Fatal Flaw is an international online magazine publishing unexpected, topical writing and visual art that considers the world through a cracked lens. Show us the fatal flaw and the beauty inherent within it.
We welcome submissions from writers of all backgrounds – from the emerging and unpublished to the established – and especially encourage submissions from those who identify as persons of color, multiracial, indigenous, LGBTQIA+, disabled, and anyone belonging to a community of underrepresented voices.
GENERAL SUBMISSIONS FOR VOL. 13 ARE NOW OPEN!
Submission period: June 13th to September 12th
Theme: TRASH
What’s worth keeping—and what do we throw away?
What’s tossed aside, but still clings to meaning? What gleams beneath the grime? What rot reveals something raw and real?
For Fatal Flaw Volume 13, we’re rummaging through the discarded, the dirty, the overlooked. We seek submissions with the theme: TRASH.
Send us stories that dig through the landfill of memory. Poems that salvage the sacred from the scraps. We want essays that wade into the messy middle—what society casts off, what people erase, what culture deems disposable. Show us the clutter, the chaos, the compost heap of human experience.
We want art that celebrates the beauty in broken things. Work that interrogates what we devalue—and why. Is it refuse or relic? Waste or warning?
Unpack what’s been buried. Reclaim what’s been trashed. We’re looking for work that’s raw, visceral, and unafraid to get its hands dirty.
We eagerly await your beautifully ruined work.
WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?
For an idea of the type of work we usually gravitate toward, check out our past issues or learn more about us on our About page.
Fatal Flaw is an international online magazine publishing unexpected, topical writing and photography that considers the world through a cracked lens. Show us the fatal flaw and the beauty inherent within it.
We welcome submissions from writers of all backgrounds – from the emerging and unpublished to the established – and especially encourage submissions from those who identify as persons of color, multiracial, indigenous, LGBTQIA+, disabled, and anyone belonging to a community of underrepresented voices.
For more detailed information on what we look for, please read our full submission guidelines on our website.
Theme for Fatal Flaw Vol. 13: TRASH
- Please only submit work that has not been previously published.
- For Fiction and Nonfiction submissions, we consider work between 1,000 – 7,000 words (though for exceptional work we’ll make exceptions). For Flash Fiction submissions, we consider work between 100 – 1,000 words. For Poetry submissions, we consider up to 3 poems at a time (not to exceed 6 pages total). For Visual Art submissions, we consider up to 5 pieces per submission.
- Please only submit one piece to one category during each submission period.
- When formatting prose, please double space, use Times New Roman font and 1" margins, number your pages and include your name and the title of your work on the first page of the document. When formatting poetry, please put all poems into one single-spaced document. Each poem should start on a new page with titles and lines left aligned (unless the poem involves special formatting, in which case, do your thing – we love seeing space on a page reenvisioned).
- In your cover letter, please include the word count of your piece, your name, the title of your work, any relevant previous publications, and any applicable social media links.
Fatal Flaw Vol. 13 Theme: TRASH
- Please only submit work that has not been previously published.
- For Fiction submissions we consider work between 1,000 – 7,000 words (though for exceptional work we’ll make exceptions).
- Please only submit one piece to one category during each submission period.
- We aim to highlight as many new voices as possible. If you've been published with us before, please wait at least one issue before submitting again.
- When formatting your work, please double space, use Times New Roman font and 1" margins, number your pages and include your name and the title of your work on the first page of the document.
- In your cover letter, please include the word count of your piece, your name, the title of your work, any relevant previous publications, and any applicable social media links.
Fatal Flaw Vol. 13 Theme: TRASH
- Please only submit work that has not been previously published.
- For Flash Fiction submissions we consider work between 100 – 1,000 words.
- Please only submit work to one category during each submission period.
- We aim to highlight as many new voices as possible. If you've been published with us before, please wait at least one issue before submitting again.
- When formatting your work, please double space, use Times New Roman font and 1" margins, number your pages and include your name and the title of your work on the first page of the document.
- In your cover letter, please include the word count of your piece, your name, the title of your work, any relevant previous publications, and any applicable social media links.
Fatal Flaw Vol. 13T Theme: TRASH
- Please only submit work that has not been previously published.
- For Poetry submissions, we consider up to 3 poems at a time, not to exceed 6 pages total. (Please note that we rarely accept any poem longer than 2 pages.)
- Please only submit to one category during each submission period.
- We aim to highlight as many new voices as possible. If you've been published with us before, please wait at least one issue before submitting again.
- When formatting poetry, please put all poems into one single-spaced document. Each poem should start on a new page with titles and lines left aligned (unless the poem involves special formatting – which we 100% approve of).
- In your cover letter, please include your name, the title of your work, any relevant previous publications, and any applicable social media links.
Fatal Flaw Vol. 13 Theme: TRASH
- Please only submit work that has not been previously published.
- For Nonfiction submissions we consider work between 1,000 – 7,000 words (though for exceptional work we’ll make exceptions).
- Please only submit to one category during each submission period.
- We aim to highlight as many new voices as possible. If you've been published with us before, please wait at least one issue before submitting again.
- When formatting your work, please double space, use Times New Roman font and 1" margins, number your pages and include your name and the title of your work on the first page of the document.
- In your cover letter, please include the word count of your piece, your name, the title of your work, any relevant previous publications, and any applicable social media links.
Fatal Flaw Vol. 13 Theme: TRASH
- Please only submit work that has not been previously published.
- For Visual Art submissions, we consider up to 5 pieces per submission.
- Please only submit work to one category during each submission period.
- We aim to highlight as many new voices as possible. If you've been published with us before, please wait at least one issue before submitting again.
- In your cover letter, please include your name, the title of your series (if applicable), any relevant previous publications, and any applicable social media links.