For short fiction, poetry, visual art, and other short works.
Hi! I’m Keiko O’Leary from Thinking Ink Press. I design and edit Instant Books, Flashcards (flash fiction or poetry on a postcard), and other publications in non-traditional formats. I want to publish more of these specialty publications.
Submissions re-open February 1, 2024. I look forward to reading your work then!
Types of pieces I’m looking for:
- For postcards: poems or flash stories you wish someone would send you in the mail. Story length is about 100 to 300 words. Poetry length is 30 lines or fewer.
- For Instant Books: standalone stories 500-1,500 words in length with strong narrative arcs.
- For a 4-page flexagon: (A flexagon is a flat piece of paper that you can fold and twist to reveal hidden surfaces.) Stories or poems that can be divided into four pages and read as a loop, with no enforced beginning or end. Perhaps time travel? Or four related poems?
- Visual art: images that beg to have stories made about them.
My Perspective and Preferences
(but send anything you think matches the formats)
- A poem is a ceremony that changes the reader. Send me dangerous poems that will change me for the better.
- A story is what happens, how that changes someone, and why it matters to the rest of us. Send me stories whose endings knock me down and compel me to read the whole thing again.
- A book is a complete text that comes in its own wrapper. I see all of these formats as books, just with different wrappers than usual. Send me a piece that works as a book.
How to Submit Your Work
- Simultaneous submissions and reprints are okay.
- Send one story or up to three poems at a time.
- Send your submission to queries@ThinkingInkPress.com
Use subject line: Keiko’s Calls: <your project’s title>
Please submit the entire work.
Use standard manuscript format or something reasonably close.
We prefer Microsoft Word documents, but we also accept RTF, PDF, OpenOffice, or text (.txt). - Please don’t use crazy fonts. Whatever your word processor automatically selected is fine, or try a nice classic serif like Garamond or Baskerville. (If you feel strongly that your piece should be published in a certain font, we can talk about that after your piece is accepted.)
- For images, please attach .JPG file(s) that are no larger than 5MB (unless a larger file is required to make details understandable).
What If I Have Questions?
Feel free to email me at keiko@ThinkingInkPress.com. But seriously, usually “I have questions” means “I’m nervous about submitting.” Why not just send in your piece? I’m a nice person, and I’ll be glad you sent it. Even if I don’t publish it, you’ll have made a good first impression by being courageous, and then I’ll know who you are for your next submission.
I look forward to seeing your work soon!
Your friend in literature,
