Word Limit: 40,000-80,000+ words 

Pay Rate: Advance fee of £500, 20% royalties 

Genres: Any, but with a preference for accessible literary, fantasy, sci-fi, speculative and/or surreal fiction

Language: English

You must be a UK resident for your work to be considered. We are especially looking for novel submissions from writers who are under-represented in UK publishing. 

We enjoy beautifully written fiction that is readable, especially writing that embraces and explores inner-lives, relationships, identity and society. We like fiction with characters we can root for and care about. 


You may submit whatever you want, but certain themes and plot types stand a significantly smaller chance. You may, however, take this as a challenge to write one of them exceedingly well and convince us!

For an easier time, avoid:

• Zombies, vampires, werewolves, especially sexy ones
• Fanfiction based on non-public domain texts
• Gratuitous gore/torture and other violence for the sake of violence
• Erotica




Submissions Process:

Please email your first three chapters (or around 10k) to submissions@lucentdreaming.com with NOVEL SUBMISSION: STORY TITLE in the subject line. 


Include your name, cover letter, and word count. Your cover letter should contain any publishing history, and anything about yourself you feel is relevant.



Submissions should be submitted as a .doc/.docx file and in standard manuscript format.

Please wait until you’ve been accepted or rejected before sending us another novel. We aim to get back to you within two months. 


If we’ve rejected a story previously, don’t submit it again unless we specifically asked you to–even if it’s been fixed up based on our suggestions. If you do submit it, we’ll reject it unread.


Please don’t submit work that have been previously published in English, including work you have published yourself, be it on your blog, or anywhere else.

We will be open for issue 12 submissions between 1st June 2022 – 6th August 2022, from new and emerging writers only. We consider a new/emerging writer someone who has been published in 15 or fewer publications in the past 5 years, and has not published a book or full collection. If you have published more prolifically, or are established, we ask that you do not submit work to us and instead share our call-out with new writers. Our next open submission call (for both new and established writers) will be for issue 13.

Submissions are free, but you must have read a recent issue or be a Lucent Dreaming subscriber, to submit work to the magazine. You can purchase a digital issue from as little as £3 or subscribe to the magazine from as little as £10. If you do not have access to a copy of Lucent Dreaming via your library, and have no or very low income, please email dreaminglucent@gmail.com to receive a free copy. This will help you get a feel for the kind of writing we enjoy and give you the best chance. 

Word Limit: 1500-3,999 words

Pay Rate: Fixed £100 (£200 for low-income writers in the UK*) and a free contributor copy.

If you typically earn £40k or $50k a year, especially from non-freelance work, please consider waiving a portion of your contributor fee so we can allocate limited funds equitably.

*We define low-income in the UK as anyone who earns around £17,500 or less per year, lives in the UK, and doesn’t receive significant or regular contributions in kind from wealthier family or friends (e.g. living in your aunt’s flat in London at a reduced rate or for free). 

Language: English

We enjoy beautifully written fiction, especially writing that embraces and explores inner-lives. We are excited by fiction with characters we can root for and care about, and longer fiction where we see character development. 

For an easier time, avoid:

• Zombies, vampires, werewolves, especially sexy ones

• Elves, dwarves, and other fantasy scenarios that come across as LOTR fan fiction

• Fanfiction based on non-public domain texts

• Gratuitous gore/torture and other violence for the sake of violence

• Erotica

Submissions Process:

Please use our submission form to upload your submission. You may need to create a Gmail address. 

Submissions should be unpublished stories submitted as a .doc/.docx file and in standard manuscript format. Please don’t submit stories that have been previously published in English, including stories you have published yourself, be it on your blog, or anywhere else.

Please only submit one story at a time. Wait until you’ve been accepted or rejected before sending us another story. If we’ve rejected a story previously, please don’t submit it again, even if it’s been fixed up based on our suggestions. 

We accept simultaneous submissions. Please contact us to immediately withdraw if accepted elsewhere. 

Please allow up to 8 weeks after the submission window ends for a response before inquiring about the status of your submission.

Upon acceptance, the Lucent Dreaming team will send a contract for you to sign asking for the exclusive first rights to publish the story in print, the exclusive first rights to electronically publish the story on this website and the right to republish the story in or in connection with Lucent Dreaming, including electronic, audio, video, and hard copy promotional material and printed compilations, provided that authorial credit is given in every instance of reproduction. We will ask that you do not republish your work within six months of your piece being published by us online. Copyright remains with the author. 

Lucent Dreaming licenses its published content (when modified, edited, presented, or formatted by Lucent Dreaming, i.e. our version of your work) as CC-BY-NC. If you have any questions relating to CC licensing, please contact us at dreaminglucent@gmail.com

We will be open for issue 12 submissions between 1st June 2022 – 6th August 2022, from new and emerging writers only. We consider a new/emerging writer someone who has been published in 15 or fewer publications in the past 5 years, and has not published a book or full collection. If you have published more prolifically, or are established, we ask that you do not submit work to us and instead share our call-out with new writers. Our next open submission call (for both new and established writers) will be for issue 13. 

Submissions are free, but you must have read a recent issue or be a Lucent Dreaming subscriber, to submit work to the magazine. You can purchase a digital issue from as little as £3 or subscribe to the magazine from as little as £10. If you do not have access to a copy of Lucent Dreaming via your library, and have no or very low income, please email dreaminglucent@gmail.com to receive a free copy. This will help you get a feel for the kind of writing we enjoy and give you the best chance. 

Line Limit: Maximum 56 lines (including line spacing)

Pay Rate: Fixed £100 (£200 for low-income writers in the UK*) and a free contributor copy.

If you typically earn £40k or $50k a year, especially from non-freelance work, please consider waiving a portion of your contributor fee so we can allocate limited funds equitably.

*We define low-income in the UK as anyone who earns around £17,500 or less per year, lives in the UK, and doesn’t receive significant or regular contributions in kind from wealthier family or friends (e.g. living in your aunt’s flat in London at a reduced rate or for free).

Forms: Any

Language: English

We enjoy beautifully written and crafted poems that explore themes of identity, inner-lives and society; prose poetry; surreal poems that tell a story, and poems or make us think and feel. 

Submissions Process:

If you have been published in issue 10 or 11 by Lucent Dreaming, please wait until the next issue before submitting again.

Please use our submission form to upload your submission. You may need to create a Gmail address. 

Submissions should be unpublished poems submitted as a .doc/.docx file and in the format you would like your poem to appear. To get a clearer idea of what your poem might look like printed in the magazine, please download this document which is set to A5 size, and in Times New Roman, size 12 font. Please only submit one poem at a time. Wait until you have been accepted or rejected before sending us another. Please don’t submit poems that have been previously published, including poems you have published yourself, be it on your blog, or anywhere else.

We accept simultaneous submissions. Please contact us to immediately withdraw if accepted elsewhere. 

Please allow up to 8 weeks after the submission window closes for a response before inquiring about the status of your submission. 

Upon acceptance, the Lucent Dreaming team will send a contract for you to sign asking for the exclusive first rights to publish the poem in print, the exclusive first rights to electronically publish the poem on this website and the right to republish the poem in or in connection with Lucent Dreaming, including electronic or hard copy promotional material and printed compilations, provided that authorial credit is given in every instance of reproduction. We will ask that you do not republish your work within six months of your work being published by us online. Copyright remains with the author. 

Lucent Dreaming licenses its published content (when modified, edited, presented, or formatted by Lucent Dreaming, i.e. our version of your work) as CC-BY-NC. If you have any questions relating to CC licensing, please contact us at dreaminglucent@gmail.com 

We will be open for issue 12 submissions between 1st June 2022 – 6th August 2022, from new and emerging writers only. We consider a new/emerging writer someone who has been published in 15 or fewer publications in the past 5 years, and has not published a book or full collection. If you have published more prolifically, or are established, we ask that you do not submit work to us and instead share our call-out with new writers. Our next open submission call (for both new and established writers) will be for issue 13. 

Submissions are free, but you must have read a recent issue or be a Lucent Dreaming subscriber, to submit work to the magazine. You can purchase a digital issue from as little as £3 or subscribe to the magazine from as little as £10. If you do not have access to a copy of Lucent Dreaming via your library, and have no or very low income, please email dreaminglucent@gmail.com to receive a free copy. This will help you get a feel for the kind of writing we enjoy and give you the best chance. 

Word Limit: 400-1500 words

Pay Rate: Fixed £100 (£200 for low-income writers in the UK*) and a free contributor copy.

If you typically earn £40k or $50k a year, especially from non-freelance work, please consider waiving a portion of your contributor fee so we can allocate limited funds equitably.

*We define low-income in the UK as anyone who earns around £17,500 or less per year, lives in the UK, and doesn’t receive significant or regular contributions in kind from wealthier family or friends (e.g. living in your aunt’s flat in London at a reduced rate or for free).  

Language: English

We enjoy beautifully written fiction, especially writing that embraces and explores inner-lives. We are excited by fiction with characters we can root for and care about, and longer fiction where we see character development. 

For an easier time, avoid:

• Zombies, vampires, werewolves, especially sexy ones

• Elves, dwarves, and other fantasy scenarios that come across as LOTR fan fiction

• Fanfiction based on non-public domain texts

• Gratuitous gore/torture and other violence for the sake of violence

• Erotica

Submissions Process:

Please use our submission form to upload your submission. You may need to create a Gmail address. 

Submissions should be unpublished stories submitted as a .doc/.docx file and in standard manuscript format. Please don’t submit stories that have been previously published in English, including stories you have published yourself, be it on your blog, or anywhere else.

Please submit one story at a time and wait until you have received a response before sending us another story. If we’ve rejected a story previously, please don’t submit it again, even if it’s been fixed up based on our suggestions. If you do submit it, we’ll reject it unread.

We accept simultaneous submissions. Please contact us to immediately withdraw if accepted elsewhere. 

Please allow up to 8 weeks after the submission window ends for a response before inquiring about the status of your submission.

Upon acceptance, the Lucent Dreaming team will send a contract for you to sign asking for the exclusive first rights to publish the story in print, the exclusive first rights to electronically publish the story on this website and the right to republish the story in or in connection with Lucent Dreaming, including electronic, audio, video, and hard copy promotional material and printed compilations, provided that authorial credit is given in every instance of reproduction. We will ask that you do not republish your work within six months of your piece being published by us online. Copyright remains with the author. 

Lucent Dreaming licenses its published content (when modified, edited, presented, or formatted by Lucent Dreaming, i.e. our version of your work) as CC-BY-NC. If you have any questions relating to CC licensing, please contact us at dreaminglucent@gmail.com   

Open for submissions from 1st June 2022 and close 6th August 2022. 

Dimensions: A5 Portrait, 300dpi artwork of any style with 3mm bleed (151x213mm) or

A4 Landscape, 300dpi artwork of any style with 3mm bleed

Style: Any, as long as it fits our dimensions. We accept reprints as well as exclusive art.

Payment: £10 and a contributor copy of Lucent Dreaming.

Submissions Process:

Please email submissions to submissions@lucentdreaming.com with ART: NAME OF ARTWORK in the subject line.

Include your name and a cover letter. Your cover letter should contain any relevant history, and anything about yourself you feel is relevant.

Submissions should be submitted as a .jpeg, .jpeg2000 or .png file.

Please allow up to 3 weeks for a response before inquiring about the status of your submission.

Please only submit one piece at a time. Wait until you’ve been accepted or rejected before sending us another.

Please don’t send anything that is currently submitted elsewhere (simultaneous submissions).

Upon acceptance the Lucent Dreaming team will request:

• the right to electronically publish on this website, and

• the right to republish this art in or in connection with Lucent Dreaming, including electronic, audio, video, and hard copy promotional material and printed compilations, provided that authorial credit is given in every instance of reproduction.

Lucent Dreaming licenses its published content (when modified, edited, presented, or formatted by Lucent Dreaming, i.e. our version of your work) as CC-BY-NC. If you have any questions relating to CC licensing, please contact us at dreaminglucent@gmail.com

We are looking for prose and poetry to publish in our For a Friend anthology, a giftable collection of writing for oneself or a friend. We are open to a wide range of genres and styles that fit the theme. As a guide, we think we are looking for pieces that range from words of encouragement to life advice-styled poetry and prose, to love letters you might send to a friend, i.e. writing that is a source of comfort, inspiration, learning and escape. We are looking especially for work from writers of colour and working class writers living in the UK.

The submission window for the anthology is open until May 15th. We encourage you to read our previous publications to get a feel for the style of writing we enjoy and give you the best chance. If you do not have access to a copy of Lucent Dreaming via your library, and have no or very low income, please email dreaminglucent@gmail.com to receive a free copy.

Word Limit: 400-3,999 words for prose

Line Limit: 72 lines for poetry

Pay Rate: Fixed £100 and a free contributor copy.

Language: English

We enjoy beautifully written prose and poetry, especially writing that embraces and explores inner-lives. 

We do not publish the following:

• Fan fiction based on copyright texts
• Gratuitous gore/torture and other violence for the sake of violence
• Erotica

Submissions Process:

Please use our submission form to upload your submission. You may need to create a Gmail address. 

Submissions should be unpublished pieces submitted as a .doc/.docx file and in standard manuscript format. Please don’t submit work that has been previously published elsewhere, including work you have published yourself, be it on your blog, or anywhere else.

We accept simultaneous submissions. Please contact us to immediately withdraw if accepted elsewhere. 

Please allow up to 8 weeks after the submission window ends for a response before inquiring about the status of your submission.

Upon acceptance, the Lucent Dreaming team will send a contract for you to sign.