Submission Guidelines

Mystic Owl is a poetry and fiction magazine. Speculative work is the focus, but we also want pieces that weave strange and weird language through real human emotions. We aim to publish three online issues yearly: spring, summer, and fall.

Our submission period is currently closed.

Please read the submission guidelines before submitting your work.

General Guidelines

Complete the submission form(s) below to submit your work. We encourage multiple submissions, but if you submit work in both genres, please ensure you submit separately through the appropriate form below.
We will try our best to review submissions received via email, but we highly encourage you to submit through our form(s) to guarantee your work is considered for publication.
When completing our form, submit with a bio of 150 words or less written in 3rd-person.
Simultaneous submissions are allowed but inform us if the piece has been taken elsewhere.
No pre-published work in other magazines or social media.
AI work is not allowed and will be rejected.

Fiction
What we want: Genres like magical realism, dreams, surrealism, low fantasy, low sci-fi, and horror fit our tastes the best. Some stories and authors we think fit this vibe are Twilight Zone, work by Junji Ito, Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado, Revenge by Yoko Ogawa, and Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata.

100-4000 words
If under 1000 words, you can submit two pieces

Poetry
We are accepting of any poetry that experiments with imagery and language.

1-3 poems
Three-page limit for each poem

Compensation and Response Time

Sadly, we cannot offer any compensation to writers at this time, but we hope in the future.
All submissions will receive a response 1 week after the final submission deadline. Email info@mysticowlmag.com for any queries about submissions.