We’re always open to submissions. There are never any fees to submit. We pay SFWA-qualifying “professional” rates upon acceptance; click below to see how much for different kinds of work. Response time has ranged from one to six months and is slowest October through January, when we’re putting together a new issue and editors for the following issue have not been chosen.
We’re currently reading for Reckoning 9. Issue editors and specific guidelines are here.
To see what we’re looking for, try Reckoning 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, the special issues, the podcast, the interviews, or even LCRW 33.
The short version: creative writing and art about environmental justice.
We are always seeking work from Indigenous writers and artists, racialized writers and artists, queer, trans and/or disabled writers and artists, and anyone, anywhere in the world, who has suffered the consequences, intended or otherwise, of dominant society’s systemic disconnect with and mistreatment of the natural world. And we’re seeking new ways to reach all of the above. Seriously, if you know of a way we can do that, please share.
We don’t publish ecofascism or work we perceive to be prejudiced in any form, including sexism, racism, ableism, ageism. We reserve the right to point it out—respectfully—when we see it, though we’re as prone to mistakes and misunderstanding as anyone else. Here’s a start on a list of what else doesn’t work for us.
For genre-specific guidelines and to submit, please choose from the categories below:
Please, contact if considering translating to Portuguese. Great ethos and engaging writing at Reckoning!
When is it OK to query you about the status of a story? (I understand you allow for sim subs, but many magazines unfortunately do not!)
Any longer than four months and you are welcome to query.
Dear editors, I am a Cuban writer of fantasy and science fiction, and I would very much like to send you a text proposal to evaluate. But for some reason, the Moksha server does not support IPs from Cuba. Is there an alternative way to send the texts to the magazine?
Thanks in advance and sorry for the inconvenience I may cause.
With best wishes
Malena
Malena,
Wow, thank you very much for bringing this to our attention–we really want submissions from Cuba! I wonder what other places this is happening with. I’ll pursue this with Moksha’s tech support, but in the meantime, please go ahead and submit via the email address, reckoningmagazine@gmail.com.
–Michael
Your deadline for Cities says Sept. Autumn Equinox–do you mean Spt. 1 or Sept. 22?
PLMK-thanks.
Old Farmer’s Almanac says the equinox falls on Monday, September 23rd this year. Let’s go with that.
I am part of a Writers collective in Oakland, CA, the AfroSurreal Writers Workshop. You can reach us on our Facebook page via messenger or please feel free to email me directly. Our writers are working on spec fic, sci-fi, horror, memoir, poetry, and we have a few illustrators among us as well. Look forward to hearing from you! https://www.facebook.com/afrosurrealwriters/
Thank you for considering my story, Making Ends Meet. Although it was rejected, I really appreciate the compliments on my writing and story line. It is indeed rare to see that in a rejection letter. I want to submit another story but I’m not sure it will fit your requirements. I’ll try to judge the next story with that in mind.
re: “I am actively seeking work from…anyone who has suffered the consequences, intended or otherwise, of dominant society’s systemic disconnect with and mistreatment of the natural world.”
This is a long story that I’m making terribly simple and short to answer your question. I am one of such people. I lost my mind and was forcibly held against my will in a mental hospital. Why? Because the things we’ve done to the Earth and to ourselves has poisoned our wellspring of life. It took me many years to recover, today I am completely stable and sane without any medications. How? I started to live differently, outside of the patterns of society where the natural order of the Earth could heal my body.
I happen to be a writer, if you’d be interested in my works.. you have my email.
I saw a previous comment here saying you should query for reprints, but what email do we query to?
Excellent question–ha, I took the email address off here when we switched to Moksha and should not have. It is restored.
How long should we wait before inquiring about a submitted piece?
How about three months?
Right now we’re responding to submissions from mid-February, holding onto a very few from earlier than that for further consideration.
Hi! I saw no multiple submissions, but simultaneous submissions are fine, which is great. For poetry…send one in at a time too?
Thank you for your time.
Go ahead and send a few poems at once if you like. Thanks for asking.
Hi there,
I just wanted to check if 45,000 words was a typo… Seems a lot for a magazine but I do have a 39,000 word novella! Did you mean 4,500?
It’s not a typo. I am just trying hard not to be closed-minded. Practically, it’s a long shot that I’d be able to publish anything that length, because it would take up an entire issue. But I want to keep that possibility open.
Hello,
Is RECKONING a print or an online journal?
If print, what is the distribution? If online, is it free?
Thanks
Reckoning will be an online journal, with aspirations to a print version currently but hopefully not permanently beyond our financial means. I’d rather pay authors than pay for ink and paper, even if it’s vegetable ink and recycled paper. The complete journal will be for sale online in ebook form, and all the content will also be released for free on the website gradually on a weekly basis, starting on the Winter solstice.
Thanks! I just submitted my poems yesterday. Hope you like them 🙂
Hello there,
May I know if you consider entries from authors/writers outside North America?
How do you pay? Via Paypal?
Thanks
Yes, we welcome and encourage submissions from authors outside the North America! So far we’ve seen submissions from the Caribbean, Spain, Australia, Germany, the UK, Canada, and I’m sure I’m forgetting some. A few semi-autonomous Native reservations in the US, do those count? Seriously, I wish English were not such a determining factor. I would love to publish some biligual work. I wish I had the capacity to appreciate artistic brilliance in languages other than English.
We pay by PayPal or by check. And I don’t mind mailing checks internationally if needed.
Is there payment for contributors and what rights are you purchasing? Thank you!
Payment details are listed above. I buy first North American serial rights in all formats and nonexclusive audio rights.
Good afternoon, do you review subs as they come along or will you wait till the deadline to chose? Thanks!
I’ve been reading as I go. If you like, see The Submission Grinder for some hard data:
http://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/Market/Index/5078
Interesting stuff. Thanks.
Do you require a cover letter and/or personal bio?
No! (I’ll ask for a bio if I buy something.) Thank you for asking.
Thanks!
Will you consider material previously published on-line?
Thanks very much.
LB Benton
Please query first.
Is there any specific deadline that we have to meet in order to present our story?
November 1st is the deadline for the first issue, but anything submitted after that will be considered for the second issue.
Is there a minimum amount of time you would prefer people to wait between being rejected and submitting a new piece? Some places have no minimum, as long as you wait until one piece is rejected before sending another but others seem ask writers to wait a month or so.
Please go ahead and send something new as soon as you hear back. Thanks for asking!