Skip to main content

Submit


Inscape is Brigham Young University’s literary magazine. We publish original poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and visual art from both emerging and established creators. For decades, we’ve championed bold and hopeful art. Now, we’re proud to support our contributors with pay for their work. Please read the guidelines carefully before submitting. Work that does not follow the guidelines may not be considered.

Inscape curates fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual arts pieces. You may submit the following number of pieces per category:

Pay Rates

  • All accepted general issue submissions will be awarded $20 for each piece.
  • All contest winners will be paid according to the rates provided for each contest. For more information about contest award rates, please read below.
  • All accepted student selection pieces will remain unpaid at this time as BYU students submit their work for free.

Submissions

  • Poetry: up to 5 in a single submission
  • Visual Arts: up to 5 in a single submission
  • Fiction: 1 piece under 4,000 words, or up to 4 flash pieces under 1,000 words each. Total word count should be posted in the top right corner of your submission—submissions that don’t include a word count will not be considered.
  • Creative Nonfiction: 1 piece under 4,000 words, or up to 4 flash pieces under 1,000 words each. Total word count should be posted in the top right corner of your submission—submissions that don’t include a word count will not be considered.

You may submit to more than one genre, but each genre must be submitted separately. For example, one poetry submission and one fiction submission in the same reading period is allowed, but each genre submission must be uploaded individually.

Formatting Requirements:

  • Please submit your work as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf file.
  • Visual arts submissions must be scanned at 300 DPI or higher and saved as a .jpeg or .tiff image. Art submissions may include photography, paintings, drawings, digital art, sculpture, textile, etc. Performance art and musical scores will not be considered for publication.
  • Do not include your name, email, or mailing address in any of the attachments.

Submission Guidelines:

  • All submissions must be original and previously unpublished (including on personal websites, blogs, or social media).
  • Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
  • Current BYU students, faculty, and staff are welcome to submit, but Inscape does not publish works submitted by current Inscape staff members.
  • Submissions are accepted through our online portal only. We do not accept emailed or mailed submissions.
  • Literary submissions must be written in English and may not exceed 4,000 words.

Publishing Rights

  • We acquire first serial rights and archival rights; all rights revert back to the author upon publication. If your work is reprinted elsewhere, please acknowledge Inscape as the place of first publication.

Terms for Immediate Rejection

  • We do not accept pieces that invoke the name of deity as an expletive.
  • We do not accept pieces that include gratuitous violence, profane language, or explicit sexual content.
  • We do not accept pieces that were created by Artificial Intelligence. We appreciate original, human work, and we will not use AI to review your writing in any way.
  • We do not accept unsolicited craft essays, but we do accept inquiries from professionals in the field. Contact our editors at inscape@byu.edu.
  • Any submission that does not follow these guidelines will not be considered.

Inscape observes US Fair Use copyright doctrine which states that 

  1. authors must own the copyright of their submitted work and have full power to enter into a publication agreement with Inscape and to convey any rights they may grant to Inscape. 
  2. the author’s submitted work constitutes their own original work or gives credit for ideas or material not their own, and does not in any way violate copyright. 
  3. the author’s submitted work may not defame, invade the privacy of, violate the civil rights of, or infringe upon the rights of any individuals or third parties.
  4. the author has permission to submit a particular work to Inscape on behalf of all other authors in the event the submitted work has more than one author.

Reading Period & Response Time

We accept submissions year-round. However, to be considered for a particular edition, please follow the deadlines below:

  • Winter 2027 Issue: Submissions close October 30, 2026

Our reading periods coincide with the fall and winter semesters at Brigham Young University. Submissions received during the summer are welcome, but please note that they will not be reviewed until the fall semester when our student editorial staff reconvenes. In other words, we are not able to review submissions in May, June, July, or August—if you submit in May, we will not have the opportunity to open your submission until September.

Because Inscape is run by a dedicated team of student editors, we carefully review every submission and try to give each one the time it deserves. This process often takes several months. Our general response time is approximately 4–6 months, though we always hope to respond sooner when possible.

Contests

Inscape‘s contests follow each guideline listed above. To find more information about specific contests and their additional guidelines, see our Contest Submissions Page: