Submission Information

Reading Period Status: We are currently closed to submissions. Submissions for Issue 15, dedicated to Peggy Shumaker, will open on July 1, 2013.

Submissions received outside our reading periods will be discarded without notice.

Submission Methods: We accept online submissions via Submishmash as well as postal submissions. Online submissions are subject to a $3.00 reading fee. Current subscribers and former contributors may submit online free of charge. We do not consider submissions via email.

  • Submit via US Mail: Address your submission to the appropriate editor and enclose a SASE for reply. Mail submissions to The Los Angeles Review, PO Box 2458, Redmond WA 98073. You will not receive a response unless you enclose a SASE; we do not reply to postal submissions via email.

Simultaneous submissions are accepted if noted in the cover letter. Please do not send multiple submissions unless an editor has invited you to do so. Response time is two to three months.

Compensation: Writers published in The Los Angeles Review will receive one contributor copy in exchange for first North American rights. No reprints, please.

Subscription: We encourage submitters to read our journal, and if you order a copy of LAR, your submission is free. You can find ordering information here. Contact the Managing Editor for international shipping rates, information about classroom subscriptions, course adoption, and bulk discounts.

Submission Guidelines

Fiction: We’re looking for to hard-to-put-down shorties under 500 words and lengthier stories up to 4,000 words–lively, vivid, excellent literary fiction. Please indicate word count in your file title.

Nonfiction: Please submit an essay, memoir, or commentary told as compelling, focused, sustained narrative in a distinctive voice, rich with detail. Send 1,000-4,000 words or delight us with flash nonfiction that cat-burgles our expectations.

Poetry: Please submit 3-5 poems that will surprise us, wow us, and make us wish we’d written them ourselves. We are open to form, free verse, prose poems, and experimental styles. Our only criterion is quality.

Translations: Please submit 3-5 translated pieces that open the writer’s original vision to an English-speaking audience. The writing may include poetry, novel excerpts, short stories, essays or interviews. We do not consider work that has been previously published in English translation in the U.S. Please provide a biographical summary of the author. Translated pieces will not be considered for publication without digital copies of the original texts. Translators must obtain the author’s permission for work to be published.

Book Reviews: We welcome queries to review new and recent books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, particularly those that have not received the critical attention they deserve. Contact the book review editor at lareview.bookreviews@gmail.com with queries. For a full explanation of query procedures and how we select books for review, please visit the Book Review Query Procedures page.