SUBMISSIONS

Submissions to TOWER VOL. 2: HOLE will be open July 01-23 2023. You can read excerpts of two pieces upcoming in VOL. 2: HOLE previewed in VOL. 1: END for PWYC/free.

We accept all genres and encourage submissions of horror, sci-fi, fantasy and erotica.
VOL. 2: HOLE will be themed on holes in all senses; holes in the body, holes in the ground, mental and spiritual holes, and more. What makes a hole, its walls or its absence? Who makes a hole? What goes in the hole? Who owns the hole? How does a hole make you feel? How does a hole feel?
Some inspirations:

The rabbit hole of Nick Drnaso’s “Sabrina”
The reverse-tower hole in Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation
The holes in women’s minds and bodies in Alison Rumfitt’s Tell Me I’m Worthless
The ur-type hole story, Junji Ito’s “The Enigma of Amigara Fault”

PAYMENT

Payment is €20 per contributor paid via PayPal or Revolut.
Co-authored pieces count as one contributor.
Issues will be hosted at readtower.itch.io and available for PWYC down to free.

REPRINTS

We are open to reprints and encourage submissions of self-published materials (EG. an illustration or comic posted to Twitter, a short story published on itch.io).

SIMULTANEOUS / MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS

We’re totally fine with simultaneous submissions, just email us withdrawing your piece if it’s accepted elsewhere.

Please only submit once per category, making a different submission for each category. We encourage submissions of related works (EG. a story and accompanying illustration).

FORMATTING

We love pieces with unusual formats, specific layouts or mixed media, for example, “Lifegivers INC.” by Raluca Balasa, “Suspension” by Siena M. Moraff, “Oceanwrangler300 is typing…” by Annalisa Migliorati and spruciewyvern and “The Survivor House Promos” by Angélique Fawns from VOL. 1: END.
Just bear in mind TOWER is published as an A4 PDF.

SUBMISSION DETAILS

Please review all the guidelines before submitting.

→ SUBMISSIONS CLOSED

If you have any trouble using submissions forms please click here for guidelines on email submissions.

Please use 12 pt double-spaced Times where possible; writing with specific formatting or layout requirements can be attached as a PDF depending on the piece’s needs.

FICTION WRITING

One piece of maximum 5000 words.
Please submit this as one .doc/.docx attachment.

NON FICTION WRITING

One piece of maximum 5000 words.
Please submit this as one .doc/.docx attachment.
We’re interested in all kinds of non fiction including personal essays, criticism, analysis, research, and more.

POETRY

Up to 8 pages of poems.
This can include multiple poems.
Please submit these as one .doc/.docx attachment.

COMICS

Up to 15 pages of comics.
This can include multiple short comics.
Comics may be fiction or non-fiction.
Please submit these as one PDF.

VISUAL ART

1-5 pieces of visual art (illustration, traditional art, digital art, photography, collage, etc.)
Please submit these as one PDF.

REVIEWS

NOTE: We have selected a review for VOL. 1 but will continue considering pitches for future volumes. Reviews do not have to be closely linked to the volume theme.

Once per issue we will publish a 1000 word review of a book published at least 10 years ago that fits TOWER‘s credo of upheaval and bad vibes. (The older the better.)
You can pitch a review by emailing us at hello@readtower.net with the subject header “REVIEW – [BOOK TITLE] [YEAR]” (EG. “REVIEW – BEAR (1976)”) and a short paragraph about why you’d like to bring this book back into the spotlight.

ON IRELAND

TOWER is based out of Ireland; we are open to international submissions and aim to publish at least two Irish pieces per issue.

Our definition of Irish artists and writers are people born or residing on the island of Ireland.

Róisín is from Laois and James is from Dublin.