Shadow’s Call Creative Nonfiction Submission Guidelines
Current Call:
January 30th – March 31st
Selected work will appear in Shadow’s Call Spring 2026 and will be featured on all social media channels.
Submit one piece of creative nonfiction between 100 and 2,500 words that hasn’t appeared in any online or print publication. 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 Shadow’s Call.
Personal Essays
Literary Journalism
Lyric Essay
Hermit Crab Essays
Braided Essays
Vignettes
Literary Profiles
Travelogues
Diary/Journal format
Simultaneous Submissions:
We welcome and encourage simultaneous submissions. If your submission is accepted elsewhere, you don’t have to notify us; you can let us know it isn’t available if we reach out with an offer to publish it.
Multiple Submissions:
You may submit up to 3 submissions per category.
Compensation:
Shadow’s call offers publication, platforming, and professional support, but can not offer financial compensation at this time.
The Submission Packet
We require the following separate documents.
Document #1- Your Work
—Saved as a .doc, .docx, or PDF file
—Use a 12pt font, double-spaced.
Document #2- Your Cover Letter
Your cover letter is your chance to introduce yourself and the work you’re submitting. Provide any warnings or background info you feel is appropriate. Provide a 3rd-person bio to include with your piece, if published. Brag a little. Tell us about your pets. When in doubt, include it. We like a good bio.
Be sure to list your website and any social media handles you have.
We require cover letters to include a short statement certifying that generative AI was not used during your creation process. This is mandatory. We will not process submissions that don’t include this statement.
Finally, include your contact information:
—Name/Pen Name under which you wish to publish, if applicable
—Email address
Acceptance timelines:
Acceptance emails will be sent no later than the dates listed below.
Acceptance by: April 15th 2026
Please note that we no longer send rejection/pass emails.
-Submissions that do not follow the guidelines will be discarded without notice.
-We don’t publish writers who use generative ai in any stage of the creative process. Pieces written with generative ai will be discarded.
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, Shadow’s Call only publish work from creators ages 18 and over.
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 Shadow’s Call submissions.
This is a safe place for you—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.
We do not solicit work and only publish poetry and prose received through the submission system.
Shadow’s Call is presented by Shadow Dog Press in conjunction with C.B. Mottor Media.
NOTICE: Abuse, threats, harassment, and mistreatment directed toward any member of our staff, authors, readers, or our contributors on or off our platforms will result in being permanently banned by Shadow Dog and all its holdings and partner programs, including but not limited to its past, current, and future publications, platforms, events, social media pages, outreach and support programs, grants, scholarships, contracts, prizes, awards, etc. and reported to the authorities as necessary.
We the right to change dates, submission methods, honorariums, fees, to reschedule or cancel a publication, and to close submission windows as needed without notice.