We seek to publish the very best new fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, artwork, and photography. All entries are given full consideration. We suggest you first familiarize yourself with previous Cardinal Sins issues before submitting. You can find a copy around the SVSU campus or can request one at cardinalsins@svsu.edu. Online samples are also available on our website. You can read our Fall 2022 issue here and our Winter 2023 issue here.

Only previously unpublished work will be considered. We do accept simultaneous submissions but ask that you withdraw immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere. See the "CURRENTLY" portion to see when you can expect to hear back from us. Please read the following submission guidelines carefully. Note that our tastes lean away from triggering topics, explicit sexual content, and excessive violence.

A note on AI: Though we believe that AI is here to stay and has useful applications in the literary world, we currently DO NOT consider work (written or visual) that utilizes AI generators/writers/etc. Work that utilizes AI will be rejected. 

Consider following us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/cardinal.sins.journal/.

For General Submissions, we require you to submit only your name, email address, and phone number. No cover letter is required. 

  ENTRY REQUIREMENTS 

  All submissions must: 

• be submitted through cardinalsins.submittable.com.
• include multiple submissions for a single category in one document.
• not contain any contact information within the attached document.

  Text submissions should: 

• be in 12-pt. Times New Roman font with 1" margins.
• include the title at the top of the piece.
• be attached in .rtf or .doc or .docx format.
• Poetry should be no longer than 70 lines.
• Flash fiction should be no longer than 1,000 words.
• Fiction and creative nonfiction should be no longer than 3,750 words.

  Artwork/Photography submissions should: 

• be 300 dpi or greater
• have high contrast and sharp definition.
• be attached in either .gif or .jpeg format.
• be saved as their title.
• Photos manipulated with a computer program should be submitted as artwork, not photography

Cardinal Sins reserves the right to reject without consideration any work that does not follow these guidelines. Give your work its best shot by following our guidelines. 

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  MAXIMUM NUMBER OF ENTRIES 

• Submit up to 3 poems, 3 flash fiction pieces, 2 pieces of fiction, and 2 pieces of nonfiction.
• Submit up to 5 artwork and photography pieces in each category.
• You may submit to as many categories as you like as long as you do not exceed the limit for each category.

  PRIZES AND JUDGING 

Prizes will be awarded in each of the 8 categories we publish: poetry, fiction, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, black & white photography, color photography, black & white artwork, and color artwork. Staff reserves the right to not award a particular category if the staff decides that there isn’t a submission worthy of the award.

Winners will be recognized within the publication. If the winner is an SVSU student, faculty member, or alum, they will also receive $100. All submissions will be entered into their respective category's contest unless otherwise requested.

All submissions are reviewed blindly. Editorial staff members are permitted to submit entries for publication but are excluded from monetary prizes in any category.

By submitting to Cardinal Sins you affirm that the work attached is solely your own and has not been previously published elsewhere. You agree to abide by Cardinal Sins’ requirements governing submissions. If your work is accepted for publication, Cardinal Sins has the right to publish and distribute your work, both in print and on the Cardinal Sins website. 

You will retain all subsequent rights to your work.

  CURRENTLY: We welcome submissions year-round. However, anything submitted after January 26, 2024, will be considered for our Fall 2024 Issue. This means that submissions received after that date will not receive a response until August/September 2024. Thank you for your interest in submitting to us!

  If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please contact the Editor-in-Chief, Megan Draper, at cardinalsins@svsu.edu