Issue #20: Unseen
Call for Submissions
Open November 13, 2026 – January 15, 2027
Free to submit · Deadline January 15, 2027, 11:59 PM CT
Issue #20 publishes April 2027
About the Theme
For 8 years, Please See Me has published the stories healthcare doesn’t always see. For our 20th issue, our readers and contributors chose the theme that says it most plainly: Unseen.
Unseen is the symptom no one believed. The diagnosis that took years to name. The caregiver in the waiting room, the night-shift nurse, the interpreter, the family member doing the math at the kitchen table. It is the illness you can’t see from across the room, and the person the system looked past. It is also the moment someone finally did see you, or the moment you saw someone else.
Write toward it however it lands for you. Literal or slant, we want work that makes the unseen visible.
Questions to start with:
- What part of your health story has never been told out loud?
- Who did the work no one noticed?
- When were you looked at but not seen? When were you truly seen?
- What does the patient, caregiver or clinician see that no one else does?
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- We seek previously unpublished, creative, and high-quality work in the form of poetry, creative nonfiction/essays, fiction/short stories/flash fiction, scripts and digital media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.
- As always, we seek the highest literary standards–but sometimes there are stories that need to be told and exceptions have been made.
- Deadline: January 15, 2027, at 11:59 PM CT. Issue #20 publishes April 2027.
- Submitting to Issue #20 is free.
- Simultaneous submissions are welcome; please withdraw through Submittable if your work is accepted elsewhere.
- Rights: Please See Me acquires first serial rights for 30 days after publication. After that, all rights revert to the author.
- All Submissions are made through Submittable.
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 excerpts 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 excerpts 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 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.
Working on a Piece for Issue 20?
Our editor offers full-manuscript coaching and hourly inspiration sessions to help you get your work ready to submit. Learn about coaching and manuscript support.
Questions? Email tgranzyk@pleaseseeme.com.