Guidelines

Submission Guidelines

The YWLJ has no formula for the work we accept. Nevertheless, there are certain guidelines that we ask authors to abide by when submitting their works to us. Due to the large volume of submissions we receive, failure to abide by these guidelines could result in automatic rejection of the work, so please read the guidelines thoroughly.

• Acceptable Content: We will only accept work that is generally appropriate for ages 13 and up. This means that work which depicts mature situations or violence in graphic detail will not be accepted. However, this does not mean that writers should avoid adult themes altogether. In past editions, works about drinking, smoking, sex, murder, and self-harm have all been accepted. We only ask that such situations not be depicted in graphic detail. If you have a question regarding this guideline, please feel to contact us at journal@youngwriterssociety.com or through the Contact form.


• No Fan-Fiction: Due to intellectual property laws, the YWLJ cannot publish fan-fiction.


• Multiple Submissions: All writers may submit up to 1 poem and 1 short story. However, we do not accept more than one of each. So this means a writer may submit a poem and a story, but not two poems or two stories.


• Payment / Compensation: The YWLJ is expensive to produce and loses a significant amount of money each issue. As such, we cannot pay writers. However, each writer whose work is accepted into the YWLJ will receive one free copy of the YWLJ.


• Age: Only work by writers ages 21 (as of January 1, 2015) and below will be accepted.


• Response Time: No author will be notified as to the status of their submission until April 2 at the earliest and April 30 at the latest.


• Rights Retained: If your work is accepted into the YWLJ, you will be required to sign a contract granting the Young Writers Society permission to publish your work in both print and digital form. However, all other rights, including ownership of the work, will be retained by the author in full. No work will be published without a signed contract, and submitting your work does not create any such contract. The contract will also only extend to the Summer 2015 print edition of the YWLJ and its accompanying digital edition -- it does not extend to any other publication by the Young Writers Society now or in the future. Authors under the age of 18 will be required to also have signed permission from a parent or guardian.


• Use of Pen Names: For purposes of submission and any potential contracts, please use your real name. However, all authors accepted into the YWLJ will have the option of choosing how their name apppears in it, whether it be a pen name or their birth name.


• Formatting Info: You may submit your work in any text format. However, we do ask that writers use the default font on their computers (e.g., Times New Roman, Calibri, Arial, etc.) rather than using a "creative" font choice, as well as the normal black font color. Let your creativity be expressed through your words and not through inane choices about document formatting.
  
  Also, do not include your name or other personal information within the text of the work itself. Only include the title of the piece and the work itself within your document. This way, our editors can review your work blindly. Only include your personal information in the form used to submit your work.


• PROOFREAD: We are accepting submissions through the end of March, so take your time! Read your work over, and then read it out loud. Have someone else read it for you, and then have another person read it. Do not let yourself be tripped up by a simple grammatical error. Don't worry so much about misuse of commas; and semi-colons; but do worry about punctuation. apostrophe's, and spelling miss steaks.