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 Flash CNF Contest submissions are accepted in November each year.
2025 Poetry Contest will be February 15 - March 31.
Sweet is thrilled to announce its annual Poetry Contest. Generally, we appreciate accessible poems that build towards a powerful ending, and you can always read published poems in previous Sweet issues on our website. We look forward to reading your work!
Submissions Open: February 15th - March 31st
Award: The Poetry Contest winners will receive $500 for first place, 2nd place $100, and 3rd place $50 and all to be published in Sweet Lit. All other entries will be considered for a special issue publication in Sweet.
Guidelines:
- Submit up to 5 poems in a single Microsoft Word (*.doc, *.docx) document.
- Please remove all identifying information from your document
- Submissions must be previously unpublished
- Simultaneous submissions are welcome; however, please withdraw the specific poem(s) accepted elsewhere using the "Notes" function of Submittable
- All submissions will be read by the Sweet editorial team and narrowed down to 10 finalists, which will be sent to our final judge, who is yet to be announced.
- The contest entry fee is $10, and all submissions will also be considered for regular publication.
The CLMP Code of Ethics: CLMP’s community of independent literary publishers believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. We believe that intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree to 1) conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors; 2) to provide clear and specific contest guidelines — defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and 3) to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public. This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.