The editors at Sweet understand that there are good works that get overlooked, and that often our decisions are based not just on quality but also on taste. That said, Sweet publishes emerging and established writers three times a year: September, January, and May.

Sweet seeks only poetry and creative nonfiction and anything in between. Sorry, fiction writers! We read submissions all year. Simultaneous submissions are accepted. Please let us know asap if your work has been accepted elsewhere in the following ways:

1) Use the “withdraw” option on Submittable to let us know that your singly submitted piece has been accepted elsewhere.

2) For poetry submissions or multiple short essays, use the “note” function with Submittable to tell us which piece(s) are unavailable and which are still available.

Our preferred poetry submission size is 3-5 poems. For creative non-fiction, we prefer 2-3 short-short creative nonfiction pieces or one longer one. Essays should not exceed 1,500 words total.

We accept poetry and CNF submissions through our online submission manager during the months of May and June. Graphic submissions are open year round. Poetry Contest submissions are accepted during the month of February and Flash CNF Contest submissions are accepted in November each year.

Please include a brief cover letter and bio with your submission. Also, after sending us a portfolio of work, please wait to hear back before sending another.