Two Hawks Quarterly: submission guidelines and general policies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What do you accept?
A: Works of fiction, creative non-fiction, memoir, cross-genre and poetry.
- Fiction, creative non-fiction and memoir works best in short story format. Submissions should not exceed 5,000 words in length.
- In addition, we are interested in works which address social justice or Queer Studies. These subjects might work best as a cross-genre piece.
The most important factor to consider is that whatever you submit, it must be compelling, original and well written.
Q: Can a non AULA Student, Alum or Faculty Member submit?
A: Yes. Check out the Written Submission Guidelines for details on submitting written work, or check out the Video Submission Guidelines for details on submitting videos.
Q: If you accept my piece, what else do you need from me?
A: Just some information.
- an author bio
- if you have a homepage or sites you want linked to the bio, send us their and names and URLs
- an e-mailed publication agreement (see below.)
Q: What publication rights do you ask for when you accept a story for publication?
A: First Serial Rights — all rights return to the author on publication. That’s the traditional agreement between authors and literary magazines. We ask authors to sign a simple contract that says:
“Poem, Short Story or Memoir “[title of story]” is unpublished; I grant First Serial Rights to Two Hawks Quarterly for publication in a future issue.
Sincerely,
name
address
phone
e-mail
All we ask in return is that you mention that the work first saw print in Two Hawks Quarterly on the acknowledgments page of any future reprints.
Q: What does “First Serial Rights” mean?
A: This rights category means that, you, the author, give us, a serial periodical, first rights to distribute this material for the consumption of others, and once that’s achieved, that’s the end of the agreement. We do not ask for follow-up or anthology rights. We will e-mail you if the opportunity comes for your work to be nominated for reprint in secondary serial or anthology publications.
Q: Do you consider novel excerpts?
A: Yes. But we only consider novel excerpts under the following conditions:
- First Serial Rights must be available for the excerpt.
- We consider excerpts from novels already accepted for publication. Please provide publication info (publishing house, release date, etc) in your cover letter.
- The excerpt has to work as an independent short story. If a piece doesn’t come together in one way or another because it’s part of a larger narrative, its chances of succeeding as a short story is limited.
- The excerpt has to be titled and presented as a short story.
Q: If I have no previous publications to list in my bio, can I still submit?
A: Yes. We look forward to discovering and publishing new voices.
Q: What are the file format guidelines?
A: We do not accept file attachments unless we ask you specifically. All submissions should be sent in the body of your submission e-mail.
Q. Do you read all of every story submitted?
A. Yes, but give us time to respond.
Q: Do you pay?
A: No.
Q: How can I be an editor?
A: If you are an Antioch University Los Angeles undergraduate student, contact Donald Strauss and request an independent study. Openings are limited and commitment is required.
***IMPORTANT***
It is extremely important to submit work which has been edited for typos such as spelling and formatting. Unedited work will not be considered for publication.
