PLEASE NOTE: WE ARE NOT ABLE TO REVIEW SUBMISSION PITCHES UNTIL THE END OF OCTOBER
The Dark Mountain Project is committed to publishing original writing and art which touches on the themes of our work. We are not interested in whether you are famous or unknown. We are particularly interested in new writers. We are looking for innovative, challenging, brave writing and art, which responds to the challenge that Dark Mountain lays down – to find new stories, and new ways of telling them. Before you submit anything please read the guidelines below, so you know what we do and what we’re looking for.
1. Before submitting work to us, we strongly suggest that you read our manifesto and get your hands on a copy of one of our recent books. You can find past online pieces in our website archive and latest posts 0n Substack. These will give you a feel for the range and the standard of work we are looking for. Make sure you like what you see, and you know what we do.
2. All work must be your own. We rarely reprint work that has been published elsewhere – we are looking for original work – but if you do submit something for re-publication, please tell us where it appeared first.
3. Please make sure your pitch is clear and concise (no more than one paragraph). Also that it contains information about where you are based and the nature of your work or creative practice.
4. We publish many styles and shapes of prose writing, from flash fiction to long-form essays. In terms of length, we usually only consider pieces up to 2,500 words – but when writing for us, please bear in mind that this is an upper limit, not a target length. We look for sharpness and originality, both in what you are saying and how you are saying it and favour work that is experiential.
4. If you pitch is accepted, please attach your written work in a format that can be opened in Microsoft Word (e.g. .doc, .docx, .txt or .rtf). We cannot accept submissions sent in PDF format or in the body of an email. Please also name your submission file to include your full name followed by the name of the piece you are submitting ([YOUR NAME]_[TITLE OF PIECE]).
5. If you are submitting artwork, we ask you to upload/send your submission as JPG or PNG files (max 2MB) in the first instance. Please send no more than two images. Any accompanying captions/text should be uploaded/sent as a separate word file rather than in the body of an email Please name your images and additional text files in the same format as text files specified in point 6 ( [YOUR NAME]_[TITLE OF PIECE]).
6. All pitches should be sent to our online editor Charlotte Du Cann [email protected].
PLEASE NOTE: WE ARE NOT ABLE TO REVIEW SUBMISSIONS UNTIL THE END OF AUGUST
7. Please be patient! It may takes some weeks to get back to you if there is a full schedule. If you have submitted a piece to Dark Mountain, please do not submit it for publication elsewhere until you have received a response from us.
8. If we do accept your work for publication, we may get back to you with some suggested changes or improvements. We often work with authors to get the best out of their work.
9. We are currently unable to pay for work that we publish but we guarantee you a smart and growing audience for your work. All copyright remains with the authors, though we ask that you don’t republish accepted work elsewhere.