Submission Guidelines
Updated as of April 10, 2026
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We do not publish AI-generated work.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.
Your work must be original. No fan works will be accepted (even if we are fanfic OGs).
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, social media platforms, 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.
While most literary magazines will have a waiting term of 3-6 months, Helia Lit reserves the exclusive rights to your work for a period of 14 days. This means you cannot post the work itself (your submission) to another publication, personal blog, ANY social media channels, or other online outlets during this period. If your work appears on social media, we will request you remove the post. Failure to do so will result in a rejected submission.
As writers and artists ourselves, we know how excited we get to share our work. We will provide you with custom graphics to share your acceptance on social media so your audience can celebrate with you and see your work in Helia Lit. We want to hype you up, we just ask that you follow these guidelines. Share the acceptance first. Then, when the 14-day window has passed, you’re free to share your actual work to your various personal channels.
[We reserve the right to change this policy at a later date.]
Written Submissions
Fiction and nonfiction: 5,000 words or less. Submit as a .docx or PDF. We want to read your novel, but…
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.
At Helia Lit, we do not select submissions based on personal taste alone, but we do curate intentionally. Every submission is evaluated for quality and execution. Pieces that meet our guidelines will always be considered, but not all will be accepted.
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. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and you don’t have to share that many, but some would be nice.
If you want to share a collection (up to 5 pieces per collection), we will accept them. The collection itself will need an artist’s statement, as well as each piece in the collection. They will be published together as one submission.
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. We want you and your craft to grow with us.
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 to go with your bio. 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.