Guidelines

Headland welcomes unsolicited submissions, but we do ask you to read these guidelines thoroughly to ensure that you do not spend your energy on preparing a submission that we will be unable to accept.

Submissions for Issue 25 are now open until 30 January 2026.

We accept short fiction and creative nonfiction only (up to 5,000 words). At this time we do not publish poetry, novel excerpts, scholarly essays, reviews, or art. We do not include any illustrations in the pieces we publish.

We will publish what we love. Our process is as subjective as that, so please do not be discouraged if we do not select your writing for Headland.

We pay $75 per accepted piece. We ask for first publication rights, after which all rights revert to the author. We kindly ask that you acknowledge Headland in any reprints.

For issue 25, we invite all submitting authors to include (in your email) up to 300 words on what Headland journal means to you. We’re looking to understand what readers and writers get out of Headland so that we can ensure we reflect your needs going forward. What you write will not have any influence on our consideration of your work for issue 25, but it may be published as part of a special blog later in 2026. With permission, we may also use your statement as part of a future funding application.

Formatting and other FAQs

Please submit one piece only. Submissions can be made via email to headland.journal@gmail.com. We do not accept submissions by post.

We do not accept material generated by AI.

Please format both your document name and the subject header of your email with the genre and the title of your piece, e.g. ‘Nonfiction_The House at Pukawa’. Include in your email a very brief writer’s bio.

For fiction and nonfiction, we ask for pieces up to 5,000 words in length. We are happy for you to submit your piece elsewhere, provided that you advise us immediately if your work becomes unavailable. All work should be previously unpublished; this includes self-publication.

We want to judge your work on its own merits, so please do not include your name anywhere in the body or file name of your document. Please include in the header of your document:

• Title
• Word count
• Your nationality and country of residence
• And, if relevant, ‘Unpublished Author’

If we are umm-ing and aah-ing over whether to select your piece, it may just tip the balance in its favour if we know that we have the opportunity to introduce a new voice and, hopefully, make someone’s day.

Any referencing should be in MLA style; see the Purdue OWL for MLA guidelines.

Please submit your work as a .doc or .docx file.

We may not be able to accept or decline all submissions until three months after each submission deadline, so please wait at least this long before contacting us.