Seaside Gothic prides itself on publishing outstanding writing and is a paying market which is free to submit to for writers of all backgrounds. Diversity and inclusion are integral to the ethos of the magazine. If you would like to submit to Seaside Gothic, please be aware that unsolicited submissions are read once a quarter. The open submission windows for 2023 are as follows:
- 9th January to 15th January
- 10th April to 16th April
- 10th July to 16th July
- 9th October to 15th October
Each open submission window begins at midnight on the first day of opening and ends at midnight following the last day of opening, Greenwich Mean Time. From the first second of the first day until the last second of the last day of each submission window you are welcome to submit your writing, photography, and art, however unsolicited submissions sent outside of these open submission windows will not be considered.
For an accepted submission, Seaside Gothic requires first UK rights and exclusivity for three months from the date of the Issue’s publication. Content is published both in print (ISSN 2752-7867) and digitally (ISSN 2755-001X), with print copies available for purchase directly and in a selection of retailers, and the digital version available in-part for free online and in-part via an online subscription through Patreon. Payment rates for Seaside Gothic are based upon income and the magazine operates as a non-profit enterprise.
All submissions, whether fiction, poetry, nonfiction, or visual as a collection of photographs or illustrations, should meet the three criteria that define seaside gothic literature:
- It is led by emotion, not reason, exploring the human experience mentally and spiritually as well as physically, and is unashamed to embrace the violence of the sea and the wind along with the beauty of the land and the sky and the ever-changing tide.
- It addresses duality—land and sea, love and hate, the beautiful and the grotesque—to reflect the structures that line the coast, which are both those solidly braced against the fiercest elements and those built from what surrounds in a state of shanty transience.
- It connects to the edge, living on the seaside either literally or figuratively, and has one foot in the water and the other on solid ground, presenting the juxtaposition of a physical border with open space and a wilderness of water that provides life yet is inconsumable.
For full submission details including terms and conditions, please see the Submissions page.