Make us think.

Make us question.

Make us stark raving mad.

We want to laugh and weep.

We want to be angry.

We want to be confused; scared.

Make us uncomfortable.

Write something we’re turning over in our minds for days; weeks.

Write something that makes us reconsider everything we believe.

We want sleepless nights and distracted days.

We want to be checking for monsters under the bed.

And in parliament.

Introduce us to your muse.

The theme may be subtle but it must be there. We are clever, please don’t bore us with explanations.  Only one theme should be addressed in each piece. But if you touch on the other side of the coin, that’s fine. Just be sure it’s clear which side you’re on.

We prefer original, unpublished work. But if it’s great and you performed it at your local Poetry Slam or it was published in your campus paper, then send it in. Just let us know.  We favour new writers! We are open to everyone, regardless of writing history but we are most interested in helping struggling writers. We can’t offer payment – yet. But hopefully we soon will. And of course you’re welcome to publish your work elsewhere after it’s had its run with us.

Simultaneous submissions are fine, just let us know in your cover letter that it’s being considered somewhere else. And if it’s accepted there while we’re looking at it, let us know. You should get an email acknowledging we received your submission. If you don’t after a week, send us an email – sometimes things get lost. Our response time is two weeks after the issue closes for submissions (see themes for dates) and could be a yes, no or a rewrite request.

When you send, please put the theme and style in the subject heading along with the title and your by-line. We are unlikely to publish work that doesn’t cover one of our upcoming themes. If you are sending a piece with a theme suggestion please make that clear in your subject heading and in the body of the email.

For example: Beginnings – Flash Fiction – The Great Story – Your Name

or: Theme Idea – Flash Prose – Original Thought – Your Name

Send all submissions to: flip@theglasscoin.com

All written submissions should be in the body of the email. Emails with attachments, other than art, will be deleted, unread. If your piece would benefit from special formatting, visual or audio components, let us know and we may then send you a follow up asking to resend with attachment requests. You can always query editors@theglasscoin.com first.

Include a cover letter in the body of the email as well.
Your cover letter should include:
Your name and Pen name
Your address, telephone and email address
Title of the piece, word count, style
A very short Bio of yourself – think Twitter. This can be previously published work, the Poetry Slam you attended, the famous authors you’ve rub shoulders with, the novel under consideration, why your mother named you after a Shakespeare character. We REALLY do want to know, just keep it short.

Multiple submissions are ok, but one piece per theme per style please. And send each submission in a separate email with separate cover letters. We will look at each piece on its own merit; however if your two flash fiction stories are volume one and volume two of the same story, by all means tell us that – in BOTH cover letters. Extra work makes us cranky.

Please let us know if you’d like to opt out of having your piece archived on the site. If you change your mind about archiving, let us know but once it’s down, we won’t republish it. Your profile will remain on the site and will serve as a landing page for all your work at The Glass Coin. If you would like to update your profile, you may do so with a new acceptance to The Glass Coin or email us at editors@theglasscoin.com. Please don’t request a change to your profile more than once every six months.

We’re against most forms of censorship, so you’d have to be pretty shocking not to make it past our criteria. We’re not interested in erotica and we hate violence or crude language for the sake of it. We won’t publish any hate-literature that embraces prejudice or intolerance towards any group. Don’t send us religious pieces, pro or against, and don’t abuse the name of any god.

POETRY

50 lines
We aren’t crazy about rhymes and lyrics, and a poem about your boyfriend will be a hard sell. We don’t want to define poetry. We like Mary E. Choo, Robert Frost, Brendan McLeod, and Shel Silverstien, but we don’t like copy cats.

FLASH PROSE

1000 words
This is not a story, but a thought. We want ramblings of wisdom and expressions of emotions. Poetry without the poetry. Send us your rants, your journals, your experiences and your opinions. It can be flowery if it must be, but we’re more interested in thorns.

FLASH FICTION

1000 words
Strong narratives. Strong characters. Interesting plots. Short doesn’t mean incomplete.  And Mark Twain was right about adverbs.  All genres are welcome. We like mystery, we love humour, we like fantasy and sci-fi. Whether you write YALit or speculative fiction; are a master of deception, or crime.  If you like a genre, then we’re interested in it.

New NEWS

400-600 words
Check your local area for writing events, book launches, and poetry slams. Then write your experience of the event and send it to flip@theglasscoin.com with News in the title. Please check our News section for the type of thing we’re looking for.

ART

Your art should convey meaning, tell a story or be a picture in a poem. We like photography and original art in any medium.  Just one piece at a time for artists and it should convey both themes. This is the only time we’ll accept attachments, and we only accept JPGS. Your subject line and file name should be the same as writing submissions.
For example: Beginnings-Endings – Art – The Great Image – Your Name
No erotica. (Can’t stress this enough.) We welcome both colour and black and white, but it has to be catching. This is the cover.

New SPOKENWORD

Like all other elements of the Glass Coin, a spokenword piece should convey one side of a split-theme in any one of our Upcoming Themes. We want to feel something, use your voice and expression to breathe life into your words. There should be a reason we’re seeing and hearing your spokenword piece, and not just reading it.

Nudity or excessive profanity won’t be tolerated. If you ignore this we won’t consider any videos from you in the future.

If you are still unsure, feel free to query editors@theglasscoin.com.