Submission Guidelines
Read this before you submit. All of it. Every submission is reviewed by a real person, one by one, and we give each piece the attention it deserves. We just ask that you do the same before sending.
Rights & Originality
We do not publish AI-generated work. Yes, we will know.
Simultaneous submissions are fine. If your piece gets picked up somewhere else first, pull it from consideration and let us know right away.
We request first rights, meaning we need to be the first to publish your work. If it's appeared anywhere before, including print, a personal blog, or another outlet online, it's not eligible. The same goes for work that's pending with another publication at the time it would go live with us.
Written Submissions
Fiction and nonfiction: 5,000 words or less. Submit as a .docx or PDF.
Poetry: submit your poem formatted exactly as you want it to appear on the page. Line breaks, spacing, alignment, all of it. We publish it the way it comes in, so make sure it's right.
We do light copyediting on fiction and nonfiction, minor grammar and punctuation only. Work that requires significant revision to be publication-ready will not be accepted.
For every accepted written submission, we'll source an image to pair with your work on the site. You don't need to provide one.
Art & Photography Submissions
We accept original artwork and photography. Submit files as JPG or PNG. No full-exposure nudity. All visual submissions are subject to our content standards below.
Include a written artist's statement with your submission. Tell us about the work: what inspired it, where the idea came from, why you made it. We want to know the story behind what we're looking at.
Content Standards
These apply to all submissions, written and visual:
No sexual content involving animals or minors.
No content that promotes or glorifies harm, abuse, or oppression of others.
No hate speech targeting any group based on race, religion, gender, sexuality, disability, or nationality.
No plagiarized work. Submitting someone else's writing or art as your own is grounds for immediate rejection and removal from future consideration.
No defamatory content about real, named individuals.
No full-exposure nudity in art or photography submissions.
Submissions going against these standards will be immediately rejected.
Young Submitters
Helia Lit welcomes submissions from young writers, poets, artists, and photographers. We accept work from ages 13 and up.
If you are under 18, your parent or legal guardian must submit on your behalf. For safety and privacy, contributors under 18 will not have their last name published with their work. Your byline will appear as: by [First Name] (submitted by parent/legal guardian).
What to Include
Every submission needs the following, regardless of type:
Your work.
A short bio about yourself.
A photo. It doesn't have to be your face. Something representative of you is fine.
Art and photography submissions also require a written artist's statement. See the Art & Photography section above for what we're looking for.
Payment & What's Coming
We don't pay for submissions. We'd rather put that up front than make you dig for it.
Here's where we're headed as Helia Lit grows:
A print edition is in development. Accepted contributors will receive free copies.
We'll be running contests with real cash prizes.
We're building a yearly anthology of standout work published on the site. Contributors included will receive a free copy.
And so much more (so stay tuned).
This publication is being built with intention. We know what we want it to be and we're doing the work to get there.
Response Time
Do not follow up on your submission. The one exception: if you're pulling your work because it was accepted elsewhere, let us know right away so we can move to the next piece in the queue.
Every submission is reviewed individually. If your work is accepted, it will go live within two weeks of submission. If it isn't, you'll get a personal response from Helia Lit explaining why.
Submissions received before our official launch on March 13, 2026 will be posted at launch. If your work isn't accepted, you'll hear from us before then.