Ruminate is a quarterly print journal of spiritually-oriented writing, edited by practitioners and seekers from a wide variety of faiths. Their broad conception of spiritual writing includes work that isn’t overtly religious. They believe that good writing is inherently spiritual because it awakens our sense of beauty and creativity and points to a reality larger than ourselves. They also publish work that speaks subtly or directly about religion. They are especially interested in publishing marginalized voices.
Since 2006, Ruminate has published over 120 authors each year, emerging and established, including authors who have never been published before. Work from Ruminate has been selected for The Pushcart Prize, The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Essays, and Best New Poets.
Ruminate publishes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Right now, they are accepting fiction submissions through August 14, as well as nonfiction submissions through May 14. They are temporarily closed to poetry submissions, but will reopen on June 1. Before submitting, they recommend that authors download a free excerpt from their 10th anniversary edition to get a sense of what they publish.
Authors of fiction and nonfiction may submit works of 5,500 words or fewer. And, when they reopen to poetry submissions, poets may submit up to five poems (they prefer a batch of three to five), totaling ten pages or fewer. Submitting authors can expect a response within three to four months.
Ruminate also sometimes accepts submissions for their blog (400-800 words), as well as submissions for a themed column called Readers Ruminate (300 words or fewer). You can visit their website to find out whether or not they are accepting submissions at this time.
Ruminate is committed to paying their contributors, and right now they pay $17 per page of poetry (up to $60 per poem), and $17 per 400 words of prose. And, they are working to increase their pay rates in the future.
Ruminate accepts submissions online, but not via post or by email. They accept simultaneous submissions, but ask that authors withdraw work published elsewhere. They do not accept previously published work.
To know more about the magazine, or to submit, please visit this page
