SUBMISSIONS ARE CURRENTLY OPEN

Send all general submissions to godscrueljoke.submissions@gmail.com with GENERAL SUBMISSIONS in the subject line.

To submit to Issue 5 - Speculative Erotics, go here.

God’s Cruel Joke is looking for works of fiction, poetry, essays, memoirs, reviews, visual art, audio and video that explore the stranger, possibly more dangerous waters of the human condition. Looking especially for work that breaks down barriers in their themes and style. We crave the Dionysian, the scatological, the surreal, the absurd, the existential and the unhinged.

Some writers to look to in order to better understand—very broadly—what the editor is looking for: Georges Bataille, William Burroughs, Poppy Z Brite, Thomas Pynchon, JG Ballard, Dennis Cooper and Kathy Acker. The best way to familiarize yourself with what I’m looking for is to read the four print issues, which are all available for free. Or you can check out the Greatest Hits if you’d prefer to save a little time.

  • Nothing is off the table. Taking full advantage of the online format, God’s Cruel Joke is particularly interested in mixed media and more experimental interdisciplinary works.

  • Simultaneous submissions are strongly encouraged. Just remember to withdraw if your work is accepted somewhere else—and congrats.

  • Nothing that’s been formally published elsewhere can be considered. If you’ve shared your work through a personal blog or social medias, that’s fine. For audio/visual works that may already be self-distributed, we can embed Bandcamp, Soundcloud, YouTube, Spotify, etc.

  • For writing, 3000 words and under. Feel free to send up to 3 different poems or pieces of flash fiction. For audio/visual, please keep it to one or two pieces, altogether about fifteen minutes or under.

  • Please make sure your manuscript is easy to read. 12 pt Times New Roman with double-spacing for conventional pieces of fiction. Single-spacing for poetry is OK.

  • Please, only one submission per reading period.

  • The rights God’s Cruel Joke would assume, should your work be accepted, are First Serial Rights and Worldwide Electronic Rights.

  • God’s Cruel Joke pays 10 USD for every accepted submission.

  • It should take no longer than three months to hear back. If it’s been longer than that, please reach out.