Submissions

Submissions Are Open!

Welcome to Forge Zine’s Autumn Edition 2025!

Forge Zine is a quarterly publication celebrating creativity inspired by nature. As part of Forge Press, an established publishing house, we pride ourselves on amplifying diverse voices and showcasing work by creators of all backgrounds, for everyone. We accept international and local submissions of short stories, flash fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, art, photography, and mixed media.

About Us

Founded in 2019, Forge Zine began as a platform for emerging creatives. After our recent rebrand, we remain committed to uplifting independent authors and artists. Our mission is to curate an inclusive zine that reflects a tapestry of voices, stories and artistic forms.

This Autumn Edition will be published by Forge Press as an eco-conscious zine. You do not need to be previously published to submit, we welcome submissions from all!

THEME: POISON

We are calling for submissions inspired by substances which can cause harm, or explore literal or metaphorical toxins. Interpretations can include, but are not limited to:

• Antidotes, healing from poison with medicines
• Venomous plants and animals, invasive species, contaminated landscapes
• Potions, elixirs, spells and brews - the beauty in decay
• Physical, emotional or spiritual reactions to poisonous ideas
• Inner demons, psychological decay, forbidden desires 

We encourage you to think widely about ‘poison’. We seek work tied to nature and the unnatural world. Submissions should tie to the theme but we welcome playful, weird and unexpected angles. 

Please note: Forge Press will not publish anything relating to or depicting self-harm or suicide. 

Submissions Requirements

Original Work Only

All submissions must be completely your own work, created without the use of AI, and previously unpublished. Any work we believe to be AI generated or plagiarised will not be considered. Unfortunately, we do not accept work that is currently under consideration elsewhere. You may submit to a maximum of two categories.

Rights

All rights will be retained by the creator. However, we please ask you to contact us if your work is accepted elsewhere after publication.

Language

Submissions should be written and will be published in British English. However, dialect differences may feature in dialogue. Other languages may be included within the writing but please provide translations in the form of footnotes.

Content Warnings

We request disclaimers and trigger warnings to be used for your writing if appropriate. This will be used purely for the editorial team.

Submissions Guidelines

Please acknowledge that our zine will be printed in A5 (148mm x 210mm) portrait format. Therefore, any experimental writing needs to fit into these dimensions, you can change your writing document size to A5 before submitting to ensure your work fits. We accept submissions in A4 or A5 format. Please submit all written work in Times New Roman and with a 1.5 line spacing.

All submissions should contain your author name and Autumn Edition 2025 in the document.

Short Stories and Creative Non-Fiction

Short stories and creative non-fiction should not exceed 1,000 words and must be complete pieces. Please only submit once for this category. Creative non-fiction includes memoirs, essays, travel and nature writing. They must be complete pieces and based on fact, the inclusion of incorrect facts is not appropriate. Short stories can be entirely fictional. 

Flash Fiction

Flash Fiction should not exceed 500 words per piece and must be complete pieces. We will consider up to two pieces of flash fiction.

Poetry

Poetry submissions in any form can be up to 80 lines. We will accept up to four poems per submission provided they do not exceed 80 lines total. This excluded titles, subtitles, and blank lines.

Art and Photography

We will accept up to four pieces of art and photography in jpeg or pdf format. Submissions must have a ratio of 1:1.14 (or 128mmx146mm). All art and photography submissions will be considered for the front cover but must be 128mmx146mm. We encourage artists and photographers to include a small description of their work.

Mixed Media

We will accept up to four pieces of mixed media in jpeg or pdf format. Mixed media must be printable therefore we cannot accept moving images or audio at this time. Mixed media submissions must have a ratio of 1:1.14 (or 128mmx146mm). We encourage mixed media creators to include a small description of their work.

We will consider submissions from up to two different categories. You cannot send two pieces of creative non-fiction or short stories as they are classified as the same category. All written work should be sent in a Microsoft Word Document. Please send all submissions in one email with the name you wish to be published under.

Submissions Window

Submissions for Forge Zine Autumn Edition 2025 will open on 17th August 2025 (09:00 GMT) until the end of day 14th September 2025 (23:59 GMT). 

Submissions sent outside of this window will not be considered.

How to Submit

Please send your submissions to [email protected] with the subject line 'Autumn Edition 25 - (categories, e.g., poetry and photography)’.

Please attach your work as a Microsoft Word document, JPEG or PDF and entitle it with the category of your work and your name/pseudonym. Please do not send written work in JPEG or PDF format. 

If you wish to be published under a pseudonym, please make this clear in your email. We require a 30-50 word biography of you in third person. We welcome you to include your pronouns and a photograph of yourself. By including a photograph of yourself and your biography, you are granting us permission to use this for publicity and marketing purposes.

If you are submitting multiple pieces of written work from different categories, please include them in one document. All submissions should be sent in one email with all the supporting information.

Submissions that fail to follow this criteria will not be read.

Feedback

You will receive an acknowledgement that your work has been submitted. Given the size of our editorial team, we will only contact successful applicants via email. We thank you for your understanding in this matter. If your work is accepted, you will receive a response by 16th September 2025.

Fees

There are no entry fees to submit to Forge Zine. Although we cannot pay contributors, successful applicants will be featured in the zine and will receive a free copy with an additional discount code for a friend or family member.

Thank you for taking the time to read our submissions guidelines. We look forward to experiencing your creativity!