Eligible Work:
Poetry: Submit up to 5 pages of previously unpublished poetry.
Prose: Submit up to 500 words of previously unpublished prose. Multiple pieces totaling 500 words are acceptable, provided each piece is over 100 words.
For SDL Review purposes, “unpublished” means your piece has not previously appeared in any publication, online or in print. Work you’ve shared on personal blogs and on social media is okay, but we ask that you take it down if it is accepted for publication in the SDL Review.  

Rights:
First North American serial print and electronic publication rights until publication, after which rights revert to the author. We also retain non-exclusive rights to reprint or archive the work on our website indefinitely. Authors agree not to self-publish, authorize, or otherwise permit the publication of the work, in whole or in part, in any publication or on any platform, including personal blogs and on social media, from acceptance through its appearance in SDL Review. For reprints, we ask for acknowledgment of first publication.

Simultaneous Submissions:

We welcome and encourage simultaneous submissions. Please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere. (Congratulations!)

Multiple Submissions:

You may submit to different categories or send multiple poetry submission packets, provided each submission is made separately, but please only send one long-form category submission at a time. If you send more than one long-form submission, we will only consider the first submission. 

Wait Period for Previous Contributors:
If your work is accepted for publication, please refrain from submitting new work for 2 issue periods after your print publication date.

Payment:
A Cash contributor honorarium for the issue in which your work is featured, based on SDL Review funding availability for that quarter, paid a week after publication. All contributors get one free full-page, full-color book or project launch announcement per year for the next 5 years and one year of The SDL Review’s digital edition, starting with the issue in which your work is featured.
The SDL Review nominates for all major prizes and supports contributors long after publication.

Reading fee:   
Standard: $3. 
Expedited (no longer than 90 days): $5 donation
Express (no longer than 30 business days): $10 donation
Rush (14 business days or less): $15 donation

As of April 2025, the standard submission response time is 4-6 months. 

We do not want:
-work depicting rape or sexual assault, hate speech of any kind, violence toward women and children, any work that is primarily fueled by gratuitous violence and gore, work that so much as hints at the mistreatment of animals, or work in which being offensive is the primary purpose. Sending such work could result in being banned from submitting again, depending on the severity of the offense. 
-We publish works that touch on erotic themes, but we do not publish pornography. 
– Due to our subject matter, SDL Review only publishes work from creators ages 18 and over. 

Things to Know Before Submitting:   
In furtherance of our mission statement and our quest to platform rising underrepresented, disadvantaged, and otherwise disenfranchised writers, poets, and artists from beyond the academic realm, we do not separate the creator from the creation by blind reading SDL Review submissions. SDL Review is a safe place for you and for all writers, poets, and artists, no matter who you love, how much money you have in your pocket, the color of your skin, your educational background, or what you have going on in your pants. SDL does not solicit work and only publishes work received through our submission system. All fees and proceeds collected go to paying and elevating writers, as well as transaction, platform, and administration fees associated with doing so. SDL Review is a publication presented by Shadow Dog Literary Inc., a small nonprofit started with seed money scraped together by working-class writers. We’re run by volunteers and have no large sponsors at this time, but we hope to lower or eliminate submission fees as we grow and our funding increases.

NOTICE: Abuse, threats, harassment, and mistreatment directed toward any member of our staff or our contributors on or off our platforms will result in being permanently banned by Shadow Dog Literary Group, all its holdings, and partner programs, including but not limited to its current and future holdings, publications, platforms, events, social media pages, outreach and support programs, grants, scholarships, contracts, prizes, awards, etc. and reported to the authorities as necessary.

Submission Guidelines:

When building your submission, please adhere to the following guidelines. We do not accept AI-generated work and require a statement certifying that generative AI was not used at any stage of the creation process. We will auto-decline submissions that do not include such a statement or that disregard the following guidelines. See our AI policy for more info. 

We require you to submit the following separate documents.

Document #1- Your Work

– Saved as a .docx
– Start each piece on a new page.
– Number your pages.
– Page size 8.5×11, with all margins set to 1 inch.
– Use 12pt Times New Roman,  
-Prose should be double spaced.
– Poetry may be spaced as needed

Document #2- Your Cover Letter

Your cover letter should be a single-page document consisting of a few paragraphs that introduce you and the work itself. Include the titles of each piece in the submission and any trigger warnings you feel appropriate. Beneath that information, please provide a brief 3^rd-person bio. Next, list your website and any social media handles you have. After that, include a short statement certifying that “no generative AI was used during any stage of the creation of this work.”

Finally, include your contact information as follows:

Pen Name under which you wish to publish, if applicable
Pronouns
Legal Name (for internal uses such as accounting and contracts)
Email address