A “blind” submission is one that is submitted to the literary journal in a way that the readers and editors can read all the submissions without knowing the name or anything else about the author who submitted to the journal. The idea is that it takes any bias someone might have against or for a particular ethnic heritage, or any other number of things. It hopefully means that your creative work is based on its own merits.
“Blind” submissions are particularly helpful for new authors who don’t have previous publications. I had been writing for over a decade by the time I started submitting. But my bio was so thin and unsubstantial I struggled to find anywhere to place my poems, until I started submitting to journals that read blind. The first two publishers who accepted my work read blind.
If a journal does not read “blind” the advantage can sometimes go to authors who have published a lot more work, even if the work they submit to that literary journal is not very good. The literary journal I was editor for read “blind”, and I ended up rejecting a very famous author.
Not all of these journals are currently open to submissions but most are.
An online literary journal that publishes poetry and prose. You can get a good feeling for what they publish by reading their latest issue here.
A DesiLit arts and literature journal. They focus on connecting South Asian diasporic writers and homeland writers. They are also open to submissions from non-South Asians with a deep and thoughtful connection to South Asian countries, who bring their own intersecting perspectives to the conversation.
Burningword Literary Journal accepts poetry, flash fiction, and flash nonfiction submissions for publication. They have electronic and print versions. They refer to their reading process as double-blind.
They have only one agenda – to be a vehicle for new and exciting writing. They publish a particularly international group of writers.
“Our purpose: to promote “alternative work” from both art and literature, and to encourage the new-wave of respect for online publications. In a world of print, we celebrate the digital decision.” This new literary journal seems to be doing a great job publishing challenging and exciting work. You can read their first issue here. They publish fiction, non fiction, flash fiction, visual art, and poetry.
Into The Void is a UK based literary journal that publishes experimental literary work of poetry and prose. They publish print and online issues every couple of months.
Toyon is a multilingual journal of literature and art that is edited and produced by Humboldt State University. They publish work in English and Spanish. They also accept reprints.
Radar is an online poetry journal that pairs art with the poetry they publish. The editors talk about how they read all submissions blind in their interview with the Poetry Society of America here.
A wonderful online literary journal that publishes poetry and prose.
They are particularly interested in publishing writing that crosses boundaries in genre or geography, and voices that aren’t often heard in mainstream publications.
They publish creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, dramatic works, and visual arts
This established literary journal publishes prose and poetry and returns all work that has identifying information attached to it.
They are a literary and art magazine published by the Chicago High School for the Arts. They are open to submissions twice a year.
