The editors at Sweet understand that there are good works that get overlooked, and that often our decisions are based not just on quality but also on taste. That said: Sweet publishes emerging and established writers, releasing new work on a weekly basis throughout the calendar year.
Sweet seeks only poetry and creative nonfiction. Sorry, fiction writers! Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify us immediately if your work has been taken by another literary journal (we'd like to be the first to congratulate you).
Our preferred submission size is 3-5 poems. For creative non-fiction, we prefer 2-3 short-short creative nonfiction pieces or one longer one. Essays should not exceed 1,500 words total.
Along with your attachment, please include a brief cover letter and bio with your submission. Also, after sending us a portfolio of work, please wait to hear back before sending another.
We accept poetry and CNF submissions through our online submission manager during the months of May and June. Graphic submissions are open year round. Poetry Contest submissions are accepted during the month of February and the Karen Kao Flash CNF Contest submissions are accepted in November each year.
Sweet Retreats Chiang Mai will give writers the opportunity to disconnect from their everyday life, immerse themselves in their creative practice, and experience Northern Thailand’s rich and ancient culture. Sweet Retreat’s main goal is to encourage an international writing community through generative writing workshops and conversation, offer a luxurious space to write and create, and foster opportunities for inspiration.
We are looking for writers whose writing and/or writing projects may benefit from an international writing retreat; those who seek to connect to a larger literary world; those who wish to engage with place and their place in it.
Submission should include a cover addressing interest in the retreat, particularly in Chiang Mai, and 5-10 pages of creative samples (multi-genre).
Please be sure to see our website for more infomation: https://sweetlit.org/sweet-retreats/
Please send 2-3 short-shorts or one longer piece of creative nonfiction in a single Microsoft Word (*.doc, *.docx) document.
- Essays should not exceed 1,500 words total
- Submissions must be previously unpublished
- Simultaneous submissions are welcome; however, please withdraw your entry immediately via Submittable if it is accepted for publication elsewhere
Sweet’s Halloween Special Issue
Deadline: Sept 15
Submissions should be no longer than 1500 words.
To celebrate Halloween 2026, Sweet is calling for submissions to a Nonfiction Halloween Special Issue. And we’ll choose one essay to win a spooky prize.
We’re looking for your true spooky stories, told well.
All categories of the creepy, unexplained, ghostly, paranormal, macabre, otherworldly, uncanny and unsettling are welcome–as long as they are compelling and true. We are open to all forms of creative nonfiction and are eager to see creative intersections of the paranormal. What does a paranormal nature essay look like? Or fragments of the unexplainable? The uncanny memoir? The otherworldly personal essay?
Scare us, humor us, compel us to think beyond the self…and the grave? ::insert creepy laughter::.