What're we looking for?
The Missing Slate publishes biannually with themed submissions opening in October through December for our February issue and April through June for our August issue.
We are especially keen to feature emerging voices and focus on publishing work from women and marginalized voices only. There are a large number of publications that cater to cis-men, so if you fall within that bracket, we encourage you to submit to them.
We want work that grabs our attention, that haunts us, that creeps into our psyches, and stays with us. We want work that speaks to us, not because it's about us or people like us, but because it has a voice, an ache to be heard and seen.
We want an experience that takes us out of our presents and roots us in new worlds, and hope for work that is vulnerable, with them pretty words, and that ultimately, tells a good story, in whatever medium.
Check out the do's and don't of submissions below.
The Do's and Don'ts of Submissions
DO:
- Submit your work if you identify as a woman or are part of a marginalized community (a sexual, social, or religious minority).
- Send your work as either solo or collaborative pieces and include any mediums that add to the experience (pictures, music, videos, etc. that you or your collaboration partner created).
- Send us links to the complete pieces if you can't upload them to the form.
- Send us previously unpublished material and credit TMS if published elsewhere.
- Send us your 60-word bio and a (recent) photograph.
- Limit your submissions to a maximum of three; in the case of poetry, include all three submissions in a single file.
- Include a cover letter where you introduce yourself, your work, and how it relates to this issue's theme.
DO NOT:
- Submit if you are a cis-man (i.e. a man not part of a marginalized community). We love you, but TMS is not for you.
- Ask about your submission until four weeks have passed.