This page outlines the technical guidelines for submitting work to Tendon. Our current open call for Issue 08: Care is open through November 1, 2025. Full details about the theme and framing can be found on our Submittable page.
For all written submissions, please number your pages; include your last name on every page; and choose a simple, readable font for text.
For prose submissions, please left-justify and double-space the text of your submissions. If another alignment or spacing scheme is important for your piece (e.g., for a hybrid-form prose submission), that’s fine with us—just be sure to note this in your cover letter.
Poetry
Poems can be written in any form, and prose poetry and hybrid forms are welcomed. You may submit 1–4 poems (up to 10 pages). If submitting multiple pieces, please submit all poems in a single Word document or PDF.
Creative Nonfiction
Creative nonfiction submissions can include personal essays or memoir, narrative essays or reportage, ethnographic vignettes, clinical scenes, and history written with a precise and poetic eye.
Longform submissions may be up to 5,000 words, and 1–3 flash nonfiction submissions may be up to 1,000 words each. We may choose to publish one of these flash submissions but pass on the others. If submitting multiple pieces, please submit all pieces in one document.
Fiction
We welcome short stories or short novel excerpts of up to 3,000 words, or flash fiction (1–3 pieces) up to 1,000 words. If submitting multiple pieces, please submit all pieces in the same document.
Visual Art
Artwork mediums may include (but are not limited to) photography, painting, illustration, sculpture, ceramics, mixed media, digital art, comics, film/video and installation. Additionally, you will be asked to provide a description of the work. Priority will be given to higher-resolution pieces that effectively translate to print and online publishing.
You may submit 1–3 pieces. Original work or documentation must be submitted in either TIFF (our favorite!), PNG, JPEG, or PDF format with a minimum image resolution of 300 dpi. All video submissions must be provided as embedded web links, such as Vimeo or YouTube. Runtime is limited to 10 minutes per video.
Regrettably, we are not able to financially compensate contributors at this time. We currently ask a submission fee of $3.
