The Sun Magazine publishes personal essays, short stories, and poems by established and emerging writers from all over the world. Writing from The Sun has won the Pushcart Prize and the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers.
They want writing that can turn heads, open hearts, and change minds. They encourage submissions from writers whose perspectives are underrepresented in or missing from The Sun.
Their contributors’ work has also been selected for many of the Best American anthology series, including Best American Essays, Poetry, Short Stories, Spiritual Writing, Science Fiction & Fantasy, and Sports Writing.
They are particularly looking for work by writers of color, queer and trans writers, writers with disabilities, incarcerated writers, and others who are marginalized on the basis of their circ*mstances or identity.
Submission Guidelines For The Sun Magazine
- Send them your essay that is too personal for any other journal — the one where you are so unguarded. They have editors you can trust and compassionate readers who will honor your vulnerability.
- Stories from any genre of fiction will be accepted.
- They are looking for poems — usually narrative but always accessible — that invite us into your confidence and lead us to revelation.
- They have no formal word limits, but they tend not to publish work longer than 7,000 words.
- They will consider up to 5 poems at once. Please save them together in a single submission file.
- You can send your manuscripts in any legible 12-point font with double-spaced paragraphs, page numbers in the footer, and 1-inch margins.
- On page 1 please include the author’s name, submission title, and genre.
- They appreciate careful proofreading, however they will not disqualify submissions for formatting inconsistencies or typos.
- They consider submissions online through Submittable. They do not consider unsolicited submissions through email.
- To submit by mail, send your printed manuscript and a self-addressed, stamped envelope to:
Editorial Department
The Sun
107 N. Roberson St.
Chapel Hill, NC 27516 - They cannot respond unless a return envelope is provided, and your manuscript will not be returned without sufficient postage.
- Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but you will have to notify them immediately your work is accepted by another journal.
- You can check the status of an online submission by logging into Submittable, where you can track your submission and see the most recent status.
- Please note that they are unable to track mailed submissions. If you do not hear from them within six months, they recommend submitting your manuscript again, preferably online.
Author Rights
The Sun Magazine purchases one-time print and online publishing rights.
Pay Rates
They offer payment upon publication of accepted work. They pay via PayPal or direct deposit.
For fiction, essays and poetry, their pay rates are from $200 upwards. Although, such rates will be based on page length.
