Submissions
We are Open for Submissions
for the Spring 2025 Issue #16 – What if?
General Guidelines
We seek previously unpublished, creative, and high-quality work in the form of poetry, creative nonfiction/essays, fiction/short stories/flash fiction, scripts and digital media (photography, drawings, podcasts, and short films). Patients, students, family members, caregivers, nurses, physicians, healthcare consumers, artists, mental health providers, physical therapists, writers, clergy—all of us will be patients one day and all are welcome to submit work. We are especially looking for content from vulnerable populations and those who care for them; content that connects us with every community, makes us feel something, helps us see illness, wellness, health, or the healthcare environment differently, and inspires equality in healthcare and the world.
Theme Guidelines: What if?
In September of 2024, I attended the Patients for Patient Safety World Patient Safety Day in Washington DC. This dedicated group of patient advocates and activists are working hard to push policy and change forward that protects patients and providers in our US healthcare system. The organization created a short video entitled What if? capturing personal stories highlighting how their health outcomes and lives were affected by healthcare systems that failed to deliver the appropriate care, and which inspires the theme for 2025 Issue #16.
- What if you had asked the next question of your provider even as their back was turned and walking out the door?
- What if you had taken the extra moment with a patient and not missed that diagnosis?
- What if you had asked for help in your third year of medical school? In residency?
- What if you had spoken up when you witnessed bullying or inappropriate leadership?
- What if you had told your partner you loved them before they left for work?
- What if you shared the joy you experienced when care did go as planned?
The canvas here is wide and deep and the theme is a jumping off point. Paint with the words and images that ring true to you! We look forward to seeing what our audience of writers, patients, physicians, psychologists, patient advocates, artists, and healthcare consumers have to say! Every one of your stories matter to us. We are listening!
Genre Guidelines
Poetry
Please submit a maximum of three poems at a time. If you submit more than three, we can only read the first three.
Fiction
Please submit short stories no more than 4,000 words in length. Flash fiction, up to 1,000 words, is welcome and encouraged. Submissions should be double-spaced in 12pt Times Roman or other serif font with 1″ margins. We will look at excepts of longer works on a case-by-case basis; please query us with a description of your project before submitting if greater than 4,000 words.
Creative Nonfiction
Please submit nonfiction pieces no more than 4,000 words in length. Submissions should be double-spaced in 12pt Times Roman or other serif font with 1″ margins. We will look at excepts of longer works on a case-by-case basis; please query us with a description of your project before submitting if longer than 4,000 words.
Films
Please submit links to your short films for review, and up to five minutes in length.
Other Media
We welcome submissions of photography, podcasts, and other media. All digital media will should be hosted by the creator, and shared by a link. Photography and still images can be attached to submission in a .jpg file sized suitable for web upload on WordPress.
As always, we aim for the highest literary and artistic standards.
All Submissions are made through Submittable.