Submissions

failbetter.com publishes original fiction, poetry, and visual art.

We seek that which is at once original and personal. When choosing work to submit, be certain that what you have created could only have come from you.

We do not consider work that has appeared elsewhere, either in print or on the Web.

We accept simultaneous submissions.

If you submit via email, expect to hear from us in eight to twelve weeks. If you submit via regular mail, expect to wait three to six months.

We do not respond to inquiries about the status of submissions.

We cannot accept responsibility for lost or damaged submissions.

We acquire exclusive first-time Internet rights for all works we publish. Works are also archived online. All other rights, including the right to publish in print form, revert to contributors.

We’d love to be able to pay our contributors, but we can’t.

Where and How to Send Your Work

Visual artists, see "Guidelines for Visual Artists" below.

Fiction writers and poets, submit your work by pasting it into the body of an email, then sending said email to "submissions AT failbetter DOT com."

Do not send work to any other email address unless we specifically tell you to do so. Such submissions will be discarded.

Do not send attachments. If you attach a file to your email, our server will delete it.

If you insist, you may submit your work via regular mail, to:

failbetter.com
2022 Grove Avenue
Richmond, VA 23220

Please note that if selected for publication, any pieces originally sent by regular mail must be re-sent in electronic format in order to appear on the site.

Guidelines for Fiction Writers

We publish short stories and self-contained novel excerpts.

Send one piece at a time. Wait to hear from us before sending another.

This being the Web, most of the pieces we publish are on the short side. But we're happy to consider longer ones.

Guidelines for Poets

Send us at least four poems, and no more than six. Wait to hear from us before sending more.

Guidelines for Visual Artists

Send a query to "editor AT failbetter DOT com." If we're interested to see your work, we'll send you instructions on how to format and send it.