Submissions

Centaur is on the lookout for writing that’s inspired, bold, and surprising. With four seasonal issues a year, and up to eight pieces in each, there’s only room for your best 400 words or fewer. Learn more about Centaur in the interview Six Questions.

Centaur’s pledge to its writers and artists

• You will not pay a submission fee. Ever. You’ll get a nice acceptance or an equally nice decline within two months of story or artwork submission.
• Writers: Centaur will nominate pieces for each of the annual literary competitions or anthologies, including Best Small Fictions, Best Microfiction, and Best of the Net.
• Additionally, your editor will light her Dolly Parton candle for Centaur’s writers at each issue’s launch, in hopes that your work may be honored and anthologized elsewhere. (Please just credit Centaur as first publisher.)
• Centaur will feature its author and artist books on it Bookstore page.
• Your published story or art will be its own prize—shined (copyedits on stories), shown (social media), and shared (however, all rights reserved and rights revert to creator upon publication).
• Your published story or art will receive $20 in payment and a fortune in goodwill.

Your pledge to Centaur

• Your work is original and previously unpublished. Neither gratuitously violent nor hateful will it be. No AI generated work, please.
• Writers: Submit a mashup of fiction with poetry or nonfiction, also known as hybrid. Fantasy, reality, and everything in between. But please 400 words maximum and words only—no mixed media or multimedia. Words only. Only one submission every three months. If your work is published by Centaur, please wait a year before submitting again.
• Paste your submission in 12-point Times New Roman font in the body of an email sent to: centaurliterature@gmail.com. No need for a bio unless your work is accepted. But please do include the word “Submission,” your piece’s title, and your surname in the subject line, like this: Submission: The Orange Chair – Smith.
• Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let the editor know immediately if your piece has been accepted elsewhere.
• Artists:  Centaur is not accepting art at this time; covers are scheduled through 2024. Check back later! Thank you and keep creating!
• Everyone: You won’t be a horse’s ass, a blockhead, or both and hassle the editor. Examples include pulling your story or art after it’s been accepted for publication, questioning the editor’s decision to decline a piece, or missing deadlines.