Announcing Two Free Submission Openings - February 15th

Iron Horse Literary Magazine is happy to announce that we will have TWO portals open for free submission this Sunday, February 15th. For one day only, submissions for both our Open Issue 29.1 and Chapbook Issue 28.3 will be completely free. Check out our website or social media on the 15th for the submission link.

Please note that free submissions days are intended for writers who could not otherwise afford the fee to submit. The submission portals for both issues will open at 9am CST and will close automatically when we reach our submission caps.

Open Issue 29.1

For our Open Issue, prose writers should submit flash of no more than 1,000 words and full-length stories and essays of 5,000 words maximum. Poets should submit 3 to 5 poems in a single document.

Accepted contributors will receive an honorarium of $50 per poem or flash piece and $100 per story or essay. Please read our instructions on Submittable for full details before submitting.

Chapbook Issue 28.3

For the 2026 Chapbook Competition, Iron Horse is seeking one of the following:

• a short collection of three to five stories,

• a short collection of three to five essays,

• a short collection of flash fiction,

• a short collection of flash essays,

• a novella,

• a long story told specifically in linked flash, or

• a long lyric essay (by lyric, we mean segmented, braided, or in a hermit crab shell).

We are not accepting hybrids or prose poetry for this competition. Submitted manuscripts must be between 40 - 56 pages, double-spaced (approx. 10,000 to 20,000 words). The winner receives a $1,000 honorarium, 15 free copies, and publication.

Please see our Submittable for more length and formatting details and submission guidelines.

Please reach out to us at ihlr.mail@gmail.com with any questions. We at IHLR are looking forward to reading your work!