Rejected Lit Magazine is a literary journal created and edited by poets who are dedicated to celebrating the ongoing cycle of rejection integral to crafting poetry. Our name is a both a tongue-in-cheek reference to the rejection that we all face as poets at times, and a celebration of how fantastic work can, and often does, shine even with the threat of rejection looming overhead.

As our name suggests, we are extremely selective in the pieces we admit to each issue. We love visceral, unique, surprising, and experimental writing. We love work that sticks with us and considers both the ordinary and the extraordinary. We might reject you, but we’re poets; rejection is in our blood. For a better idea of work we appreciate, please read through our prior issues- all available on this site.

​Please send us 3-5 poems, and keep them all in one, easy-to-access editable file (e.g. a word doc).

We do accept simultaneous submissions, however please contact us and withdraw your submission if it is published elsewhere.
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Email all submissions directly to rejectedlitmag@gmail.com, along with a short author bio that includes social media handles, personal websites of any sort, previous publications, and other details about your life as a writer. Thank you— and we look forward to reading your work!

We usually require at least 4 months (and sometimes upwards of 6-8 months, depending on the issue) to read through submissions and respond to contributors, so please do not contact us concerning your submission before at least 4 months have passed.

If accepted, Rejected Lit claims First Electronic Rights and First North American Rights, meaning that publications here at RLM must be the first publication to feature the work online and/or in print.

As of 2025, we will be able to pay our accepted authors 30.00 USD per accepted poem. We are thrilled to finally have the funds to reward our wonderful contributors. 

Submissions for issue 12 are open from March 11th-June 11th, 2025.