Submit To Helia Lit
Helia Lit is a space for the people who see the world differently. The ones who feel things deeply and need an outlet for it. The ones who can’t NOT create, even when it’s hard, even when it’s messy, even when no one’s watching. Whatever your medium, whatever your process, you belong here.
We Publish Every Submission That Meets Our Guidelines
(read that again)
If your work is original, if it hasn’t been previously published, if you wrote or created it yourself, if it follows our submission guidelines, we publish it.
Most literary magazines accepting submissions treat publication like a competition. The barrier to entry is high. The odds are stacked against you. Your work has to be the "right fit" for their aesthetic, their theme, their vision.
We're not doing that.
Helia Lit exists because we got tired of the gatekeeping. We're two writers with MFAs and over two decades combined experience in journalism and marketing. We've been published. We've been rejected. We've watched good work get turned down for reasons that had nothing to do with quality.
So we built something different. A digital literary magazine where your work doesn't have to fight for a spot. No submission fees. No limit on how often you can submit. No waiting months to hear back.
Our Submission Process
01
Fill out the submission form and upload your work through the portal. Double-check that everything is included so we can move it smoothly into the queue.
Submit Your Work
02
We read every submission to make sure it follows our published guidelines. This step is only about alignment with those guidelines, not subjective taste or “fit.”
Submission Review
03
Submissions meeting our guidelines will be added to our publication lineup. You’ll be notified via email if your submission is accepted. Submissions will go live on Fridays.
Getting Published
04
If a submission doesn’t meet our guidelines, we’ll be in touch within seven business days with more details. We will let you know the reason for not publishing your work.
Following Up
Current Open Calls
Submissions are open right now for all categories:
Short fiction
Poetry
Creative nonfiction
Artwork
Photography
We accept work year-round. No reading periods. No closed submission windows.
This Spring, we want stories that are all about second chances. You have the freedom to interpret it any way you want!
Friends to lovers. The one that got away. Good guys gone bad. The comeback. Career moves. You name it. Whatever you create for this theme of second chances, we want to see it!
If you've been sitting on something that fits, now's the time.
You Have Something To Say.
Let Us Share It With The World.
Share the work you’ve been living with: the piece that surprises you, the one you’re obsessed with, or the one that doesn’t fit anywhere else. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, photography, or art — we want it all. Whatever your voice, whatever your vision, this is a place for it to be seen.