We’re here for the work that doesn’t quite fit anywhere else.

If you have ever asked yourself why you wrote a particular piece, then this is the journal for you. If you are having second, third, or even fourth thoughts, you’ve found your tribe.

After/Thought Literary is seeking work from the edge. Blind us with mind blowing fiction. Move us with poetry that would make us ugly cry on a rusty bench in a busy city park. Tell us universal truths or embarrass us with your non-fiction.

If it’s fucked-up or if it has you fucked up, we’re here for it.

What we’re looking for:

• Poetry: Any form. Any length (though under 3 pages per poem is ideal). Send up to 3 poems per submission.
• Fiction: Flash, short stories, experimental, hybrid—just keep it under 3,500 words.
• Nonfiction: Memoir, personal essay, lyric essay, things-that-defy-classification. Up to 3,500 words.
• Hybrid & Genre-Bending: We love the strange. If you’re unsure where it fits, send it anyway.

Submission Guidelines:

• Simultaneous submissions are welcome. Please just let us know right away if your piece is accepted elsewhere.
• No previously published work, please.
• For prose: please attach a formatted, double spaced, 12pt font PDF or Word document.
• For poetry: please attach a PDF or Word document.
• Write a short cover letter in the body of the email.
• Submissions are free. We believe in access and equality.
• We read blind. Please remove identifying info from your manuscript.
• We’re currently open for submissions and intend to remain open.
• Response time: 2–3 weeks, though we may get back to you sooner. If you have not received a response within 35 calendar days, feel free to follow up.

Every Submission Matters

We read every single piece. Every poem, every sentence. This isn’t a numbers game to us. You’re not a line in a spreadsheet. If you send your work, it will be seen, it will be considered, and—no matter the outcome—you’ll hear back from us.

We know what it’s like to send work into a void. This journal was born from that silence.

We won’t go ghost here.

Artificial Intelligence

We recognize that writers may use tools—including AI—for research or light editing. However, we only consider work in which the language and creative decisions are the author’s own. Submissions that are wholly or substantially generated by AI are not eligible for publication.

Rights & Such

We will require first worldwide electronic and/or print publication rights, exclusive for 30 days beginning on the date the work is first published by the After/Thought Literary. Rights revert to the author after such period.

Archival Rights, allowing the work to remain on the After/Thought Literary’s website and/or digital archive indefinitely unless the author requests removal in writing.

Non-exclusive anthology rights, permitting After/Thought Literary the right to include the work in a future print or digital anthology.

If your piece gets published elsewhere in the future, we would appreciate that you credit After/Thought Literary as the original publisher.

We are unable to offer compensation at this time.

Author Bios:

If your work is accepted, we’ll ask you for a short author bio to run alongside your piece.

To submit, email us at: AfterThoughtLiterary@gmail.com