What We’re Looking For

• Copper Nickel accepts submissions of poetry, fiction, essays, and translation folios from August 15 to December 15, January 15 to March 1.
• We DO accept simultaneous submissions, though we ask you to contact us if submitted work is accepted elsewhere.
• We do not accept work produced via generative AI. At Copper Nickel, we believe that creative writing is vitally rooted in the unique, creative expression of the individual mind—the self—and generative AI is the opposite of that. What’s more, AI models have been trained using the overt, unabashed theft of the labor of individuals—including many, many creative writers—without consent or appropriate compensation. We are opposed to that.

Poetry & Prose

• Submit four to six poems, one story, three flash pieces, or one essay at a time.
• After receiving a response from us, please wait at least six months to submit again.
• For prose we do not have any length restrictions—but longer-than-normal pieces have to earn their space.

Translation Folios

• Submit five to ten poems or a piece of prose (fiction or nonfiction). 
• If we accept, we’ll ask for a contextualizing introductory essay of 800-1200 words.

Submission Withdrawal

• Withdraw full submissions through submittable.
• Withdraw individual poems or flash pieces by messaging us through submittable indicating which pieces should be removed from consideration.

Correspondence

• We try to respond to all submissions within twelve weeks, though response times can be longer—particularly in the spring. We receive many thousands of submissions each year; reading and responding to them all is sometimes slower than we would like. 
• Please do not query about your submission until at least three months have passed.
• Please be kind and professional in your correspondence with us.
• When you submit your work to Copper Nickel you’re adding yourself to our contact list and consenting to receiving infrequent emails about our book prize, subscriptions drives, etc.

Payments

• Poetry & Prose: $30 per printed page.
• Poetry payments have a minimum of $50 and a maximum of $150. 
• Prose payments have minimum of $50 and a maximum of $250.
• Translation Folios: $150 flat rate.
• All published authors also receive two copies of the issue in which their work appears + a one-year subscription.
• International writers please note: all payments sent overseas are subject to a 30% tax, which is withheld on the front end. This is beyond our control.

Awards

• The Editors’ Prizes in Poetry and Prose: We award two $500 prizes for the most exciting work in each issue, as determined by a vote of our in-house editorial staff.
• The Jake Adam York Book Prize: For information, visit here.