Blood & Bourbon is here to showcase all things hard, gritty, and raw. That time you got in a bar fight, that time you went to an S&M club, that time you had an opinion that sparked a heated argument over a family dinner. We’re actively seeking submissions in the following categories:

• Short fiction or non-fiction, 5000 words or less
• Opinion pieces or essays on any subjects, 5000 words or less
• Poetry, up to three pieces per submission
• Black and white photography and illustrations.

We accept simultaneous submissions and reprints. We provide author copies upon request with a small donation of $5.

We are now open for submissions until April 28, 2024. The theme of the next issue is going to be Home.

We’re interested in diverse voices and want to hear from you regardless of what you look like, where you’re from, what you believe, who you like to fuck, et cetera.

Send your material to bandbsubmissions (AT) gmail.com. Your submission should be attached as a .doc, .docx or .rtf file, with your name, address, email address, the story title (if applicable) and total word count at the top of the first page. Visual art submissions should be attached as hi-res .jpgs or .tiffs. Include a 50-word bio in the body of the email or in the Word doc.

Our Process

We are usually open for submissions for 2-2.5 months at a time. We will send you an email at the end of the submission period, letting you know if your work has been accepted. Please don’t expect to hear from us sooner, but let us know if your work has been accepted anywhere else during this submission period. We accept about 30 submissions per issue.

We then assign one of our editors to work with you to polish your submission and apply our house style guide. Keep in mind that we are a Canadian publication, so Canadian spelling will be applied to all work. Editing phase usually lasts about 2 months.

Once we receive all the final documents from our editors, we’ll work on layout. You will have a chance to see and approve the print proof before the launch of the issue. Layout and proofreading phase takes about a week.

We will share the links to the issue with you, so you can spread the word to your peers and followers. We currently publish on Amazon and Kobo, in print and e-book format.