Identity Theory has published original literature—fiction, poetry, essays, interviews, and more—online since 2000.
Based in southern Nevada and featuring an international staff of three dozen editors, our internet-only publication has earned the attention of major print media throughout the world—including the New York Times, Washington Post, and many others—and reaches thousands of influential readers every week.
We nominate our authors for prizes and anthologies. We promote our authors (past and present) on social media. We thoughtfully read every submission. And as one of the longest-running online-only literary journals, we provide a stable, long-term home for our contributors' work.
Quality writing in any format is welcome.
We have a free Submittable submission period at the beginning of each month, and we always offer a free email submission option in addition to the optional paid "tip jar" Submittable option below.
We do not officially pay for stories, but we offer the following benefits:
- We nominate for the Pushcart Prize, Best Small Fictions, Best Microfiction, and Best of the Net awards as well as other anthologies.
- We promote the work we publish and some of the future/additional work of our contributors throughout our five-figure social media following across Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. We also promote the work of our contributors in our newsletter.
- We sometimes send gift bags and special rewards to our contributors. In the past, these have included personalized Yeti mugs, Identity Theory merchandise, and gift cards for donuts.
Simultaneous submissions are welcome long as you notify us as soon as your work is accepted elsewhere.
We are unlikely to accept previously published work but are willing to consider it if it no longer appears online.
We publish new work every week, but we do not have a regular publication schedule. Once a story is accepted, it receives multiple rounds of edits and goes online when the time is right.
Queries related to blogging, interviews, reviews, and more go to Matt Borondy at editor@identitytheory.com.
Prose submissions under 500 words should be submitted via email to micro@identitytheory.com. Read the micro guidelines.
Please note: Submissions are always open. As noted above, we always offer free email submissions, and we have a free Submittable reading period at the beginning of each month that runs until we reach our cap.
Please visit the submissions page of our website for more instructions on how to submit your writing via email.
Submit literary work here that doesn't fit into just one category.
Go wild. But don't be weird for the sake of being weird.
Visual art is welcome.
Written work should not exceed 4000 words.
If you have questions, contact editor@identitytheory.com.
Identity Theory’s nonfiction section is devoted to creative work that is as thoughtful as it is vivid. Take us someplace we haven’t been before, show us something that is not as it seems, guide us with an intelligent heart.
We accept micro CNF (100-500 words), flash CNF (500-1000 words), and traditional CNF (1000-4000 words). Micro CNF should be submitted via email at micro@identitytheory.com. Flash and traditional-length CNF must be submitted through this form.
Please:
- Include an approximate word count in your cover letter.
- Include a brief third-person author biography (50–100 words), including publishing credits and links to social media or personal sites as you wish.
- Let us know if the piece has been published elsewhere, including online.
- Do not submit AI-generated or otherwise plagiarized work.
Notes:
- We nominate CNF for the Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize anthologies each year.
- We request electronic rights to your piece. You may continue to seek print publication immediately and online publication six months after we publish your essay.
- The estimated response time for newly submitted pieces is 1-3 months.
Fiction Categories
We accept three categories of fiction: micro (100-500 words), flash (500-1000 words), and traditional (1000-4000 words).
1. Microfiction (100-500 words): Please send micro fiction via email to micro@identitytheory.com instead of using Submittable. For more info, read our micro submission guidelines. Anticipated response time for micro is one day to one month.
2. Flash fiction (500-1000 words): Please submit flash using this form. Read our complete fiction submission guidelines here.
3. Traditional fiction (1000-4000 words): Please submit traditional fiction using this form. Read our complete fiction submission guidelines here.
Guidelines
1. Please include a word count in your cover letter.
2. Please submit your piece in .doc or .docx format.
3. Please include a third-person bio from one sentence to one paragraph for us to include with your piece.
4. Please do not submit AI-generated or otherwise plagiarized work.
Notes
1. New fiction submissions longer than 500 words can expect a response within three months. Microfiction submissions less than 500 words can expect a response within one month if submitted via email.
2. We will consider fiction of all lengths for nominations including Pushcart and Best of the Net. Fiction shorter than 1000 words is also eligible for Best Small Fictions consideration, and fiction shorter than 400 words is eligible for both Best Microfiction and Best Small Fictions consideration.
3. We currently don't offer paid compensation for accepted pieces.
4. We request first electronic rights of your story, and you are welcome to republish it elsewhere online after it has been on our site for six months. You are also welcome to seek print publication for your piece after it has appeared on our site.
5. Simultaneous submissions are welcome. Please respect our volunteer staff's time by withdrawing your piece from consideration after it is accepted elsewhere.
6. All flash and traditional-length submissions receive thoughtful consideration from multiple editors. Once your piece is placed "in-progress" in Submittable, you should receive a response within 1-4 weeks.
7. We don't generally accept previously published work, but we are open to reasonable exceptions if the work does not currently appear elsewhere online.
8. We promote our writers on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Substack, LinkedIn, and sometimes TikTok. Please connect with us on those communities.
Established in 2000, Identity Theory is an online magazine of literature and culture that has published hundreds of writers and thousands of creative works, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, reviews, and art. Additionally, we have been recognized by The New York Times, Washington Post, and other major media outlets for our extensive collection of interviews.
Based in southern Nevada, we have a staff of more than two dozen remote editors from all over the world.
We are primarily seeking CNF editors and hybrid editors to round out our staff, but feel free to inquire about any other positions that interest you.
All positions are unpaid. The expected time requirement ranges from 1-3 hours per week. We collaborate via email with optional participation in our Slack channel and Zoom meetings.
Contact Matt Borondy at editor@identitytheory.com with questions. You may also apply via email using that address if you'd prefer email instead of a Submittable form.
We look forward to hearing from you!