The Muleskinner Journal
Long journeys. Hard roads. Good times.
Submission Guidelines
Journal Eleven: Grounded
Submissions Open May 1 until July 31
Our Theme, Your Mission
We are grounded. We walk slowly, speak clearly, open our senses, accept beauty, seek communion, remain calm.
You are grounded. Saturday night will have to be “live” without you. It just ain’t fair, and you can’t wait ‘til you can get out on your own.
They are grounded. It’s kind of like punishing yourself, having the kids home all weekend, but they gotta learn that some things ain’t okay.
Everyone’s grounded. The planes won’t fly. Damn that weather. We were so ready to leave.
Grounded. Grounded out. Ground up. Ground down. Rumors of an underground. The daily grind that grinds you down. The daily grind that perks you up.
Our theme is grounded.
It’s where we start each day, down on the earth, on the ground but getting up, comfortable in our skins, ground zero for ourselves.
Our wires are properly grounded, but we still might be shocked. We might even like being shocked.
We’ll be Grounded until July 31. Then, who knows…
Manuscript Guidelines…
We accept unsolicited general submissions for free, through Submittable.
We do request a $4 donation (voluntary) to help us offset costs and build towards paying our writers.
Submissions should be in .doc or .docx format and the file should be titled: Last Name_Title or Last Name_Poems
Prose submissions should be sent in New Times Roman or similar, 12pt font, double-spaced, always, with numbered pages.
Simultaneous submissions are fine — we’re writers too, after all — but please let us know if your piece is accepted elsewhere.
Please include a short, third-person bio - we want to know who you are.
Please, no more than one submission per format (poetry, prose), per theme/issue.
Feel free to inquire about the status of your submission if you haven’t heard back after a month. We try to be quick.
Please, no re-submissions of the same work unless a revision was specifically requested.
And finally, we are listed in Duotrope, so please don’t forget to report your submission (if you use them, that is), and thank you!
What we are looking for…
Muleskinner Journal accepts previously unpublished work only. Please use the following word counts to select a category to submit. Send no more than one piece at a time, except where noted. Please submit in only one category at a time.
Micro-Fiction: 25-50 words (1-3 pieces at a time)
Flash: max. 1500 words each (1-3 pieces at a time)
Short Story/excerpts from longer work: (max. 6000 words)
Creative Nonfiction: (max. 6000 words)
Poetry: Any length or form. (1-3 pieces at a time)
We look for writing of all kinds that uses skill, wit, and determination to deliver the goods. We accept and publish poetry, short fiction, flash fiction, micro-fiction, short scripts, excerpts from longer works, memoir, criticism, craft essays, artwork, journalism, and shopping lists.
We don’t care who you are, as long as you are the author of what you submit.
Copyright Stuff
Upon publication, Muleskinner Journal acquires first world serial rights, including first audio production rights, after which we retain the right to include it in a print anthology, as well as the right to maintain it indefinitely on our website. All other rights return to the author upon publication.
Privacy Policy
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Links
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Security of your Personal Information
Muleskinner Journal secures your personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. Muleskinner Journal uses the following methods for this purpose:
– SSL Protocol
When personal information (such as a credit card number) is transmitted to other websites, it is protected through the use of encryption, such as the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol.
We strive to take appropriate security measures to protect against unauthorized access to or alteration of your personal information. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet or any wireless network can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, you acknowledge that: (a) there are security and privacy limitations inherent to the Internet which are beyond our control; and (b) security, integrity, and privacy of any and all information and data exchanged between you and us through this Site cannot be guaranteed.
Right to Deletion
Subject to certain exceptions set out below, on receipt of a verifiable request from you, we will:
Delete your personal information from our records; and
Direct any service providers to delete your personal information from their records.
Please note that we may not be able to comply with requests to delete your personal information if it is necessary to:
Complete the transaction for which the personal information was collected, fulfill the terms of a written warranty or product recall conducted in accordance with federal law, provide a good or service requested by you, or reasonably anticipated within the context of our ongoing business relationship with you, or otherwise perform a contract between you and us;
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Debug to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality;
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Comply with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act;
Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interest that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws, when our deletion of the information is likely to render impossible or seriously impair the achievement of such research, provided we have obtained your informed consent;
Enable solely internal uses that are reasonably aligned with your expectations based on your relationship with us;
Comply with an existing legal obligation; or
Otherwise use your personal information, internally, in a lawful manner that is compatible with the context in which you provided the information.
Children Under Thirteen
Muleskinner Journal does not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of thirteen. If you are under the age of thirteen, you must ask your parent or guardian for permission to use this website.
E-mail Communications
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Changes to this Statement
Muleskinner Journal reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you about significant changes in the way we treat personal information by sending a notice to the primary email address specified in your account, by placing a prominent notice on our website, and/or by updating any privacy information. Your continued use of the website and/or Services available after such modifications will constitute your: (a) acknowledgment of the modified Privacy Policy; and (b) agreement to abide and be bound by that Policy.