Shadow’s Call is our free digital quarterly featuring short stories, essays, poetry, art, press news, reviews, interviews, profiles, and more.

Shadow’s Call is our free digital quarterly featuring short stories, essays, poetry, art, press news, reviews, interviews, profiles, and more. Sign up to get Shadow’s Call delivered right to your inbox. Find every Shadow’s Call in the archive. 

Submissions to Shadow's Call are always free.
Submit your work to be featured in the next Shadow’s Call, on our website, and across social media, reaching an estimated 18-20k potential readers.

Shadow's Call

Current Call:
January 30th – March 31st
Selected work will appear in Shadow’s Call Spring 2026 and will be featured on all social media channels.

Details:
Submit one poem that has not previously appeared in any online or print publication. Work you’ve shared or workshopped on social media/in online writing groups is okay.
 
Rights:
Basic first rights until publication, after which rights revert to the author. We also retain non-exclusive rights to archive the work on our website indefinitely. Authors agree not to self-publish, authorize, or otherwise permit the publication of the work, in whole or in part, in any publication or on any platform, including personal blogs and on social media, from acceptance through its appearance. We ask for acknowledgment of first publication.
Simultaneous Submissions:
We welcome and encourage simultaneous submissions. If your submission is accepted elsewhere, you don’t have to notify us; you can let us know it isn’t available if we reach out with an offer to publish it.

Multiple Submissions:

You may submit up to 3 submissions per category.

Compensation:

Shadow’s call offers publication, platforming, and professional support, but can not offer financial compensation at this time.

The Submission Packet
We require the following separate documents.

Document #1- Your Work

—Saved as a .doc, .docx, or PDF file
—Use a 12pt font
—Poetry may be spaced as needed.

Document #2- Your Cover Letter

Your cover letter is your chance to introduce yourself and the work you’re submitting. Provide any warnings or background info you feel is appropriate. Provide a 3rd-person bio to include with your piece, if published. Brag a little. Tell us about your pets. When in doubt, include it. We like a good bio.
Be sure to list your website and any social media handles you have. 

We require cover letters to include a short statement certifying that generative AI was not used during your creation process. This is mandatory. We will not process submissions that don’t include this statement.

Finally, include your contact information:

—Name/Pen Name under which you wish to publish, if applicable
—Email address

Acceptance timelines: 

Acceptance emails will be sent no later than the dates listed below. 

Poetry—Acceptance by April 15th 2026

Please note that we no longer send rejection/pass emails.

Things to know before submitting:
-Submissions that do not follow the guidelines will be discarded without notice.

-We don’t publish writers who use generative ai in any stage of the creative process. Pieces written with generative ai will be discarded.

We do not want:
-work depicting rape or sexual assault, hate speech of any kind, violence toward women and children, any work that is primarily fueled by gratuitous violence and gore, work that so much as hints at the mistreatment of animals, or work in which being offensive is the primary purpose. Sending such work could result in being banned from submitting again, depending on the severity of the offense.
-We publish works that touch on erotic themes, but we do not publish pornography.

– Due to our subject matter, Shadow's Call only publish work from creators ages 18 and over.

In furtherance of our mission statement and our quest to platform rising, underrepresented, disadvantaged, and otherwise disenfranchised writers, poets, and artists from beyond the academic realm, we do not separate the creator from the creation by blind reading Shadow’s Call submissions.

This is a safe place for you—for all writers, poets, and artists, no matter who you love, how much money you have in your pocket, the color of your skin, your educational background, or what you have going on in your pants.

Shadow's Call is presented by Shadow Dog Press in conjunction with C.B. Mottor Media. 

Poetry

Shadow’s Call Art Submission Guidelines
Current Call:
January 30th – March 31st
Selected work will appear in Shadow’s Call Spring 2026 and will be featured on all social media channels.

Details:
Submit one work of art that has not previously appeared in any online or print publication. Work you’ve shared on social media/in online artist’s groups is okay.
 
Eligible Art: Paintings, drawings, artistic photography, sculptures, metalwork, ceramics, woodworking, needlepoint, and quilting… we want to showcase all of your creations. We do not accept AI images. Please do not send them. 
 
Rights:
Basic first rights until publication, after which rights revert to the author. We also retain non-exclusive rights to archive the work on our website indefinitely. Artists agree not to self-publish, authorize, or otherwise permit the publication of the work, in whole or in part, in any publication or on any platform, including personal blogs and social media, from acceptance through its appearance. We ask for acknowledgment of first publication. 
 
Simultaneous Submissions:
We welcome and encourage simultaneous submissions. If your submission is accepted elsewhere, you don’t have to notify us; you can let us know it isn’t available if we reach out with an offer to publish it.

Multiple Submissions:

You may submit up to 3 submissions per category.

Compensation:

Shadow’s call offers publication, platforming, and professional support, but can not offer financial compensation at this time.

The Submission Packet
We require the following separate documents.

Document #1- Your Work

—send up to 5 high-quality image files of your art. 

Document #2- Your Cover Letter

Your cover letter is your chance to introduce yourself and the work you’re submitting. Provide any info and context you feel is appropriate. Provide a 3rd-person bio to include with your piece, if published. Brag a little. Tell us about your pets. When in doubt, include it. We like a good bio.
Be sure to list your website and any social media handles you have. 

We require cover letters to include a short statement certifying that generative AI was not used during your creation process. This is mandatory. We will not process submissions that don’t include this statement.

Finally, include your contact information:

—Name/Pen Name under which you wish to publish, if applicable
—Email address

Acceptance timelines: 

Acceptance emails will be sent no later than the dates listed below. 

Art Call—Acceptance by April 15th 2026

Please note that we no longer send rejection/pass emails.

Things to know before submitting:
-Submissions that do not follow the guidelines will be discarded without notice.

-We don’t publish writers who use generative ai in any stage of the creative process. Pieces written with generative ai will be discarded.

We do not want:
-work depicting rape or sexual assault, hate speech of any kind, violence toward women and children, any work that is primarily fueled by gratuitous violence and gore, work that so much as hints at the mistreatment of animals, or work in which being offensive is the primary purpose. Sending such work could result in being banned from submitting again, depending on the severity of the offense.
-We publish works that touch on erotic themes, but we do not publish pornography.

– Due to our subject matter, Shadow’s Call only publish work from creators ages 18 and over.

In furtherance of our mission statement and our quest to platform rising, underrepresented, disadvantaged, and otherwise disenfranchised writers, poets, and artists from beyond the academic realm, we do not separate the creator from the creation by blind reading Shadow’s Call submissions.

Submit (opens Jan. 30th 2026)
 This is a safe place for you—for all writers, poets, and artists, no matter who you love, how much money you have in your pocket, the color of your skin, your educational background, or what you have going on in your pants.

We do not solicit work and only publish poetry and prose received through the submission system.
Shadow’s Call is presented by Shadow Dog Press in conjunction with C.B. Mottor Media. 

Shadow’s Call Creative Nonfiction Submission Guidelines

Current Call:
January 30th – March 31st
Selected work will appear in Shadow’s Call Spring 2026 and will be featured on all social media channels.

Details:
Submit one piece of creative nonfiction between 100 and 2,500 words that hasn’t appeared in any online or print publication. Work you’ve shared on personal blogs and on social media is okay, but we ask that you take it down if it is accepted for Shadow’s Call. 
At this time, Shadow’s call is especially interested in publishing the following types of creative non-fiction:
Personal Essays
Literary Journalism
Lyric Essay

Hermit Crab Essays
Braided Essays
Vignettes

Literary Profiles
Travelogues
Diary/Journal format

Rights:
Basic first rights until publication, after which rights revert to the author. We also retain non-exclusive rights to archive the work on our website indefinitely. Authors agree not to self-publish, authorize, or otherwise permit the publication of the work, in whole or in part, in any publication or on any platform, including personal blogs and on social media, from acceptance through its appearance. For reprints, we ask for acknowledgment of first publication.
Simultaneous Submissions:
We welcome and encourage simultaneous submissions. If your submission is accepted elsewhere, you don’t have to notify us; you can let us know it isn’t available if we reach out with an offer to publish it.

Multiple Submissions:

You may submit up to 3 submissions per category.

Compensation:

Shadow’s call offers publication, platforming, and professional support, but can not offer financial compensation at this time.

The Submission Packet
We require the following separate documents.

Document #1- Your Work

—Saved as a .doc, .docx, or PDF file
—Use a 12pt font, double-spaced.

Document #2- Your Cover Letter

Your cover letter is your chance to introduce yourself and the work you’re submitting. Provide any warnings or background info you feel is appropriate. Provide a 3rd-person bio to include with your piece, if published. Brag a little. Tell us about your pets. When in doubt, include it. We like a good bio.
Be sure to list your website and any social media handles you have. 

We require cover letters to include a short statement certifying that generative AI was not used during your creation process. This is mandatory. We will not process submissions that don’t include this statement.

Finally, include your contact information:

—Name/Pen Name under which you wish to publish, if applicable
—Email address

Acceptance timelines: 

Acceptance emails will be sent no later than the dates listed below. 

Acceptance by: April 15th 2026

Please note that we no longer send rejection/pass emails.

Things to know before submitting:
-Submissions that do not follow the guidelines will be discarded without notice.

-We don’t publish writers who use generative ai in any stage of the creative process. Pieces written with generative ai will be discarded.

We do not want:
-work depicting rape or sexual assault, hate speech of any kind, violence toward women and children, any work that is primarily fueled by gratuitous violence and gore, work that so much as hints at the mistreatment of animals, or work in which being offensive is the primary purpose. Sending such work could result in being banned from submitting again, depending on the severity of the offense.
-We publish works that touch on erotic themes, but we do not publish pornography.

– Due to our subject matter, Shadow's Call only publish work from creators ages 18 and over.

In furtherance of our mission statement and our quest to platform rising, underrepresented, disadvantaged, and otherwise disenfranchised writers, poets, and artists from beyond the academic realm, we do not separate the creator from the creation by blind reading Shadow’s Call submissions.

Submit (Opens Jan. 30th, 2026)
 This is a safe place for you—for all writers, poets, and artists, no matter who you love, how much money you have in your pocket, the color of your skin, your educational background, or what you have going on in your pants. 

We do not solicit work and only publish poetry and prose received through the submission system.

Shadow’s Call is presented by Shadow Dog Press in conjunction with C.B. Mottor Media. 

 

Creative Nonfiction

Shadow’s Call Fiction Submission Guidelines
Current Call:
January 30th – March 31st
Selected work will appear in Shadow’s Call Spring 2026 and will be featured on all social media channels.

Details:
Submit one piece of fiction between 100 and 2,500 words that has not appeared in any publication, online or in print. Work you’ve shared on personal blogs and on social media is okay, but we ask that you take it down if it is accepted for Shadow’s Call.
 
Rights:
Basic first rights until publication, after which rights revert to the author. We also retain non-exclusive rights to archive the work on our website indefinitely. Authors agree not to self-publish, authorize, or otherwise permit the publication of the work, in whole or in part, in any publication or on any platform, including personal blogs and on social media, from acceptance through its appearance. For reprints, we ask for acknowledgment of first publication.
Simultaneous Submissions:
We welcome and encourage simultaneous submissions. If your submission is accepted elsewhere, you don’t have to notify us; you can let us know it isn’t available if we reach out with an offer to publish it.

Multiple Submissions:

You may submit up to 3 submissions per category.

Compensation:

Shadow’s call offers publication, platforming, and professional support, but can not offer financial compensation at this time.

The Submission Packet
We require the following separate documents.

Document #1- Your Work

—Saved as a .doc, .docx, or PDF file
—Use a 12pt font, double-spaced.

Document #2- Your Cover Letter

Your cover letter is your chance to introduce yourself and the work you’re submitting. Provide any warnings or background info you feel is appropriate. Provide a 3rd-person bio to include with your piece, if published. Brag a little. Tell us about your pets. When in doubt, include it. We like a good bio.
Be sure to list your website and any social media handles you have. 

We require cover letters to include a short statement certifying that generative AI was not used during your creation process. This is mandatory. We will not process submissions that don’t include this statement.

Finally, include your contact information:

—Name/Pen Name under which you wish to publish, if applicable
—Email address

Acceptance timelines: 

Acceptance emails will be sent no later than the dates listed below. 
Acceptance by: April 15th 2026

Please note that we no longer send rejection/pass emails.

Things to know before submitting:
-Submissions that do not follow the guidelines will be discarded without notice.

-We don’t publish writers who use generative ai in any stage of the creative process. Pieces written with generative ai will be discarded.

We do not want:
-work depicting rape or sexual assault, hate speech of any kind, violence toward women and children, any work that is primarily fueled by gratuitous violence and gore, work that so much as hints at the mistreatment of animals, or work in which being offensive is the primary purpose. Sending such work could result in being banned from submitting again, depending on the severity of the offense.
-We publish works that touch on erotic themes, but we do not publish pornography.

– Due to our subject matter, Shadow’s Call only publish work from creators ages 18 and over.

In furtherance of our mission statement and our quest to platform rising, underrepresented, disadvantaged, and otherwise disenfranchised writers, poets, and artists from beyond the academic realm, we do not separate the creator from the creation by blind reading Shadow’s Call submissions.

Submit (Opens Jan. 30th, 2026)
 This is a safe place for you—for all writers, poets, and artists, no matter who you love, how much money you have in your pocket, the color of your skin, your educational background, or what you have going on in your pants.

We do not solicit work and only publish poetry and prose received through the submission system.
Shadow’s Call is presented by Shadow Dog Press in conjunction with C.B. Mottor Media. 

Shadow's Call

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