Soft Cartel, an online magazine of poetry and prose, believes that literature can have a life—and that it can even have fun. They like playful experiments and heartfelt dashes into the unknown. They’re tired of worn-out stories and exclusionary, high-fiving cliques. They’re open—to brand new experiences and submissions to match.

Soft Cartel accepts submissions all the time. They read each submission and send personalized feedback to every author. They respond to all submissions within a week.

Although they don’t pose word limits or other guidelines about quantity, they do give some pointers about the quality of work they’re after. They like fiction that’s not too well behaved—that’s willing to break the rules when the rules need to be broken—but is well-written all the same. Genre fiction and literary fiction can be hard to distinguish, so they don’t discriminate between the two .They’re also seeking nonfiction with well-lived contemplation about real happenings.

For poetry, the possibilities are infinite. They ascribe to an open-ended definition of the genre. They prefer to read at least two poems, or one substantial one.

Soft Cartel also publishes analyses of books, movies, music, and more. They prefer deep reflections and experiential accounts to plot summaries. They aren’t too into Hollywood, but breakthroughs via late night TV suit their style.

Soft Cartel also offers a special feature for writers who have a lot of work they would like to publish in one place. For these authors, they offer an online “residency,” during which Soft Cartel publishes as much work as the author offers, until they run out.

Also, each month they feature select writers on a “Best of the Month” page. Last month, four authors were featured.

Soft Cartel accepts submissions via email, not online or by post. They accept simultaneous submissions, but they do not accept previously published work.

If you would like to learn more or submit to Soft Cartel, please visit their website at https://softcartel.com/submit/.