Guidelines

Unless otherwise stated, Island welcomes submissions from Australia, New Zealand and Australians living abroad.  

All submissions are via Submittable.

We do not accept work previously published in print or online, including on blogs.

We accept simultaneous submissions; however, if your work is selected for publication elsewhere, please withdraw it from Island Submittable.

Contributor Policy

You do not need to be an Island subscriber to submit or enter any of our prizes. However, we believe that writers ought to be readers of the literary magazines in which their work is published, so for this reason, if your work is published either in print or online, and you not already a subscriber, your total payment will be less the cost of a 4-issue subscription. 

For a small not-for-profit literary magazine, this is a necessary step in a long-term strategy to build circulation. This, in turn, will allow us to increase the amount we can afford to pay our writers. For background information on our contributor fee policy, see here.

Payments

Contributor fees are currently:  

Fiction and nonfiction for print - 40 cents per word, with a minimum of $700 and a maximum of $1500. And $200 per page, with a maximum of 6 pages for graphic narratives.

Poetry for print and Island Online - $175 per poem. 

Island Online - $500 for short-form fiction, nonfiction and graphic narratives.

All fees are less the cost of a 4-issue subscription if you are not a current subscriber. For background information on this policy see here.

In additional to core funding from Arts Tasmania, 2024 contributor fees have been supplemented by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund and the Australian Government through the Creative Australia its arts funding and advisory body.

We continually strive to increase author payment rates through grants and fundraising. 

PROCESS
You will receive an automated acknowledgement of receipt of your submission.

All submissions will be read by at least one member of the editorial team. 

Once decisions are made, you will be contacted (either via Submittable or direct email) regarding the outcome. Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to provide individualised feedback on submissions that are not selected.

The expectation is that the selected works will require little editing. However, any editing involved will be undertaken by Island’s editorial team, in discussion with the author. The author will have final approval of the work.

A licensing agreement will be sent to the author prior to publication (see T&Cs below for further details).

TERMS & CONDITIONS
A licencing agreement outlining the contributor fee and full terms and conditions will be sent to authors prior to publication. Please be aware of the following:

  • Copyright remains with the author; but Island requires an exclusive licence for three months from publication. Following the exclusivity period, authors must continue to license the work to Island on a  non-exclusive basis. Any further reproduction should publicly acknowledge Island as the original publisher.
  • Authors must warrant that their work is an original work, that their work does not infringe any copyright and that they are the sole owner of the copyright in the work. They must also warrant that the work contains nothing obscene, indecent or libellous.

A draft of the full licencing agreement is available on request from admin@islandmag.com.

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR                                                                                                                                              

We are looking for new poems in any form. Submissions can be in text, video or audio formats. 

ELIGIBILITY

Submissions will be considered from Australian and New Zealand citizens and residents only.

You do not need to be a subscriber to submit. However, we believe that writers ought to be readers of the literary magazines in which their work is published, so for this reason, if your work is published in Island and you are not already a subscriber, your total payment will be less the cost of a 4-issue subscription. For a small not-for-profit literary magazine, this is a necessary step in a long-term strategy. For background information on our fee policy, see here.

TIMELINES & GUIDELINES 

Submissions close at 5pm AEST on Thursday 18 April.

Selected poems will be published progressively from May to August 2024. 

You may submit a maximum of five poems in text, video or audio formats. 

You can submit a combination of the three formats, but please submit all poems in one submission.

If you would are submitting more than one poem in text, please submit as one single document.  If you are submitting some or all of your poems in video or audio, please submit as separate files. 

 Submissions are via Submittable only 

Acceptable file types for text: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf.

Acceptable files types for audio: flac, m4a, mp3, ogg, wma.

Acceptable files types for video: avi, flv, m4v, mkv, mov, mp4, mpg, wmv.

We do not accept work previously published in print or online, including on blog 

Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please withdraw your poem if it is accepted elsewhere.

 
PROCESS

You will receive an automated acknowledgement of receipt of your submission. After that, you will generally not hear from the editorial team until after submissions have closed. 

After the closing date, we endeavour to provide a response to all submissions asap.

Once decisions are made, you will be contacted (either via Submittable or direct email) regarding the outcome. We are unable to provide individual feedback for submissions not selected.

The expectation is that the selected works will require little editing. However, any editing involved will be undertaken by Island’s Fiction Editor, Kate Middleton, in discussion with the author. The author will have final approval of the work.

CONTRIBUTOR FEES

Island pays $175 per poem*

*Fees are less the cost of a print 4-issue subscription if you are not a current subscriber. For background information on this policy see here.

In addition to core funding from Arts Tasmania, contributor fees are supplemented by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund and the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.

We continually strive to increase author payment rates through grants and fundraising.   

TERMS & CONDITIONS

A licensing agreement outlining the contributor fee and full terms and conditions will be sent to the author prior to publication; however, please be aware of the following:

Copyright remains with the authors, but writers must give Island exclusive publication rights for the work for three months from publication. Any further reproduction must publicly acknowledge Island as the original publisher.

Writers must guarantee that their work is original, does not plagiarise or infringe the copyright of any other party, and does not breach any other law or ethical principle of publication (e.g. defamation, libel, obscenity).
 

A draft of the full agreement is available on request from admin@islandmag.com.
 

Thank you for your interest in publishing with Island!

$16.50

We are delighted to present the 2024 ISLAND NONFICTION PRIZE, thanks again to the support of the Copyright Agency's Cultural Fund.

What are we looking for?                                                                                                                                                          We want to read about what fascinates, excites or enrages you. Your entry doesn’t have to be zeitgeisty – there are so many ways to be curious and about so many things. We encourage you to investigate, experiment, wax lyrical and manifest. Introduce us to new ideas, new worlds and new forms of expression. 

The prize will be judged ‘blind’. The judging panel will be chaired by Island's Nonfiction Editor, Keely Jobe, with Erin Riley and Daniel Nour (bios below). 

The Prize
The winning writer will receive $3000 and their work will be published in Island issue 171, due out July 2024.The winner will also receive a three-issue subscription to Island*

All other entries will be considered for publication in 2024 under Island's usual terms and conditions. For more info https://island.submittable.com/submit

Eligibility
Entry is open to Australian citizens and residents only.
No age limit applies.
Current Island magazine staff, interns and board members are not eligible.

Timelines & Terms and Conditions 

Entries are now open and close at 5pm AEST on Monday 22 April

Entries must be under 4000 words, or up to six pages for graphic narratives. 

We are looking for works suitable to a general audience, rather than scholarly/academic works. If you have previously submitted your work to Island, you may resubmit it for the prize.

The expectation is that the winning work will require little editing. However, any editing involved will be undertaken by Island’s Nonfiction Editor, Keely Jobe, and Managing Editor, Jane Rawson, in discussion with the author. The author will have final approval of the work.

A fee of $16.50 per entry applies. You can enter as many times as you wish but each entry must be entered separately.

All entries are via Submittable only and your work must be attached as a text document (acceptable file types: doc, docx, txt, rtf). 

Entries will be judged ‘blind’, so please do not include your name on or in your work.

The judges’ decision is final, and no individual feedback will be provided.

Works previously published are not eligible.

Writers must guarantee that their work is original, does not plagiarise or infringe the copyright of any other party, and does not breach any other law or ethical principle of publication (e.g. defamation, libel, obscenity).

Copyright remains with the authors; however, writers must give Island exclusive publication rights for the work for three months from publication. Any further reproduction must publicly acknowledge Island as the original publisher.

The winner must agree to participate in any reasonable media events relating to their work, including radio and television interviews and online discussions.

*Subscription can start with either issue 170 (due out 21 March) or 171 (due to be published in July 2024). If you are a current subscriber this can either be added to your existing subscription, or you may gift the subscription. 

MEET THE JUDGES

Keely Jobe                                                                                                                                                                                Keely is a writer of fiction and non-fiction living on the east coast of Lutruwita/Tasmania. Her work has been published in The Monthly, Island, Australian Geographic, Cosmos and Signals Magazine. She is a PhD candidate in Creative Writing at the University of Tasmania and is Island's Nonfiction Editor.

Daniel Nour                                                                                                                                                                            Daniel is an Egyptian-­Australian writer and journalist. His work has featured in The New York Times, SBS Voices, Meanjin, Kill Your Darlings, Mascara Literary Review, The Big Issue and Eureka Street. In 2021 he was awarded the Affirm Press Mentorship for Sweatshop Writers and is working on his debut novel which is set for publication in 2025.

Erin Riley                                                                                                                                                                                    Erin is a queer social worker and writer living on Gadigal land. Erin likes reading and routine and to swim in the ocean. They were a Penguin Random House fellow in 2021, and have been published in Kill Your Darlings, The Guardian, Archer Magazine and various corners of the internet. Erin’s debut memoir, A Real Piece of Work, came out in 2023.

Further information
  For more information about Island please visit islandmag.com or follow us for news updates on Facebook and Twitter @islandmagtas.

We are currently seeking fiction submissions for Island 171.

ELIGIBILITY
Island will only consider submissions from residents of Australia, New Zealand and Australians living abroad.    

There is no fee to submit, and you do not need to be a subscriber. However, if your work is selected and you are not already a subscriber, your total payment will be less the cost of a 4-issue subscription. For background information on our fee policy see here.

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR? 

While we will certainly consider more traditional forms, we have a strong interest in experimental and literary approaches to form and content. There is no limit on theme.

Although we are not strict about the length of works, we tend not to publish flash fiction or microfiction in print very often. This doesn’t mean you can’t submit very short works - just be aware that this is not our staple. In terms of upper limits, we are less likely to publish works longer than 4000 words. Again, this is a general guideline, we do not have a formal cut-off. 

We also accept graphic narratives of up to 6 pages. 

GUIDELINES

We do not accept work previously published in print or online, including on blogs.

Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please withdraw your work if it is accepted elsewhere.

Submissions are via Submittable only. Your work must be attached as a text document (acceptable file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf). Please format using a minimum of 1.5 line spacing to make reading easier for our editors. 

Please only submit one story - your best!  
 

TIMELINES
Submissions are open. 

Closing at 5pm AEST on Wednesday 8 May 2024.

Selections and edits will occur during May and June 2024. 

Island 171 will be published in July 2024. 

CONTRIBUTOR FEES
Island currently pays 40 cents per word for print fiction, with a minimum of $700 and a maximum of $1500 and $200 per page, with a maximum of 6 pages for graphic narratives*.

If you are not already a subscriber, your total payment will be less the cost of a 4-issue subscription. For background information on our fee policy see here.

*In addition to core funding from Arts Tasmania, fees have been supplemented by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund and the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.

We continually strive to increase author payment rates through grants and fundraising. 

PROCESS
You will receive an automated acknowledgement of receipt of your submission.

All submissions will be read by at least one member of the editorial team. The final decision will rest with the Fiction Editor, Kate Kruimink, and the Managing Editor, Jane Rawson. 

Once decisions are made, you will be contacted (either via Submittable or direct email) regarding the outcome. We endeavour to provide a response to all submissions asap. Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to provide individualised feedback on submissions that are not selected.

The expectation is that the selected works will require little editing. However, any editing involved will be undertaken by Island’s Editorial Team, in discussion with the author. The author will have final approval of the work.

A licensing agreement with be sent to the author prior to publication (see t&c below for further details) .

TERMS & CONDITIONS
A licensing agreement outlining the contributor fee and full terms and conditions will be sent to the author prior to publication; however, please be aware of the following:

Copyright remains with the authors, but writers must give Island exclusive publication rights for the work for three months from publication. Any further reproduction must publicly acknowledge Island as the original publisher.

Writers must guarantee that their work is original, does not plagiarise or infringe the copyright of any other party, and does not breach any other law or ethical principle of publication (e.g. defamation, libel, obscenity).

A draft of the full agreement is available on request from admin@islandmag.com.
 

Thank you for your interest in publishing with Island!

Island magazine