Nachtljocht: Fiction & Short Plays Fee: usd $3.00

Nachtljocht is seeking previously unpublished fiction and short plays for our 2027 volumes.

We are interested in work that lingers: writing with clear artistic intention, memorable language, and the confidence to become fully itself. We welcome literary fiction alongside speculative, historical, horror, surreal, and other forms of imaginative work. We are not looking for a particular genre. We are looking for stories that stay with us.

Word count: Submissions must be between 3,000 and 12,000 words.

Submission period: The current submission period runs from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027. We aim to respond within 60 days of submission. Because Nachtljocht is primarily a print quarterly, selected work may be held for a later volume in the publishing cycle.

Eligibility: We accept previously unpublished fiction and short plays. There are no genre restrictions. “Previously unpublished” means the work must not have appeared in print or in any publicly accessible online form, including personal blogs, newsletters, social media posts, or public forums.

Formatting: Please submit your manuscript as a PDF, DOC, or DOCX file. Manuscripts should use 12pt Times New Roman, double spacing, 2.54 cm (1 inch) margins, and page numbers throughout. For fiction, indicate scene breaks with a centred ***.

Submission limit: We accept one active submission per author at a time. Once you have received a decision on your submission, you are welcome to submit another piece during the same submission period.

Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are welcome. If your work is accepted elsewhere, please withdraw it or notify us immediately.

Submission fee: There is a $3 USD submission fee. The fee helps support the practical costs of running Nachtljocht and allows us to continue reading and publishing new work. Any optional contribution above the standard fee is entirely voluntary and has no effect on editorial consideration, response time, acceptance, or publication.

The submission fee includes a digital copy of the most recent issue of Nachtljocht, provided via a download link following payment.

We also offer occasional free submission periods exclusively for newsletter subscribers. Dates and details are announced through the Nachtljocht newsletter.

Rights: Nachtljocht acquires first serial rights only. We publish the work first and retain the published edition in our archive. All other rights remain with the author, and authors are free to republish their work elsewhere after it appears in Nachtljocht.

Payment: We pay $15 USD per accepted piece, payable at the time of publication. Contributors also receive one complimentary copy of the print edition in which their work appears, along with digital copies.

AI policy: Nachtljocht does not publish work written by large language models, and we do not use AI in our submissions process. Your work is read by a person, start to finish. We simply ask that the work you submit be your own.

We will never upload your submission to an AI detector. We do not consider these systems reliable enough to determine authorship, and we do not believe writers should be subjected to automated authorship screening.