Submission Guidelines
General Submissions
We accept general submissions of non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and visual art. We also are now seeking interviews, reviews and criticism for our “Notes” channel (See further guidelines on notes below). We are particular interested in non-fiction at the moment.
The best way to see what we’re looking for is to read the work we’ve published. Our editors are simply looking for work that feels of-the-moment. We can’t tell you what that looks like, but we’ll know it when we see it.
GUIDELINES
Format: Submit all work as word documents, and include a cover letter in the body of your email with a brief 50-word or less third-person bio. Work submitted in the body of email will not be considered. Work submitted without a cover letter will not be considered.
Response Time: We do our best to respond to submissions between 3 and 6 months, though sometimes it can take longer, and sometimes we respond as soon as the same week. Please bear in mind that we are a volunteer-run magazine, and as such we will respond as quickly as possible, given the constraints of our professional and personal lives. If a piece is time-sensitive, please indicate as such in the subject line.
If you have not heard from us in 6 months, please feel free to nudge us. We are human, after all, and sometimes submissions can fall through the cracks.
We do respond to all submissions, even if they have been in the slush pile for a long time. But as such, we encourage simultaneous submissions, so long as you inform us if a piece has been accepted elsewhere.
Previously published work: We will not consider previously published work.
GENRES
Send all submissions as word documents. If you send in the body of an email, we will not consider it.
Nonfiction: 1,200-word limit, although we love a good very short piece. Submit as word document with title and name in document.
Fiction: We accept short stories up to 2,500 words. We will consider excerpts under our Notes channel (see below) if accompanied by a review or interview.
Poetry: No more than three poems per submission.
Art: Send art and photography submissions as .jpg or png attachments. Max of 10 images.
Simultaneous submissions: are welcome, but please note it in your cover letter and let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere.
Send submissions to: fourthreethreemag@gmail.com
The 433 Prompt:
Along with out general submissions, we have the 433 prompt. We believe that this has produced work for this site that is less of a gut reaction and more introspective and considered. This is not a requirement for the site.
The Prompt is Simple: Set a timer for four minutes and thirty-three seconds, and then once the time expires, write about what you experienced. What did you hear, smell, see, think, remember, feel? Anything goes, as long as it fit into those four minutes and thirty-three seconds.
We want to hear from writers, nurses, teachers, lawyers, construction workers, mothers, people in incarceration, social workers, service workers, delivery people—everyone. If you have the time to spare, and the time to spare to write about the time you spared, we want to hear from you.
The submission guidelines are the same as for general submissions.
“Notes” Submissions:
Notes is our new channel for reviews, interviews and criticism. We will consider consider any book, film, music, art or other reviews/criticism/interviews, but we will place a special emphasis and are particularly interested in writing that emerges from within the author’s communities.
For example, we’d love to see an Appalachian response to Hillbilly Elegy; A New Orleanian’s reconsideration of Confederacy of Dunces; A Mexican-American review of Alan Chazaro’s "Piñata Theory.
Criticism here is seen as distinct from creative nonfiction, but we know this is a strange distinction, and if you submit as criticism or CNF, we won’t mind if it feels more like one or the other.
“Notes” submission guidelines
Please send submissions as a Word document with the title and your name in the document.
Please include a biographical note at the end of your submission (up to 50 words). We’d love to know who you are, what you do, and where you’re writing from.
Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please note it in your cover letter and let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere.
Send submissions to: fourthreethreemag@gmail.com
Featured Series
We (Still) Can’t Breathe
(Deadline: On-going)
As demonstrations unfold across the country in defense of black life and in protest of racism and police brutality, 433 is offering our site to people who would like to use it as an avenue of expression and a space to process their understanding of the tragedy with which we are all wrestling.
We have reserved the first week of June exclusively for these voices, but we will continue to add to this series as long as we receive submissions. This is not a crisis with a determinate beginning and end, but rather a heightened moment of awareness of a systemic tragedy transpiring over generations.
The format and style guidelines are the same are general submissions. We ask contributors to “perform” 4:33 as described above, taking the opportunity to reflect on the prompt—but what you do after that time, or within that time, is entirely up to you.
Include “Breathe” in the subject line of your email.
Rights
All submissions must be the original work of the author and previously unpublished. We may wish to make slight edits to your piece. If so, we'll review any changes with you before it's published.
If we accept your piece, we ask for “first North American serial rights,” which means that we may publish your piece only on our website or its attendant new media apps. All rights thereafter revert back to you, the author.
Send submissions to: fourthreethreemag@gmail.com