Anthology Submission Page

Inspired Quill is pleased to announce the opening of submissions for an anthology of short stories, essays, and poetry.

This anthology will bring together diverse voices exploring themes of hope, resistance, and human connection in response to the rise of global authoritarianism, social division, and political violence.

The key word is Resistance. Our democracies are being taken over by demagogues and authoritarians in ways that would be considered ridiculous even 5 years ago.

The duty of an artist at times like these is to create dangerously and to push back.

We want to hear from voices who are actively fighting back or advising others on how to resist and persist during this global tipping point in politics, climate chage and individualism.

Submission Timeline

Subs Open: March 29th, 2025

Subs Close: April 29th, 2025

Final Confirmations: June 26th

Anthology Launch: Autumn 2026 (latest)

What Are We Looking For?

For this anthology, IQ are looking for short stories, essays, and poetry in the English language. Literary and genre pieces are both welcome as long as they fit the theme of hope, resistance, and human connection in response to the rise of global authoritarianism, social division, and political violence.

We favor quality of message over the means of delivering it.

Some Notes:

We welcome anger as well as optimism, as long as that anger is constructive (e.g. punching a n*zi) rather than destructive (e.g. violence without direction). Show us how to 'build better' - we want forward action and not just pretty words.
Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let us know asap if your piece gets accepted elsewhere.
Translations are fine, as long as the submitter possesses the rights for the translated piece.
Previously published pieces are also good (including translations), as long as you possess the appropriate rights.
Please don't submit purely graphic/visual media (although graphics and photos can be used to supplement in-scope pieces). We love them, but we also have to stick to what we're good at.
1 entry per person only.
Please do not submit work that is not for this anthology. We are not currently accepting full-length novels.

The Authors We Work With:

Inspired Quill loves to collaborate with folks who are determined to jump in head first, aren’t afraid of hard work (we promise to pull our weight at the same time!) and want to learn the ins and outs of the industry and digital marketing. We’ll spend the time giving you 1-on-1 mentoring… but only if it’s taken seriously. We don’t work well with egos, either. If you truly believe that your work doesn’t need any form of editing, then we’re sorry but Inspired Quill is unlikely to be the best publisher for you. It's also advised that you have an interest in social inclusion/justice and non-tokenistic diversity, and don't identify as a TERF.

Important Note: We’d like to make this absolutely clear (even though we wish this was obvious) – ANYONE who meets the above criteria is welcomed at Inspired Quill. Regardless of age, gender, sexuality, ability or socio-economic status. What goes for the characters in our novels goes for the folks behind the words. No exceptions.

For more information, you can check out our Publishing Diversity Pledge.

Rights

Inspired Quill claims non-exclusive global rights for the English language for print, electronic, and audio. IQ reserves the right to publish small sections of the work in other media for the purpose of marketing.

Compensation

There will be no ongoing royalties for authors from the sale of this title. Any profits made will be divided between Inspired Quill (to support mentorship programs) and grassroots mutual aid funds. Compensation for accepted works are as follows:

£50 (GBP) flat fee
3 physical copies of the anthology
All entries will also receive a short feedback

List of Don'ts

There is no genre, theme, or trope that we're against, but be aware that the following will be hard to justify:

Any "it was all a dream" plots.
Gratuitous anything.
Rambling monologues about why XYZ is the best/worst.
Mary-Sue and Marty-Stu protagonists.
Pieces where a known person gets elected and saves/destroys everything.
Pieces about how a certain political party is just the best/worst (we probably agree with you, but we're thinking globally here).
Anything without nuance. We're as frustrated at the state of the world as they come, but anyone can point the finger and blame.
Don't submit more than 1 piece of work for this anthology.

How To Submit Your Work

Please Read Carefully!

Any submissions that do not conform to our guidelines will be deleted. We’re not being mean – we receive a lot of submissions during our open seasons, and not following the guidelines shows us that you're not really bothered about the quality of your work, and/or our time - and both should be important to you!

Accepted Word Count

Fiction: up to 10,000 words.
Creative and non-creative essays: up to 5,000 words.
Poetry: up to 2 standard double-spaced font 12 pages.

Formatting

Please follow the Standard Manuscript Format (preferably Modern, Classic accepted) but omit your personal information from the title page.

Items To Include:

Cover Letter (email body)
Word Document version of your submission (PDFs etc will be deleted)

Send To: info@inspired-quill.com

Subject Line: Anthology ["Title Of Your Piece"] - ["Your Initials & Surname"] [Category: "Fiction", "Essay", "Poetry"]

Example: Anthology [Interesting Times] - SJ Slack [Category: Essay]

Cover Letter Should Include:

Title of Work / Word Count / Genre
Why you chose to submit your work to Inspired Quill for this anthology

Cover Letter Should Not Include*:

Author First Name(s) / Age or Age Markers (e.g. ‘I retired X years ago’ or similar)
Website / Social Media Info

* We want to choose the best submissions, and we're working hard to remove any sneaky subconscious biases that might hinder that outcome. Also, be sure to keep an eye on your Spam folder in case our reply ends up there.

Important Note On AI

We will not consider any work created partially or wholly (including translations) by AI.

Any submissions falling under this category will result in a ban from submitting any further work.

No work submitted will be used to train AI from our side.

Confidentiality

An author’s personal information (name, address, email, phone, pen name or any other information that can be used to identify them) will not be shared with anyone outside our editorial staff, except in the following situations:

1. If we are compelled by law unless it could lead to political persecution.

2. If the work submitted is determined to be plagiarized, in which case we are required to inform its rightful owner.