submission guidelines for the MockingOwl Roost with logo in dark blue with light teal background

We welcome works from both emerging and established authors and particularly encourage under- or unrepresented artists and writers to submit.

The MockingOwl Roost is CURRENTLY CLOSED FOR SUBMISSIONS.

Submission Periods 2026:

We expect to open for all types of content in early spring for fiction, nonfiction, artwork, and other works for the blog and magazine (no poetry), with a special period in mid-to-late spring or early summer for holiday content (all types, including poetry). Please check back for specific dates or sign up for our email updates to stay on top of submission period dates.

We only accept submissions during our Submission Periods, and via our forms. We will automatically reject pieces submitted outside of a Submission Period or via email.

Editorial Calendar

Below are our anticipated Magazine issues for 2026 and 2027, followed by our current top blog series. Word count requirements for all pieces may be found in the “What We Publish” section further down. Note that certain issues are now CLOSED for further submissions. Others will reopen during our submission periods. 

Upcoming Magazine Issues

  • CLOSED — Wide, Wild World — Embarking on Adventure & Exploration of Nature (publishing May 15, 2026)
  • CLOSED — Alive and Free — Wholesome Positivity (publishing August 15, 2026)
  • OPEN SOON — Sprigs of Peace — Poetry Issue Focusing on Hope and Peace (publishing November 15, 2026)
  • OPEN SOON — Still Life — Appreciation of the Visual Arts — SPECIAL ISSUE (TBD, 2026)
  • OPEN SOON — Fly Me To… — Soaring to New, or Perhaps Even Interstellar Heights (publishing February 15, 2027)
  • OPEN SOON — The Hills Are Alive — Celebrating Earth and Its Beauty (publishing May 15, 2027)
  • OPEN SOON — Under the Sea — Watery Exploration of All That Lies Beneath (publishing August 15, 2027)
  • OPEN SOON — Feed the Birds — Poetry Issue Devoted to Our Singing, Feathered Friends (publishing November 15, 2027)
  • OPEN SOON — A Cappella — All Things Music, Instrumentation, and Thoughtful, Sound-Oriented Inspiration (TBD, 2027)
  • OPEN SOON — Greensleeves & Gregorian Chants — Historical or Fantasy Tales with a Medieval Bend (TBD, 2027)

Blog Series

We maintain several special blog series that we invite anyone to contribute if they feel their piece meets the listed criteria and doesn’t too closely resemble pieces already published within the series.

  1. Pop Culture — An intentional series to investigate the cultures we interact with, with the aim of drawing out the positives of humanity and creativity. Pieces may include reviews, interviews, or deeper analyses of themes within other creative work.
    1. Example pieces: Miranda, an Obscure TV Show for All the People Who are “Too Much”, Short Film Review: Gì Cũng Sửa (“Fix Anything”)
  2. Travel — Have you been somewhere or attended a special recurrent event that you feel others should also take the time to explore? Tell us about it in a way that enables us all to see your delight in the experience.
    1. Example pieces: Dreaming Travel: Tips for Cuba, Basking in the Light of the “City of Paradise”
  3. Literary Travel — A little different from just a simple voyage! Tell us about trips you’ve made or plan to make because of what you learned about them from a book.
    1. Example pieces: The Isle of Arran, Traveling Back in Time With Outlander
  4. Things I Wish I Had Said — Is there some moment that lives in your memory, haunting you for what was left unsaid? This is the space to rework that moment. Your piece can wrestle with harder topics, but must have a positive message ultimately.
    1. Example pieces: Closing Chapter on Friendship, Words Unspoken
  5. Positivity Corner — Share with us a small aspect of life — a thing, habit, place, etc — that makes living better for you.
    1. Example pieces: My Matcha Ritual, Waterfall Bathing in Prony Bay, New Caledonia
  6. My Favorite Things (Includes photos/artwork) — Share with us about a favorite thing you have or do. In most cases these essays should include your own artwork or photography along with your writing. Images must be reasonably well-crafted and high-resolution to be considered, but they don’t have to be professional.
    1. Example pieces: Storm Season, Black Cats
  7. Wellness & Fitness for Creatives — If you have experiences in fitness or wellness as it relates to your ability to create, we’d love to hear them. These stories should have a general applicability with the aim of enabling other creatives to follow in your footsteps.
    1. Example pieces: Yoga Poses for Creatives, Destination Inspiration

General Guidelines

We have some specific things we’re looking for, but we also love unique. We’re dedicated to helping writers get published in almost any genre or type. Below you can find the more detailed guide regarding what we will consider and what we will not. 

Please pay special attention to what we don’t publish — repeatedly submitting pieces that flaunt those expectations will land you on our blacklist.

What We Publish — Our “Do’s”

Most pieces require a wordcount of 500-2,000 words, unless otherwise noted below. Most works allow for any genre as well, however, please note (from the “We Don’t Publish” list that follows after) that there is some content we won’t publish:

  • Poetry: Any type. Any length for PDF magazine issues. Blog poetry must have a minimum of 50 words.
  • Flash fiction: Any genre. 250-500 words for Magazines. 500-550 for Blog.
  • Short Fiction: Any genre. 10,000 words hard max. If published to the Blog, it will be split into serialized pieces of roughly 2,000-2,500 words each.
  • Opinion Essay: 5,000 max. May be on just about any topic out there, but preference given to pieces that fit our themes. Pay close attention to our list of unwanted content.
  • Visual Artwork: Any genre. Pay close attention to our list of unwanted content.
  • Song Lyrics: Any genre.
  • Faith-Related: Any religion. Must be respectful of other faith viewpoints.
  • Writers’ Resources: Tips, tricks, and useful suggestions for the crafting of any or all creative works.
  • Artist Profiles: We love hearing about other artists of all types and sharing their works with the world. 
  • Personal essays: 5,000 words max. Share a personal story from your experiences that you feel others would find interest in as well.
  • Media and Performance Reviews: For books, music, film, theatre, video and board games, or television. Any genre that falls within our publishing preferences.

What We Don’t Publish — Our “Don’t’s”

Do not submit any of the following. We’re not interested, and if you bother us too many times, we will blacklist you.

  • Any work, visual or otherwise, that disparages through hatred, bigotry, or discrimination any other person for their faith, race, age, culture, gender, orientation, or any other perceived difference.
  • Any work containing graphic violence, excessive blood or gore, or dark or intense horror.
  • Any work containing erotica or rape. A piece may reference such topics to make a point or to share a personal experience, but any content of this type must occur “off-page”.
  • Any nude images. We occasionally work with and are read by minors, and we’re dedicated to keeping this space appropriate for them.
  • Any work objectifying another human.
  • Any work that has already been published through another publication or publishing house. We will only accept pre-published pieces if they were self-published on your own platforms or the former publication no longer exists.
  • Any work that is AI-crafted. While we may at times choose limited AI visuals to underlie magazine stories, we are not interested in displaying AI work of any kind on its own.
  • Any full-length manuscripts. Do not submit pieces that exceed our word count limits.

Other Useful Information

  1. Fees: There is no reading fee for submissions to the MockingOwl Roost. There is also no editing fee for the work we do to prepare your piece for publication.
  2. Short bio: Our forms offer you the opportunity to submit a 100 word or less bio, with the option to add links to whatever website or public accounts you own and wish to share. Make sure to have that ready to speed along the submission process.
  3. Magazine or Blog? You may state which Magazine Theme or Blog Series you’ve intended your piece for in our “Hoots or Coos” section at the end of our forms. However, we still consider every piece for every location, and reserve the right to make our own decisions regarding placement.
  4. Simultaneous Submissions: We accept simultaneous submissions, with these conditions:
    1. You must inform us on the submission form.
    2. If your submission is accepted elsewhere before we’ve commissioned it, inform us immediately, and we’ll release it with no hard feelings.
    3. If we accept your submission for publication, you will withdraw it from any additional publications you submitted it to until 60 days after its publication date with us. (see Rights below) Failure to do so may make us more leery of accepting you again. 
    4. After we’ve accepted your submission and you’ve agreed to publication, we’re considered to be under contract together as publisher and author, even though we as yet can offer no payment, nor are paid ourselves. Only legal or other rare but legitimate issues should break this. We are committing to spend time preparing your piece, and expect the same respectful commitment from you. If a situation arises on your end, discuss it with us immediately.
  5. Multiple submissions: We gladly accept multiple submissions! Please refer to the Submission Period listings at the top of this page, as our limits often change per Period.
  6. Rights: We claim the following:
    1. First Rights (the right to publish your story for the first time, with a 60-day period wherein the work is not published elsewhere), and 
    2. Non-Exclusive Archival Rights (meaning we have the right to keep a copy of the story on our website/magazine). 
    3. Writers and artists maintain all other rights, including full copyright, to their works.
  7. Response Times: We respond to every submission, whether we accept it for publication or not. This means it may take a little extra time, but our goal is to provide insight to help you improve. We do our best to respond within a month of the submission period’s closure, but depending on our workload, you may hear from us much sooner or sometimes a bit later. A couple things to keep in mind:
    1. Sometimes works are well-crafted but don’t fit our publication. If that’s the case, we’ll let you know.
    2. If we reject your piece but invite you to edit it and resubmit later, please do, because we really do mean it.
  8. Current pay rates: We believe artists should be paid for their efforts, and we’re working toward becoming a space that can do just that. For now though, we are a fully volunteer operation helping you to get published while keeping our lights running via some rather slim pockets. We’ll be delighted to update everyone when that changes! 

Confidentiality: We never share your personal information with anyone outside of the Editorial Staff.

submission guidelines for the MockingOwl Roost with logo in dark blue with light teal background