“Live with your century, but do not be its creature; serve your contemporaries, but give them what they need, not what they praise.” — Frederich Schiller
Submission Guidelines
Bad Lineage publishes poetry, essays about poetry, book reviews, interviews, visual art, and fiction, short and long. All submissions must be in English and previously unpublished. We do publish translations into English, in any of the above genres, provided that the translator acquires publishing permission from the author of the original text ahead of submitting the translation. We publish work from both new and established writers, and we encourage risk taking. There are no flavors of the month in this lineage. Submissions are free. All contributors receive one print copy of the issue to which they contributed.
How To Submit
Electronic Submission
Use the submission form. You will be asked to provide basic contact information, an austere cover letter, and the file containing your work. PDF only. All submissions will receive a response within eight weeks. If you haven’t heard from us after eight weeks, feel free to give us a nudge.
Postal Submissions
To submit via mail, please send your manuscript to the address below with an austere cover letter including your name and email. In order to receive a response by mail, you must include a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Do not send submissions by any delivery method that requires a signature.
Address mail submissions to:
Jo Wallace
Mail Stop: 5011
4505 S. Maryland Parkway
Las Vegas, NV 89154
Mail submissions take longer to get to us, and so response time may be a bit slower. If you haven’t heard from us regarding a mail submission after twelve weeks, feel free to give us a nudge.
Length and Formatting
We have no minimum or maximum word count requirement for prose, but do please indicate the word count clearly in your submission, either in the file itself or in your cover letter. For essays about poetry, we prefer close reading be incorporated. For poetry, submit up to five poems of any length. Please send poems in a single file, with each new poem beginning on a new page.