Five South accepts unsolicited submissions of short fiction, flash fiction, and poetry for the digital publication via submission manager. The majority of what we publish comes from our slush. 

Word Counts:

• Flash: 1000

• Short Fiction: up to 5000

• Non-Fiction: Varies. See open calls. 

• Poetry: No limit, up to 5 pages

• Humor: Up to 2000 words

Submission Fees:

• Flash Fiction: $3.00 for up to three pieces

• Short Fiction: $4.50 for one piece

• Poetry: $3.00 for up to 5 pieces

We accept all genres (including humor), but will not even remotely consider: hate, pornography, or pedophilia.

All submissions must be in English and previously unpublished in either print or online. Combine all pieces into one document.

Withdraw your piece here.

We suggest to all who submit that they read the most recent issue of Five South and our About Page to get to know our vibe.

Emailing For Typos and Status Checking

Typos and other minor mistakes are normal in the publishing process, as long as they don't affect content. Five South does not allow any revisions to submissions during reading period - if your work is selected for publication you will be able make necessary corrections prior to publication.

Status Checking:

Unless it's been more than six months, please do not email checking the status of your piece.

Please do not email submissions. They will be deleted unread.  

➡️ Download our helpful Word template and formatting guide here. 

Submissions not formatted correctly will be declined. Please double check your submission before you send. Taking the time to format your submissions properly shows you care about your work and the people reading it.

Fiction and Non-Fiction General Rules:

• 12pt Times or Garamond font

• Double Spaced

• We prefer .doc or .dox files, but in a pinch .txt is OK.

Poetry General Rules:

• Please note we are limited in how our website will display your piece. Lines longer than 13 words will break. Keep this in mind when submitting poetry. 

• 12pt Times or Garamond font

• Format your piece how you would like it published.

• We prefer .doc or .dox files, but in a pinch .txt is OK. Please do not send PDFs. 

• You're currently viewing our off-site submission manager. This site is attached to our journal website (www.fivesouth.net) and acts as a submissions hub for information and submission gateways. 

• Five South uses a bespoke submission manager that processes payments first through Stripe. After you've submitted payment, you'll be taken to our submission manager via ClickUp. If you are not immediately taken to the form to submit your work, please contact submissions@fivesouth.net 

• You will receive a confirmation email from Five South. Rest assured, unless you hear otherwise, your submission has been received and you're good to go.

• If you experience any technical difficulties using our submission manager or have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out to submissions@fivesouth.net.

When submitting your information and files to Five South through our input form, you will encounter specific fields asking for a Twitter handle and a website URL. It's important to note that these fields are required, but if you don't have a Twitter account or website, there's no need to worry. You can still complete and submit the form by entering "NA" in the Twitter field and "na.com" in the website field.

We are not currently providing a quick resonse option. 

Flash Fiction & The Weekly (flash or poetry)
Great flash fiction feeds readers with a whole history, in a single moment. Readers of great flash fiction know that thees types of stories help heal and reveal a lifetime of work. We experience the past, present, and future within a single piece of art. This form encourages us to hold major ideas, and influential histories, in equal balance. 

Stories deserve a beginning, a middle, and an end. Flash fiction successfully reveals all three with complete finesse, in a single moment or scene. This form encourages us to hold major ideas, and influential histories, in equal balance. Readers can feel the weight of the past, recognize the preciousness of a single moment, and hold out hope for the future. A three-act structure is a skillfully executed story, even if your word limit is 1k or less. Prose poetry, new genres and interesting topics can be explored, dissected, and understood within this high-octane form. We like stories to give the reader inspiration to approach difficult topics. We want the ancient truths told in a refreshing way—a way that is compassionate, funny, interesting and hopeful. Great flash fiction creates immense meaning from single moments, or scenes, in time. 

We want readers to feel seen, inspired, and hopeful about our shared humanity. This is what fiction is for, after all. ~Jessica Willingham

The Weekly
The Weekly features emerging artists with unique voices. And, established writers working in new forms or genres. The Weekly is a rundown of what’s cool in the writing world, right now. We search Five South submissions for something new and unexpected. We also solicit work from across the writing scene to create space and connection for everyone. Our favorite stories are often a reflection of a writer’s life; characters explore longing, loss, and hope for a future. If you can do all that, and make us laugh or cry in the process, we will shout your pen name from the rooftops. What we’re really looking for is a flash-in-the-pan opportunity to connect and understand one another, right there on the page. ~Jessica Willingham

Non-Fiction
I’m looking for non-fiction submissions that use language, form, and perspective to tell stories that compel and resonate. I’m looking for writers who go beyond what everyone has done or is doing and who present their work in their own unique way because each person’s individuality is what makes them interesting ~Dave Nash

Long Fiction
Coming Soon

It's 2023 and robots have taken over the world. While we do not morally oppose the use of A.I. (artificial intelligence) to assist in writing (for example, Grammarly or prompt creation) nor the use of A.I. writing as a novelty, we do expect you to disclose if any portion of your submission has been auto-generated by A.I. 

A.I. writers like Chat GPT have become indistinguishable from human writing. We must all be crystal clear to ensure that the future of literature remains in the hands of humans. Any novelty writing that is created by A.I. and published at Five South will always be disclosed with as much transparency as possible. It is never our aim to trick readers or pass something off as human. We won't be able to tell if something is written by A.I., so we trust our submitters to be upfront with us and we in turn, will be upfront with our readers.

IMPORTANT
Disclosing the use of A.I. does not exclude your submission for consideration. If submitting A.I. generated works, you must:

A. Tell us if all (or a portion) of the piece has been auto generated. If only a portion, you must disclose which portion.
B. Include the prompt you used to create the piece

Simultaneous submissions are acceptable as long as we are notified immediately if your piece is accepted for publication elsewhere. Please use this form or email submissions@fivesouth.net to withdraw your piece. 

All submissions received during the reading period will be read. Response time will vary according to the number of submissions. We make every effort to respond to all submissions within three to six months of receipt. If you don't hear from us in that time, feel free to give us a nudge.

If your work is accepted, it will be subject to an agreement granting Five South exclusive online worldwide English rights. This common practice means we retain the right to be the only journal publishing your piece online. For secondary print anthologies and collections, published poets and authors must request approval from Five South prior to publication and give us credit as first publisher. We will almost always say yes to secondary print publication so long as we're credited. You retain the rights to the work after first publication. If you have any questions regarding rights, please contact editor@fivesouth.net

​By submitting your work for consideration, you represent that:

(1) The work is not in the public domain, has not been published in any other publication in any jurisdiction in the World, has not been distributed or displayed to members of the public, and you have not made any agreement with another party inconsistent with granting first publication rights to us. (It is important for us to know if your work is to be included in a collection or larger work being prepared for future publication. Please let us know, right away, the title, publisher and planned publication date.)

(2) The work is your original authorship and no other party has a claim to rights in it except as you specifically disclose at the time of your submission;

(3) In the case of translations, you have obtained permission of the author or the author’s agent or estate to publish your translation.

(4) There is nothing in the work that is libelous, invades personal privacy or deprives another of the right of publicity, or is otherwise actionably harmful or illegal.

Please see our section above on A.I. Disclosure.