The submission window is open.

Otis Nebula publishes incandescent, substantial work that surprises itself. Though the primary focus is on poetry, we’re open to all forms. We’ve always been a refuge for underrepresented voices. Starting with issue #18, we will be featuring exactly twelve writers in each issue. The submission window stays open until we have found “the twelve,” then swiftly closes. If your work is accepted for publication, you will be expected to participate in the creation of an otis, to be published in the issue. This is simply a quick, fun writing game that we think you’ll enjoy and that will help bind the issue together. If you would rather not participate, please let us know when submitting. Please also take a gander at our past issues before sending us your work. If you don’t like what you read, chances are we won’t like reading you. (Sounds harsh but we don’t need to tell you how subjective all this is.)

poetry: Send us up to six poems in the body of the email or (if you must) as an attachment. Note on formatting: Even though our antiquated, esoteric web building software is no longer supported by the company that designed it, we will continue to use it until it explodes. The only problem is it does not do well with the funky, funky formatting. If you’re not open to slight modifications when it comes to mega-spacing, multi columns, indentation, etc you might not like working with us, though we will contort ourselves as much as possible to honor your vision.   

everything else: Word limit is around 3000 words. We do occasionally publish longer prose works, so if you feel like you have something that really does fit in Otis Nebula (trust us, we know if you haven’t read a single issue), please don’t hesitate to send it. You may submit up to three short pieces at a time, one if it’s longer than 3000 words. We prefer to read the work in the body of an email, but we’ve also been known to open an attachment or two.

submit an otis: Want to learn how to otis? Click here. And then, if it behooves you, use words sparked by the twelve images below to start a thread with your friends (can be done remotely or in person) and send it to us for possible inclusion in a forthcoming issue. We take the rules very seriously and only publish otises that do as well. Please embolden all the seed words within the body of the otises so that we may more easily ensure that the order and forms of the words have not been altered, and include a short write-up of your group including where you are and how you came together. We also love hearing feedback about the experience from participants.

Send all submissions to:
otis [at] otisnebula [dot] com

In the subject field of your message, please type your full name and the type of work you’re submitting (fiction, poetry, etc). All submissions should be previously unpublished and include a short, third person biography. Please keep bios under seventy-five words. We reserve the right to edit bios in the interests of brevity and style, and we do often make editorial suggestions on the work as well.

Simultaneous submissions are encouraged. Response time varies from a few days to many, many months. Years even. We personally read everything that is sent, but dispersing rejections saddens us and so we rarely get around to doing it. If it’s been six months, assume that we’re passing on the work you sent us this time. That said, we’ve definitely been known to suddenly want to publish a piece years after receiving it. If uncertainty isn’t your thing, and it’s been at least three months, do email us. We will gladly respond in a fairly timely manner. Simultaneous submitters, please let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere by dropping us a line, preferably in the original thread you used to submit.

Otis Nebula reserves First North American Serial Rights with all rights reverting to the author upon publication. We also reserve the right to feature your work on our social media platforms. At this time, we are not a paying market. We are a machine that runs on volunteer labor and love. What we can offer is an ad-free, refreshingly stark home for your work that readers from around the world will have access to for as long as there’s electricity. Our readership is large: an average of around 10,000 unique visits a month from readers in over 86 countries. Work from our site has been featured on Verse Daily and in various literary podcasts.

We look forward to seeing what you’ve been up to!