Sending Us Your Work

☞ We have a cap of 400 submissions in each category. Please do not send us multiple submissions (see FAQs for further clarification):

☞ Short Fiction: Your short story should be between 2,000 and 5,000 words in length. TBLM doesn’t publish flash fiction, fan fiction, plays, novellas or novels. Stories don’t have to be anonymized. We welcome all kinds of short fiction, but please note the word-count limits do matter.

☞ Poetry: Please send us one document with five poems in English. Why five? We are publishing a poet, not just poems, so we like to get a sense of how they approach the art.

☞ Translated Fiction: We welcome prose translatons into English. The word limits are same as those for untranslated short fiction (2,000-5,000 words). Please include a full citation for the original source. If you like, you may also include a translator’s note (here’s a good example of one).

☞ Translated Poetry: We no longer accept translated poetry.

☞ Self-Translations: [Sept 18: now closed] We treat self-translated works as original works in English. In other words, submit self-translations as original poetry or original fiction contributions.

☞ Essays/Creative Nonfiction: We are looking for essays/creative non-fiction between 2,000 and 5,000 words. We love essays that move, delight, surprise, make us laugh, or reveal new and intelligent ways of looking at the world. We are not currently looking for academic writing or book reviews. We want essays that leap from catharsis to craft— whether personal or not, they should show us what’s at stake for both reader and writer. We welcome experimental writing. As Brian Dillon points out, the “essay” has always been an assay, a testing ground.

☞ Graphic Fiction: We are looking for adult-oriented graphic fiction. Radical is good. Genre-crossing is good plus. Edgy, retro-edgy, antidisestablishmentarian, missionary position: itsallgood, maacha! Whack us out. The length of the piece is up to you. In the past, we have published 40+ page works as well as 3-6 pagers.

☞ Visual Narratives: Currently, these are sourced on an invitation-only basis.

☞ Criticism: These too are sourced on an invitation-only basis.

☞ Fine Print: Multiple submissions (more than one submission by an author) won’t be evaluated.But you may send the submitted work to other magazines (i.e. simultaneous submissions are okay). Please inform us (help@bombaylitmag.com) if your work is selected elsewhere. We remember such acts of courtesy. One more thing: if more than 2 of your poems are accepted elsewhere, we will not have enough material to consider your submission, and it will therefore be marked withdrawn.

FAQs

1. Why is there a cap on the number of submissions?

   ☞ We get a lot of submissions. The evaluation process consists of at least four rounds of evaluation and our editors have to respond within six weeks. A cap on the number of submissions ensures our sanity and your equity.

2. Can I submit in two or more categories?

   ☞ Nope. Nahin. Nyet. No multiple submissions. Pick any one category, follow the guidelines for it, and submit exactly once.

3. How do I submit something that isn’t easily classified? For example, a graphic poem narrative or speculative nonfiction?

   ☞ Sometimes creative work just does not fit into neat little tiffin boxes. If so, simply select a genre that feels closest, and we’ll sort it out, post-acceptance. But one caveat: if we get a submission that we would classify as fiction, say, but the cap for fiction had been reached before you had submitted, then the submission won’t be evaluated. Likewise for other categories. Unfortunately, we have to be hard-ass about this because more than a few authors try to bypass the cutoff limits by submitting their work under a different category.

4. Do you accept interviews and reviews?

   ☞ Currently, not on open call.

5. Do you accept submissions in languages other than English?

   ☞ Alas, we do not. TBLM is an English-language based literary magazine. However, we welcome English-language translations from other languages.

6. You’ve published me before. When should I next send you my work?

   ☞ Hello, friend! We recommend you wait for one issue before sending us something in the same genre. And do let us know you’re a TBLM alum while submitting.

7. What do you mean about giving an honorarium but “contingent on such financial transfers being feasible”?

   ☞ We can make transfers to Paypal accounts. We can also make transfers to Indian bank account holders. International bank transfers are not always feasible (SWIFT payments, for example, are affected by international sanctions). We can discuss options, once we make an offer to publish your work.

8. What IP rights do you ask for?

   ☞ [edited: May 04, 2026] We ask for the minimum set of rights that will let us legally publish your work, exclusively for a period of one year, and non-exclusively thereafter. This means the work cannot be reprinted in other forums and media (print, audio podcasts, substacks, thesis, other magazine websites, anthologies, and so on) for one year after publication. After one year, you may make the work available to other publishers. However, we do want to get our authors read as widely as possible. So if a nice publication opportunity comes along during the first year, let us know, and we’ll do our best to cooperate. Translation rights follow the same pattern, but it can get complicated, since in most legal jurisdictions it is the original author and not the translator who is ultimately assigning the rights. If the work isn’t in the public domain and there aren’t any other extenuating circumstances, we need some document— letter, photo of letter, contract copy— indicating you, the translator, has the legal right to translate the original work. For now, don’t worry about it.

9. Tell me more about the honorarium.

   ☞ The amount of Rs. 10,000 (approx. $100) is for the accepted work. If there are multiple authors involved, they may share the amount as desired. If the work is a translation, then the honorarium of Rs. 10,000 is transferred to the translator(s), not the original author.

10. I am a writer under eighteen years of age. May I send my work to TBLM?

    ☞ Afraid not. If you are not an adult, then parents need to get involved, and we generally do our best to avoid parental supervision. But relax, grasshopper. We’ll be around. Send us something once you’re old enough for the nation-state to ship you off to wars.

11. I don’t wish to reveal my current legal name. Can I submit under a pseudonym?

    ☞ Sure, the work can be submitted & published under a pseudonym. But the publication contract requires your current legal name.

12. Help! I am not sure my submission went through. I’m afraid I may have submitted twice. I may have picked the wrong category. I attached the wrong manuscript. And misspelled my name. Or was it my email address? How high is up?Help!

    ☞ No worries, querant. For these and other existential queries, just ping us at help@bombaylitmag.com. We usually respond within a day.