If our calls interest you, then you interest us.
The magazine is our what, the residency is our how, and the community is our why.
We offer four ways to get involved with our community:
If you have work that is ready to be edited toward publication — and work that aligns with our chosen issue topic — our magazine is for you.
We publish one issue per year, elevating up to 32 artists and writers via two submission windows — one in winter and one in summer — to increase accessibility. The bedrock of our organization has always been our magazine, which seeks to showcase urgent and underrepresented voices. Our editorial style and process is intimate: you’ll have an orientation with fellow contributors, a one-on-one call with your editor, and an up-to-four-month editorial process where you’ll work with two editors toward publication. There will be hints and whispers of community and collaboration throughout, as our editorial mantra has always been ”we publish people, not pieces.”
Please note: Our magazine is now open for submissions through Jan. 15, 2024 (original deadline was Dec. 31, 2023, but we extended it two weeks). See below for our general submission guidelines.
This process-based program is for folks who are seeking accountability, community, and resources, but not publication.
Our digital residency, Narrative Shifts, is a three-month, seven-session, cohort-based program that deepens your relationship to your work. The overarching goal is to introduce writers and artists to different kinds of writing and artmaking. As such, each session is equally generative and restful, guiding you through one aspect of the creative process, while also welcoming in established authors for roundtable talks that bring the publishing process to life. This is the perfect incubator for a manuscript, or an idea for a new piece you know you need to write. It’s also ideal for those thinking about MFAs, as well as those who have just completed one and want to keep one foot in the literary world. This is also a great first or next step for those who may not yet identify as a “Writer” or “Artist.” All levels, experiences, and approaches are welcome.
Our first cohort will take place in 2024, with applications opening in the fall of 2023.
Each year, we give the editorial keys to four curators to create their own anthologies, showcasing the work of seven people in each.
In an era when we’re seeing literary magazines closing their doors, TSW is committed to building more platforms for our communities’ voices. With this new, cohort-based storytelling program, TSW provides writers, artists, and editors with the opportunity to become an EIC, utilizing our platforms, resources, and social media handles to produce their own anthologies of work and to elevate the issues and voices they believe are less-heard today. Visit Community Anthologies to learn how to apply to become an EIC, and how you can submit work to these community anthologies. For any questions about this program, please reach out to bretty@seventhwavemag.com.
Please note: our 2024 Community Anthologies are now open for submissions until July 18, 2024. See TSW Submittable to submit your work.
Below are our general submission guidelines for our annual literary magazine, as well as instructions on the submission process:
- Genres: We accept work in all genres and forms. If there is a way for us to publish your work, we will. We welcome traditional poetry and prose, but also encourage hybrid forms, as well as visual art, performance pieces, drama, and otherwise. If you have questions about the format of your work — and whether we’d be able to publish it — please email submit@seventhwavemag.com.
- Length/Number of pieces: We accept prose up to 3,000 words, and up to 4 poems/pieces of art per submission.
- Read the call: Make sure to read the call for the issue you are submitting to, as your work must be related to our topic in some way, shape, or form.
- Fee: We charge a $7 on every submission, which covers the time it takes for our editorial staff to read and respond to every single submission. If you are unable to pay the $7 fee, we are happy to waive it, no questions asked. Please send all of the above materials to submit@seventhwavemag.com, and write “Issue XX Submission • YOUR FULL NAME” in the subject line. Please attach your submissions in Word Docs or PDF formats.
- New Contributors Only: for our magazine, we only publish individuals once. This is to ensure we are uplifting as many voices as we can. If you are a past contributor, you are welcome to apply to our in-person residencies, which are only open to past contributors.
- Rough drafts: It’s important to note that we welcome rough drafts, but not careless writing. Powerful work that is unfinished is entirely acceptable to us. The main requirement here is that you, the writer or artist, are ready and willing to work with our editorial team, and can commit to revising your work in time for publication.
To submit to our magazine, you must send us the three items below. They are not optional. Submissions that do not include all three will not be considered and will be automatically declined. To submit, you will need to include:
- a 2–6 sentence bio;
- a 500-word cover letter (see below); and
- your submission as a Word Document or PDF.
In your cover letter, please tell us the following in 500 words or less:
- What are the driving forces behind your work? Tell us what your particular aesthetic and voice will bring to this issue.
- What are recent social issues, political decisions, or cultural mishaps that sparked meaningful conversation and inspired you to create art, write stories, or otherwise communicate your thoughts to the world?
- Tell us a little about what you hope to get out of this editorial process.
- How does your submission relate to our topic?
For more information about how to submit, please visit our Submittable page.
When our in-person or digital residency applications are open, you must send us two items, with an optional third:
- a 2–6 sentence bio;
- a 500-word cover letter (see below); and
- optionally, a sample of your work or writing. This is optional as it is not as germane to the selection process as it would be if you were submitting to the magazine for publication; it is more for us to get to know your work.
In your cover letter, please tell us the following in 500 words or less:
- Why are you interested in the _______ Residency at this point in your writing life, career, etc?
- Tell us about what you’re hoping to work on while at the residency.
- Tell us a bit about what projects, organizations, or communities you are a part of, and what issues you want to elevate through your work, both on the page and off.
- Have you taken part in a writing residency or retreat before? If so, what were the circumstances (and this could be one of our residencies if you are a past resident); if not, what is your understanding, hesitation, or hope for how a residency setting functions?
For more information about how to apply, visit our Submittable page.
Anthology Guidelines. Our Community Anthologies are curated by editors-in-chief that TSW hires through an application process in February of each year. Each EIC and anthology is looking for its own specific kind of work. See specific and general guidelines below.
- On Endings: This call is open to all types of writers and artists (hybrid included). In terms of genre/form, Xu is specifically looking for poetry (long(er) poems especially encouraged), lyric essays, and creative non-fiction.
- On Queer Family: This anthology is only open to queer, trans, and gender nonconforming writers and artists. In terms of form/genre, Isaiah is specifically interested in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and multimodal art. This call is also a hybrid call: Isaiah will be inviting 1-3 contributors to submit work, and the remaining 5-7 spots will be filled via an open call on Submittable (each anthology publishes 6-8 people).
- On Gaming: This anthology is only open to queer POC writers and artists. In terms of form, Dez is looking for creative writing — poetry, flash fiction, flash CNF, short screenplays, hybrid, and interactive works — and visual art.
- On Prayer: This open-call anthology invites any creative expression—poems, narratives, music, photographs, songs, and art—about ancestors and spirits, gods and ghosts, beloveds and other entities. BIPOC artists are encouraged to submit, though this call is open to all writers and artists.
Other Guidelines:
- Digital magazine: Please remember we are a digital magazine. You work must be able to be publish and presented in a digital format for a digital audience. If you have questions about the format of your work — and whether we’d be able to publish it — please email submit@seventhwavemag.com.
- Length/Number of pieces: We accept prose up to 3,000 words, and up to 4 poems/pieces of art per submission.
- Read the call: Make sure to read the call for the anthology you are submitting to, as your work must be related to our topic in some way, shape, or form.
- Fee: We charge a $7 on every submission, which covers the time it takes for our editorial staff to read and respond to every single submission. If you are unable to pay the $7 fee, we are happy to waive it, no questions asked. Please send all of the above materials to submit@seventhwavemag.com, and write “[Your Last Name] • On [Anthology Name]” in the subject line. For example, “Chen + On Endings.” Please attach your submissions in Word Docs or PDF formats.
- Eligibility: If you have been published in our Community Anthologies before, you may not submit work again. If you have been published in our annual literary magazine, you may submit work to a Community Anthology. Otherwise, anyone may submit work to a Community Anthology.
- Previously unpublished work only: we do not publish work that has been published elsewhere.
- Note: if you and your work is accepted for publication in a Community Anthology, please note that you will be working 1 x 1 with that anthology’s EIC. There will be a TSW Orientation in August that is required for you to join, so you will get to meet our team, but you will largely be working with your EIC toward publication.
To submit to our 2024 Community Anthologies, you will fill out the below information on Submittable. Incomplete submissions will not be considered and will be automatically declined.
- Submission title. This would be your last name + the name of the anthology you are applying to. For example, “Chen + On Endings.”
- Which anthology you are applying to. You may only apply to 1 Community Anthology at a time/per year. Meaning, you may not submit the same or different work to two different anthologies in the same year. In the submission form, you will select which anthology you are submitting work to.
- Your full name.
- Your email address.
- Your bio. A 2-6 sentence bio.
- Statement of Interest/Artist Statement. This is your opportunity to write a statement of interest to the editor-in-chief you are submitting work to. See below for more info on this.
- Submission upload. Finally, you’ll upload the submission you want the anthology’s editor-in-chief to consider for publication. For prose, we accept up to 3,000 words. For poetry, we accept up to 4 poems. For hybrid and artwork, it depends on type/structure of the project. Please note: we are a digital magazine, and so you work must be able to be published within the limitations and constraints of a digital publication.
- Website/portfolio link. You may include a link to your website or a portfolio of your work. This is optional.
- Payment. We charge a $7 fee for submissions. If this fee is cost prohibitive, you may waive this fee by simply emailing your full submission to submit@seventhwavemag.com. You do not need to request a fee waiver.
In your statement of interest, please tell us the following in 500 words or less:
- Give us insight into who you are on and off the page;
- Why did this specific Community Anthology speak to you?
- How does your submitted work speak to the topic?
- Anything else you’d like the editor-in-chief to know. For example, the questions you’re asking yourself/your reader these days, your writer/artistic inspirations and influences, and anything else about your submitted work.
For more information about how to apply, visit our Submittable page.
Personalized feedback
Too often, people send their writing out into the universe and hear nothing in return. We believe everyone deserves feedback. That’s why we provide personalized notes to those who send us complete submissions. We do not send back critical feedback, as we believe that kind of feedback requires conversation and consent. Here is what past submitters have said about our personalized feedback:
“Thank you for your very thoughtful evaluation of both my work and my submission to your journal. As a writing instructor, and as a writer, I certainly appreciated the care with which you addressed what interested you and what didn’t work for your needs, and the time and consideration you put into your reply. Wishing you and the journal all the best.”
“Thank you for the overwhelming compliment. I’m new to submissions. It’s been a struggle to deal with the rejection letters, but writing won’t let me quit. As writers, all we want is to be heard and understood. For you to recognize my voice means the world to me, so thank you. I’ll be on the lookout for Seventh Wave’s next round of submissions and will put my heart into crafting something that fits the theme.”
“I feel compelled to write back and express my immense appreciation. From the perspective of a writer who has submitted to however many journals over the years (and more often than not received the standard, informal rejection, understandably so), your attention and intelligence is such a kind and refreshing offering, one that will continue to inspire me. I thank you not only on behalf of myself, but for all writers whose work I am sure you have gifted with a similar grace.”
"This is truly the most sincere and compassionate tiered rejection I've ever received, and I'm so grateful for the time you spent building this connection to me and my work. It's wonderful to hear the praise. See you on Submittable, and—someday—on the page!”
"This is probably the kindest 'decline' I've ever gotten, and I so genuinely appreciate your time and care. It feels really good to be seen & heard. Thank you so much for your kindness.”
“I want this to be as good as it can be, and you are totally making that happen. I’m so grateful for your input, as this piece has been a few years of me staring at my laptop screen thinking, “What is this, even?” So. You’re an amazing editor and managed to sort through things I felt “meh” about but didn’t know how to solve while honoring my voice. This is hard to do. Thank you. … Thank you one million times again for all your attention. I can’t even begin to express how wonderful it is to have help bringing this into existence. It really means quite a lot.”
—Lauren Friel, Issue 6: Dangerous Bodies