The Bloomin’ Onion is a new online journal of flash fiction, short stories, and longform stories (up to 15,000 words). All authors are encouraged to submit; however, they’re especially interested in publishing new authors: “The Bloomin’ Onion was founded as a way to help new and unpublished authors find their place.”

The Bloomin’ Onion accepts a very wide range of writing, including (but not limited to) literary writing with genre fiction elements like historical fiction, romance, science fiction, or mystery. They are simply looking for good writing: “We don’t care where it comes from, but if it’s good, we’re going to publish it.”

So far, The Bloomin’ Onion has published one online issue featuring writing from ten contributors. Going forward, they plan to publish two online issues each year, in April and October. Those issues will feature flash fiction and short stories. They will also publish a weekly flash fiction or short story feature, showcasing a piece they especially like. Longform stories will be published as standalone features every other month, starting in July.

Although The Bloomin’ Onion accepts submissions year-round, they do have submission periods: January 1 through March 30, April 1 through June 30, July 1 through September 30, and October 1 through December 31. Authors may submit up to two pieces during each submission period. Also, although submissions are always open, the cutoff for each issue is one month before publication.

Authors may submit flashes up to 1,000 words, short stories up to 5,000 words, and longform stories up to 15,000 words (up to two pieces in any category). Flashes and short stories will be considered for both the weekly showcases and the bi-annual issues. Longform stories will only be considered for the longform feature.

The Bloomin’ Onion only accepts fiction. They do not publish poetry, essays, or any other non-fiction writing. Submitting authors can expect a response within six weeks.

Authors who have fewer than three publications are invited to note this in their submission because The Bloomin’ Onion likes to showcase new writers. They also nominate for The Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net.

The Bloomin’ Onion accepts submissions via email, not online or by post. They accept simultaneous submissions but ask that authors withdraw writing published elsewhere. They do not accept previously published writing; however, they do accept writing published in magazines that are now defunct. They do not accept writing generated by AI.

The Bloomin’ Onion only accepts submissions that follow the guidelines they’ve posted online. Please read these guidelines in full before submitting.

If you would like to learn more or submit to The Bloomin’ Onion, please visit their website here.