All submissions closed - for now.
We intended to open for submissions of collections of poetry in 2025 for our 2026 roster, for which we would be choosing twelve collections of poetry. However, due to reasons beyond our control and also, if we are honest, a level of burnout we cannot move through without rest, we have put this on hold until we are in a stronger position. I hope you can understand - I’m really sorry to disappoint anyone who had hoped to submit.
I am hoping that we can open for submissions again in the Summer, but this is tentative and also dependent on funding, which we are currently struggling to secure. To read more about the issues facing working-class companies and arts funding, this article from The Guardian is quite comprehensive. We appreciate everyone who buys our books, but we also appreciate that our core audience has very little money. This is soon to be exacerbated by potential cuts to disability benefits, which will likely affect a huge portion of our volunteer team. We do not want to make promises we can’t keep, so ask for your patience while we navigate this time.
Please do not send submissions outside of callouts, as they will not be read, and a lack of response often offends. We don’t like ignoring these things, but we cannot read everything or we’d never get anything done.
Submissions Guidelines for Full Publications:
At Written Off, we do not ask for a specific submission style per se, but rather a document that allows us to see your talent and abilities as a poet or writer. We understand that Microsoft Word and other applications are prohibitively expensive for some, and we do not want any writer to be excluded from submitting due to this. Saying that, though, we do have some basic expectations:
We always ask for a sample of your work to begin with – 5 poems that give us a taste of the collection you’ve written. Please don’t send more!
We would appreciate your work in PDF, .doc, Notepad or via a Google Drive link.
We ask that your submission is all in one file, and not a series of attachments, as this makes it hard for us to track. If you send multiple files, it is unlikely your submission will be accepted.
Please use a simple font, like Times New Roman, Calibri, Arial or similar. Fancy fonts are hard to read!
We ask all who submit to add two things to their submission:
A short bio that explains who you are and what you do – please don’t just send a list of publications. We want to know you!
A short statement that explains why you believe Written Off is the best home for your writing. In this statement, we would expect to see a reflection of our ethos and values, in addition to some understanding of our press and how we operate.
In our last submission call, we received over 200 submissions. It may take up to three months for us to respond. We promise, we do our best!
Submission Guidelines for Ey Up:
Ey Up 4 will be our fourth collection of Northern Writing and Photography. Writers are invited to submit up to three poems or up to three short stories, and/or up to three photographs for consideration.
Poems must be a maximum of 40 lines.
Short stories must not exceed 1000 words.
Photographs will be printed in monochrome, so please be mindful of this!
We also ask for:
A 50-word bio, written in third person, that tells us who you are (again, not a list of publications!)
Any social media links or websites you’d like to be included if you are successful.
We aim to respond to all submissions for Ey Up within one month of the closing date.