Submission Guidelines
Reading Period
Submissions are currently closed. We will reopen on February 1st!
Issue no. 2 will be Sabr-themed—think mysticism, pilgrimage, devotion, sacrifice, ritual…
General Guidelines
We welcome submissions from all over the world! Submissions are free, and we expect response times to be within two months. Simultaneous submissions are encouraged, all we ask is that if your work is accepted elsewhere that you let us know immediately via email.
Your name should appear on your cover letter but not in the submission files, and it would assist us greatly if you can submit your work in EB Garamond, 11 pt, single-spaced. With each submission, please include a third-person bio no longer than 100 words in the body of your email.
We will not consider work that is racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, ableist, or any other discrimination of the like, nor will we consider work that uses AI in any way.
Poetry Guidelines
Sabr Tooth Tiger publishes poetry of all types—free verse, form, experimental, and more. You may email poetry submissions to sabrtoothtigermag@gmail.com.
To submit, please send up to 5 original, previously unpublished poems in one single .DOC/.DOCX or PDF file with one poem per page (eight pages maximum), and title the file with your last name and indicate “Poetry” (example: LastName_Poetry.doc).
We consider individual poems as well as grouped pieces. We would love to consider poems in translation as well, so long as you have permission from the original author to do so.
Please indicate POETRY SUBMISSION in your subject line. You may also include a brief cover letter in the body of your email.
Prose Guidelines
Sabr Tooth Tiger publishes fiction, essays, and creative nonfiction. You may email prose submissions to sabrtoothtigermag@gmail.com.
To submit, please send one or two original, previously unpublished pieces no longer than 6,000 words each. Multiple pieces should be sent in separate .DOC/.DOCX files, and title each file with your last name and the name of the work (example: LastName_Title.docx).
Please indicate PROSE SUBMISSION in your subject line. You may also include a brief cover letter in the body of your email.
Art Guidelines
Sabr Tooth Tiger accepts all mediums of artwork with the exception of AI-generated art. You can email art submissions to sabrtoothtigermag@gmail.com.
Please submit up to 5 individual art pieces, including high-resolution images of your artwork with your submission. If you are submitting photographs of your artwork (ceramics, fiber arts, paintings, etc.), please consider high-quality photography conventions such as lighting, angles, and framing.
Please indicate ART SUBMISSION in your subject line, and title each art file with your last name and the name of the work (example: LastName_Title.jpeg). All art submissions should be JPGs, JPEGs, or PNGs.
If you wish, you may also include a brief artist’s statement about your work.
Rights & Compensation
We require First Serial Rights, meaning we must be the first publication your work appears in. Following publication, all rights revert to the author, but we ask that Sabr Tooth Tiger Magazine is credited in subsequent reprints. In addition, we reserve the right to edit submissions in accordance with the rules of our style guide, but all edits will be shared with the author for approval before publication.
We currently do not have the funds to be a paying market, as we are a small, independent team, but we aspire to in the future. We offer contributors free PDF copies of the issue their work is in, as well as a discounted print copy priced to cover printing and shipping costs. We proudly nominate work for the Pushcart Prize and other relevant prizes and awards.
Sabr — Mind
patience, reflection, intelligence of form
❖ Does the piece show depth of thought, resilience, or emotional insight?
❖ Is it intentional in its structure, rhythm, or arc?
❖ Does it meditate, interrogate, or illuminate something?
We’re drawn to work that thinks carefully and feels deeply—that waits, endures, and trusts what’s unfolding beneath the surface.
Below are some guiding values to keep in mind when selecting what work you’d like to submit, regardless of issue theme:
Tooth — Body
texture, risk, physicality, language with bite
❖ Does the piece feel like something in the body? Does it move, ache, sting, breathe, sigh?
❖ Is there language that surprises? A sharpness, a raw edge, an embodiment?
❖ How does the piece use sensory detail, form, or voice?
We welcome tenderness and vulnerability—but also ferocity, strangeness, discomfort, even mess.
Tiger — Spirit
wild soul, courage, truth-telling, resistance
❖ What’s at the core of this work? What does it believe?
❖ Does it hold space for beauty and struggle to coexist?
❖ Is there a spirit of defiance, devotion, searching, or survival?
We especially love voices from the margins: from diasporic, BIPOC, disabled, queer, spiritual, or otherwise underrepresented perspectives.
Overall Ethos
We’re drawn to pieces that feel:
❖ Emotionally necessary, intense, urgent
❖ Unhinged but rooted
❖ Slow-burning or explosive
❖ Haunted by lineage, history, or faith
❖ Funny, but the split-rib, hit-your-funny-bone kind
❖ Written with fangs, or flesh, or both
Not every piece will check every box. You’re just holding up a lantern and asking: what’s here? What might live here?