Submissions

Welcome to the Psaltery & Lyre submissions page– submissions are currently closed.
Submissions will reopen April 1, 2023.

At Psaltery & Lyre, we want essays, stories, poetry, and hybrid works that expand the borders of sacred and secular. We are particularly interested in works that speak from a place of embodiment — the lived experiences that touch belief and doubt. We use these terms broadly and are interested in reading any work that may brush up against them. If you are unsure whether your work would be a good fit for P&L, check out our archive.

Thank you for considering P&L for your work.

General submission guidelines:

Please email your submission to us at psalteryandlyre@gmail.com. Submissions will always be free.

  • Please put “Genre: FirstName LastName” as your email subject line. For example, “Fiction: Jane Doe”
  • All submissions should be attached as a .doc or .docx (do not copy and paste work into the body of the email and do not use .pdf unless the format requires it)
  • Please title the .doc or .docx “Genre- FirstNameLastName.” For example, “Nonfiction-JaneDoe.docx”
  • Please send only one submission to each genre per submission window (you can submit to multiple genres in one submission period, but do so with separate emails)
  • If your work is accepted elsewhere, we kindly ask you to let us know (via email) as soon as possible
  • We do not accept previously published material
  • We acquire First North American serial rights, and rights revert to the author upon publication. We ask to be acknowledged in any future reprints
  • We aim to respond to all submissions within 3-6 months
  • Feel free to include a brief cover letter and third person bio (under 75 words) in the email body, but it’s not required

If you do not hear a response about the state of your submission after 3 months, please feel free to email us again.

Poetry submission guidelines:

  • please sent 1-3 poems at a time, but no more than 6 pages
  • please include all poems in one document with page breaks between poems
  • visual poems and genre-bending works are encouraged

Prose submission guidelines:

  • Please submit only one piece of fiction at a time
  • We value economy in language, and appreciate flash (stories limited to 1000 words), but will occasionally take longer works (up to 7000 words)
  • Please use double-spacing and standard formatting

Hybrid submission guidelines:

  • Please submit only one hybrid piece at a time
  • We value economy in language, and appreciate flash (stories limited to 1000 words), but will occasionally take longer works (up to 7000 words)

Book Review submission guidelines:

  • We welcome unsolicited reviews of chapbooks and full-length books, including poetry, novels, story collections, essays, etc.
  • We prefer shorter reviews (up to 1000 words) but are open to longer if the work calls for it
  • Please use double-spacing and standard formatting

Please email us at psalteryandlyre@gmail.com with any questions!