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Pen in Hand
Pen in Hand is the official literary and art publication of Maryland Writers' Association, published bi-annually in January and July. The publication consists of poetry, short stories, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, and artwork from MWA members. Pen in Hand may also publish other articles of interest to writers, as well as announcements from Maryland-based literary journals, publishers, and writers' associations. Submissions guidelines appear below.
Current and back issues are available on Amazon, and hard copies are available for sale from your local chapter. Digital archives can be found at the bottom of this page.
Current Issue: (click on the graphic below)
Previous Issue: July 2024
Previous Issue: January 2024
Previous Issue: July 2023
Previous Issue: January 2023.
Previous Issue: July 2022.
Previous Issue: January 2022.
Submissions:
Pen In Hand is the official literary and art publication of the Maryland Writers’ Association published biannually in January and July.
Submission deadline for the July issue of Pen In Hand is May 30.
Submission deadline for the January issue of Pen In Hand is December 1.
Submit using this form: https://marylandwriters.org/form.php?form_id=66 (you will be prompted to log into your member profile to access).
MWA members are encouraged to submit poetry, sci-fiction, flash fiction, short stories, drama, memoirs, creative non-fiction, and personal essays. Submissions from teen writing club writers are welcomed.
Please follow the following submission instructions:
- Submit in 12-point Times New Roman font, black type only.
- Layout: 1-inch margins on top, bottom, left and right; paragraph indents, 1/4” inch.
- Put your name, address, email and phone number at the top left of your submission.
- No extra line between paragraphs; single space between periods and new sentences.
- Below the end of your submitted work include your Bio, limited to your literary works and interest, publication, and awards (75-word maximum).
- Work created wholly or in part by AI is not eligible for submission
- Click here for a PDF containing additional poetry standards and guidelines.
All submissions are subject to the editor's discretion (i.e., not all submissions will be published).
Maryland artists who are MWA members are also welcome to submit photographs of their work for the interior.
Submit using this form: https://marylandwriters.org/form.php?form_id=66
All photos must be formatted as follows:
- Black and white, jpeg or png, max. 300 dpi.
- Photos may be resized for publication at the editor's discretion.
- Please provide an artist statement, including a brief description, date, and medium (maximum 250 words).
Maryland artists who are MWA members are also welcome to submit photographs of their work for the exterior.
Submit using this form: https://marylandwriters.org/form.php?form_id=66
All images must be formatted as follows:
- Color, jpeg or png, Minimum 300 dpi.
- Photos may be resized for publication at the editor's discretion.
- Please provide an artist statement, including a brief description, date, and medium (maximum 250 words).
Submissions are open on a rolling basis during the submission period and up to submission deadline. Submission period closes at 11:59 p.m. day of deadline.
Be sure to check Pen In Hand and MWA Announcements, the MWA Facebook page, and MWA X for calls for submission, deadline information, and special runs!
Items submitted after deadline date may be held for publication in the following issue, by agreement with the author.
Pen in Hand Submission Qualification
- You must be a current MWA member to be considered for publication.
- We do not pay for submissions.
- Authors retain all rights except First Electronic Right.
- You may submit in more than one genre, but accepted work is as per genre limits per author/artist, per publication (see Genres below).
- Submit using this form: https://marylandwriters.org/form.php?form_id=66 (you will be prompted to log into your member profile to access).
- We do not accept previously-curated published work. If your submission has appeared on your blog or social media, please note that with your submission; we consider that to be previously-published but uncurated work and we will consider it for publication.
- Exceptions may be made at the editor’s discretion with regard to previously-published work, provided that you indicate where and when your work was originally published. In addition, you must either have the rights to the piece, or be able to demonstrate (in writing) that you have reprint permission from the rights holder.
- MWA will be held harmless in case of unauthorized reproduction.
Accepted Genres:
- Prose, Fiction or Nonfiction: 1000-3000 words, one submission per author, per issue.
- Flash Fiction or Nonfiction: 750 words max, two per author, per issue.
- Memoirs: 1000-3000 words, one submission per author, per issue.
- Poetry, Prose-Poetry: Two poems per poet per issue, maximum of 94 lines in total for the two submissions. Please note if a poem was originally written for the spoken word.
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Longer Poems: 800-1,600 words, which approximates the page count of prose pieces. One submission per issue.
Art:
- Visual Art, Photography: two submissions per artist per issue, B&W, JPG, Gif, or PNG, 72-300dpi, 5x7, 3x5.
- Line Art, Half-tone: two submissions (paintings, drawings): JPG, Gif, PNG, Max 5 MB.
- Digital Art: two submissions per artist per issue. JPG, Gif, PNG, PDF, (B&W, Half-tone, Grayscale) 72dpi, 5x7.
- Cover Art: One per artist per issue. At the editor’s discretion, submissions not chosen for the cover may be featured in the issue. Format: B&W, Half-tone, or Grayscale, 8x10, 72 dpi.
Unless otherwise noted, all calls for submissions follow regular dates and publication guidelines.
All submissions are accepted at the editor’s discretion. Neither Pen in Hand nor MWA provides feedback, critiques, suggestions, or reviews; or responds to inquiries of any kind regarding submissions, accepted or declined.
Submit using this form: https://marylandwriters.org/form.php?form_id=66 (you will be prompted to log into your member profile to access).
We will let you know when a decision has been made. Some decisions are not made until close to publication as available space in Pen in Hand may be a deciding factor.
For other questions, please reach out to [email protected]. Submissions sent to this email will not be read. You must use the submission form.
