
-S.L. Wisenberg Creative Nonfiction Editor
We're interested in essays and reviews on literary–related subjects, but no academic documents to add to your tenure file, please.
We’re especially interested in presenting strong documentary photography and possibly some fine art photography.
To have your work considered for inclusion in an upcoming issue, you may:
• Mail a letter of introduction and high quality photocopies of your images to:
Photo Editor
Another Chicago Magazine
P.O. Box 180017
Chicago, IL 60618.
or
• Email our photo editor at kkring@anotherchicagomag.com. You may include a URL for reviewing images on the web. No attachments please.
If your work has been selected for publication, our photo editor will contact you regarding submitting scans or prints for production purposes—this work will be returned promptly.
Download a printable version of the ACM Submission Guidelines as a PDF
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Another Chicago Magazine
3709 N. Kenmore
Chicago IL 60613
ACM is partially supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, a CityArts I grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, a Community Arts Assistance Program grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.