Founded in 2009, SAND looks for submissions that push the boundaries of form, message, and voice in fresh and unpredictable ways—work that is haunting for its soul, edge, and truth.

If you read SAND, you know that we are all about work that subverts. Fresh can be slow, sensitive can be rough, bold can be quiet. SAND is eclectic and publishes writing that takes risks, whether subtly or overtly, with voice, structure, character, or language. 

SAND is made by a diverse international team in Berlin, and we welcome submissions from a range of perspectives, especially from writers and artists who are BIPOC, LGBTQ+, nonbinary, women, disabled, neurodiverse, working class, migrants, refugees, international, and/or geographically underrepresented. 

Most of us editors are also writers, and we know how it goes. That’s why we consider every submission, why we welcome both emerging and established talents to submit, and why we have a free submission option for those that need it.  

This is also why we’ve worked very hard to make SAND a paying market. We currently pay semi-professional rates which vary based on our funding. (All revenues from submission fees go directly to paying the writers and artists we publish.)

The best way to get to know if your work is a fit for us is to read issues of SAND, read select pieces from the archives at SAND ONLINE, and check out our Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter.

GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR ALL GENRES

• Submissions will open 10 April – 30 April 2023.
• We accept previously unpublished poems, fiction, flash fiction, translations, and visual art. Creative nonfiction is not open at this time.
• Submit fiction, flash, and poetry as early as possible. There is a submissions cap on these genres to manage our all-volunteer editorial team’s time, so these genres may close early. 
• We only accept work that is the creative effort of humans with lived experience. While we are open to work that has experimented with and incorporated technology in creative ways, we are not open to work that has been fully or mostly written by AI (artificial intelligence). All submitters will be required to confirm and fully disclose the role that AI and other non-standard technologies have played in the creation of their submitted work.
• Work forthcoming in a book, including stand-alone excerpts, is acceptable, as long as it appears in SAND before the book’s publication date. We ask for worldwide First Serial Rights. (Rights revert to you after publication.)
• Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please inform us as soon as possible if the work has been accepted elsewhere.
• You may submit in multiple genres, but you may only submit once per genre.
• Please allow six months for a response before sending an inquiry.
• We ask past contributors to wait at least two issues before submitting again in order to ensure enough space for new voices.
• We pay contributors semi-professional rates which vary depending on our current funding