How to Submit 101

Lucky Jefferson is a press accepting interest letters and one-page samples of unpublished work. We publish poetry, micro nonfiction, photography, zines, and experimental forms. We are drawn to the small and the precise. Tiny books. Zines. Photo Flip Books. Work where every word earns its place and the form itself is part of the meaning. If your manuscript could fit in a back pocket and keep us on our toes, we want to read it.

• Include your name, email, and a 50-word bio (third-person) in your on-page interest letter.
• Simultaneous submissions are encouraged, but let us know if we can’t publish something okay? ‘Cause we catch feelings fast.
• Sorry, no work previously published digitally or in print.

We publish poetry books. Your interest letter should include one poem, ideally the strongest representative of your manuscript or collection. Tell us what the larger body of work is about and where this poem lives within it.

We are especially interested in stories from communities of color, journalists, and justice-impacted individuals. We’d love to see micro memoirs and narrative nonfiction rooted in lived experience. Submit one piece, up to one page (or 500 words).

Submit one art sample (PNG or JPG). All mediums welcome including photography, painting, collage, and illustration.

Our interest letter is our take on the query letter. Tell us who you are, what you are working on, and why it belongs at Lucky Jefferson. Enter your letter, attach your one-page sample, then hit submit via Submittable.

Our interest letter opens three times a year:

• Cycle 1: January 1 through February 28
• Cycle 2: April 1 through May 31
• Cycle 3: August 1 through September 30

We are closed in March, June, July, October, November, and December.

• Exclusive first worldwide print and electronic rights for a period of up to 3 months.
• Non-exclusive archival rights to include your published work in our archive indefinitely.

Basically, we get to share your work first, anywhere in the world, for 3 months after the release date. During that time, you can’t publish it anywhere else. After that, it’s all yours again! We’ll also keep it in our archive forever, or, til zombies come for us all—unless they’re arts-loving zombies.

Use this form to request an update to a work published on luckyjefferson.com.

We will not tolerate any work that promotes harmful stereotypes or perspectives, including: racism, bigotry, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, islamophobia, xenophobia, antisemitism, ageism, or ableism.

We also kindly request that you refrain from submitting sexually explicit pieces, works highlighting extreme violence, or insta poems.

We are hopeless romantics, but we’re generally not interested in printing love poems unless they offer a unique perspective or explore romance in a fresh and compelling way.

To ensure the safety and integrity of our collections, you should only send us work that is truly your own and not the result of impersonation or AI-generated content.

We take authenticity and harm against writers and artists seriously. Any deliberate misrepresentation in your submission will result in your work being disqualified from consideration and could limit your ability to participate in future opportunities.

Plagiarism will result in immediate reporting and a permanent ban from submitting to us.