Halfway Down the Stairs is an established electronic journal that has been around for some time and seems to have established a regular readership. They publish poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, as well as book reviews.  New issues are published quarterly (March, June, September, and December), and each issue has a theme.

They primarily publish mainstream  literary work, but are open to submissions of work in most genres, with children’s literature and erotica as the exceptions.  They are currently accepting submissions for their June 2014 issue, which is themed Possession. How you interpret this theme is up to you. The reading period will close May 1st.

Halfway Down the Stairs accepts simultaneous submissions but are not interested in reprints. All work should be thoroughly proofread before it is submitted. They are not interested in cliche stories or anything with a trite punchline.

Halfway Down the Stairs are open to submissions of three poems at a time, or one piece of prose. Work in every genre should try to relate to the theme, although they occasionally publish poetry that is unrelated to the theme if they feel that it is particularly good. They expect to receive all submissions via email and they have rather strict submission guidelines, so make sure to review them before submitting.

They have a fast response time, getting back to submitters within a month on average. They also accept a little under 20% of what is submitted to them. It is easy to get a feel for what they are looking for by reading a few pieces in your genre. If your work seems like a good fit, they are a great publication for authors starting out, and it easy to share work published on the website with others.

After three months the rights to your work returns to you and you can reprint it elsewhere if you so desire. To learn more or to submit, visit their website: http://www.halfwaydownthestairs.net/index.php?action=submissions