Send your work via e-mail as a single MS Word or RTF attachment, directing it to the appropriate editor. Your name should appear as the subject line. The body of the e-mail can serve as the submission’s cover letter.

Don’t forget to include your contact information (name, e-mail, address, phone number) in both your cover letter and on the first page of your manuscript. We try our best to respond with a decision within three months, not counting our hiatus during the summer months. Please wait that long before querying the appropriate editor via e-mail. 

We read submissions year round. Please wait to hear back from us before sending another submission.

We accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.

We have no budget, so we can offer no monetary pay at this time, but we appreciate the opportunity to publish your work and to bring good writing to good readers at no cost.

All work is subject to editing. This mainly pertains to spelling and grammar. In the case of more subjective changes, authors will receive an electronic version of the final proof of their work for approval prior to publication.

Poetry

Please send 3-5 poems in a single document attached to your e-mail. We especially like free-verse poems with evocative imagery and lyricism. Prose poems are also welcome.
Send poetry to rougaroupoetry@gmail.com.

Fiction

Please send one story or 3-5 flash pieces (of no more than 500 words each) in a single document attached to your e-mail. We are interested in emotionally resonant stories driven by a strong sense of narrative, and we welcome experimental fiction and nontraditional storytelling that may not be possible on the printed page. Stories should be double spaced, with numbered pages and at least one-inch margins.  Submitted stories should be no longer than 3,000 words.
Send fiction to rougaroufiction@gmail.com.

Creative Nonfiction

We seek high-quality literary nonfiction narrative essays. While we encourage experimentation with form and structure, we do not want strictly critical work or social commentary unless it is couched in some sense of story—we want work that reads like the best fiction but engages in the truth. Our sensibilities are couched in the kind of writers that our nonfiction editors read: David Sedaris, Mary Karr, Annie Dillard, Nick Flynn, and the like. Subject matter is open.  Please send one essay of no more than 5,000 words.
Send creative nonfiction to rougarounonfiction@gmail.com.

Book Reviews

We are interested in thoughtful, well-written reviews of recently published books of fiction and poetry. While the quality of the review is our main concern, we prefer to publicize new or lesser-known writers representing small presses or imprints, as well as books not widely reviewed. Some examples of smaller presses whose offerings consistently intrigue and impress us are Copper Canyon, Graywolf, Tupelo, Alice James Books, and Sarabande.

If you are interested in writing a review for Rougarou, please check with us first to avoid duplication. We also have a selection of review copies that you may choose from if there is no specific work that you wish to review. Reviews should be between 500 and 700 words in length.
Send book reviews and review queries to rougaroubookreviews@gmail.com.

Style Sheet for Book Reviewers

Rougarou is interested in thoughtful, well-written reviews on recently published books of fiction and poetry. Reviewed books should not be over two years old. We are unable to look at reviews that focus on literary criticism at this time.

If you are interested in writing a review for Rougarou, please check with us first to avoid duplication. Be sure to include the name of the book that you are interested in reviewing. We also have a limited selection of review copies that you may choose from if there is no specific work that you wish to review.

Submission can only be made via e-mail attachment (.rtf format, please) to rougaroubookreviews@gmail.com.

U.S. punctuation and spelling conventions are preferred. Use of footnotes in reviews is discouraged.

Headings should follow these examples:

Selected Poems: 1968-1998. By John Wood. (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1999. 181 pages, $36.00). ISBN 978-1-5572-8559-1

The Gothic Other: Racial and Social Constructions in the Literary Imagination. Edited by Ruth Bienstock Anolik and Douglas L. Howard. (Jefferson: McFarland & Company, 2004. 310 pages, $39.95). ISBN 978-0-7864-1858-9

At the end of the review, place your name in capital letters against the left margin. Type your institution’s name or your current location beneath it in italics.