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HerStry Submission Guidelines

  • HerStry publishes four issues a year, Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Our Winter and Summer issues focus on a particular theme while our Spring and Fall issues are nontheme.

    HerStry centers the experiences and words of underrepresented voices. We’re looking for work from bigender/polygender persons, cisgender women, intergender persons/intersex persons, non-binary persons/gender non-conforming persons, transgender women/transfeminine persons, two-spirit. In other words, if you are a cis man, please refrain from submitting.

    Nonfiction: HerStry publishes creative nonfiction up to 5,000 words. Manuscripts should be submitted with all identifying information removed. Work should be double spaced, Times New Roman (or similar), with 12pt font and 1-inch margins. Please submit only one work at a time.* We do not require a cover letter and won't read one if you submit it. We're interested in the quality of the work in front of us, not how many times or where you have been published.

    Fiction: HerStry publishes works of short fiction up to 10,000 words. Manuscripts should be submitted with all identifying information removed. Work should be double spaced, Times New Roman (or similar), with 12pt font and 1-inch margins. Please submit only one work at a time.*

    Poetry: HerStry accepts up to three poems at one time, all submitted in a single document. 

    Profiles: HerStry is seeking pitches for our AMPLIFY series in which we seek to amplify an unknown or underrepresented cis woman, trans woman, queer woman, or nonbinary person. When pitching, do not send us entire essays. One or two well thought out paragraphs will do the trick. Please do not submit more than one pitch per cycle. 

     Please note, we do not require a cover letter and won't read one if you submit it. We're interested in the quality of the work in front of us, not how many times or where you have been published. We do not publish reprints. We are looking for fresh, original work. 

    *Writers may submit in multiple genres but may not submit multiple pieces in each genre. 

    • Winter Issue: August 1st – October 31st (Theme: Light)

    • Spring Issue: November 1st – January 31st

    • Summer Issue: February 1st – April 30th (Theme: Rites)

    • Fall Issue: May 1st – July 31st

  • Closed. Click here for submission details.

  • Open June 1 - September 1. Click here for submission details.

  • We do not require a cover letter and won't read one if you submit it. We're interested in the quality of the work in front of us, not how many times or where you have been published. We do not publish reprints. We are looking for fresh, original work.

    *Writers may submit in multiple genres but may not submit multiple pieces in each genre.

    AI Policy: Don’t. At HerStry we believe in human made art only. Any author found to be using AI generated material will be automatically declined and banned from submitting to HerStry in the future.

    Rights: Following publication, all rights revert to the author, but HerStry should be credited in all subsequent reprints as the first place of publication. In addition, we reserve the right to edit submissions in accordance with the rules of our style guide.

  • HerStry accepts applications for readers on a rolling basis. Click here to apply.

  • All accepted work to HerStry receives a $50 payment USD. (Please note, anyone who submits to our 2026 monthly themes as we finish out the year will be paid on our old scale - $20 per accepted piece.)

  • Remaining Themes:

    *An important note: Anyone accepted to our remaining monthly themes will receive the standard $20 payment.

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It isn’t a secret that writing can get lonely. Writing can also get frustrating. We’re stuck in our heads, blocked on the next steps of our story, our essay, novel, or memoir. Most writers give up, decide it’s too hard, and put down the pen. Or, when they go searching for a writing community, they are met with the same old misogynistic, homophobic, and racist views that have plagued writing communities for years. They feel like they don’t belong. The Babes Who Write is a writing community catering specifically to women, women-identifying, and nonbinary writers. The Babes Who Write is a place of belonging. It is a brave space to bring your work (and your voice), where we will treat it (and you) tenderly, kindly, and with the care you (and your writing) deserve.

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