The publishing industry has a long way to go in terms of diversity and championing Black writers. If you are a Black writer, we'd like to invite you to submit your short stories, creative nonfiction, and novel excerpts for us free of charge. We do not publish poetry. 

We pay $100/piece. Please keep in mind that Joyland is a volunteer-run indie publication, and it may take up to 5 months for your story to receive a response. If you are ever curious about the status of your story, you may email contact@joylandmagazine.com

We are an independent magazine run entirely on submission fees, which we use to maintain our site and pay our writers and editors. Still, every writer should be able to submit to Joyland regardless of financial status. If the $4.50 submission fee poses a financial burden to you, please submit free of charge via this portal.

We accept unsolicited submissions all year long. Please submit only one story or essay at a time (10,000 words or fewer, Times New Roman font). Our average response time is 12-16 weeks. We pay all writers $100 per piece. 

We accept unsolicited submissions all year long. Please submit only one story or essay at a time (10,000 words or fewer, Times New Roman font). Our average response time is 12-16 weeks. We pay writers $100 per piece. All our writers are paid the same amount, regardless of where they may be in their writing career.

We are an independent magazine run entirely on submission fees. If the $4.50 submission fee poses a financial burden to you, we invite you to submit free of charge here. 

The publishing industry has a long way to go in terms of diversity and championing Black writers. If you are a Black writer, we invite you to submit free of charge here.