The Itch Lit Gold Star Program Gold Star

The November Itch Prize | $50

November is CONSUMED.

The things we eat. The things that eat at us. Hunger, greed, obsession, desire. The things we swallow whole and the things that swallow us.

Maybe it's a family dinner gone wrong. Maybe it's a love that takes more than it gives. Maybe it's something with teeth.

We want writing that explores CONSUMED in whatever way your mind takes it. Make us laugh. Make us uncomfortable. Make us hungry. Make us wish we hadn't taken that last bite.

Just make it itch.

Submission Guidelines

• Theme: CONSUMED
• Genres: Fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry
• Length: 1000 words maximum
• Entry fee: $6 per submission
• Prize: $50 to one overall winner
• Publication: Selected finalists will be published in The Itch.
• Deadline: November 30, 2026

One winner will be chosen across all genres. Finalists will be selected based on the strength of the work, not by genre quotas.

We welcome strange, unsettling, funny, tender, grotesque, and unexpected interpretations of the theme.

Give us something we can't get out of our system.

The Itch — writing that won't leave you alone.

Submit

Chapbook & Collection Submissions

Open Now – December 31, 2026

Apparently, publishing a literary magazine wasn't enough for us.

The Itch is growing.

We're opening submissions for The Itch Press, a new small-press imprint dedicated to publishing the kind of writing that won't leave you alone.

We're looking for chapbook-length collections of flash fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry.

We like strange. We like uncomfortable. We like funny in ways that probably shouldn't be funny. We like writing that makes us put the manuscript down for a minute and think about what we've just read.

But more than anything, we want collections that feel like they belong together.

We're particularly interested in collections with a narrative arc.

That doesn't mean every piece needs to tell the same story or feature the same characters. It means we're looking for manuscripts that move somewhere. Collections with a sense of progression, connection, or transformation.

We want to finish the last piece and understand why it had to come after the first.

We're accepting:

• Flash fiction collections
• Creative nonfiction collections
• Poetry chapbooks
• Hybrid collections incorporating these genres

We welcome experimental work, unconventional structures, Southern voices, and perspectives we haven't encountered before.

We aren't looking for a particular theme. Surprise us.

Reading fee: $16 per manuscript

Submission deadline: December 31, 2026

Reading period: Open now. We'll begin reviewing manuscripts immediately.

Number of acceptances: No predetermined limit. We'll select manuscripts based on their individual merit and fit with The Itch Press.

Please submit a complete, polished manuscript as a single document.

Include a brief cover letter introducing yourself and your collection.

Previously published individual pieces are welcome, provided you retain the necessary rights to include them in a new collection.

Simultaneous submissions are welcome. Please notify us promptly if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.

The $16 reading fee supports the editorial review process and the development of The Itch Press. Payment does not guarantee publication.

We're building a small press with a simple goal: publish good books and give their writers a fair share of what those books earn.

Selected manuscripts will receive:

Professional publication

• Paperback edition
• Kindle ebook edition
• Consideration for Kindle Unlimited distribution through KDP Select, subject to eligibility and publishing rights
• Cover design, interior formatting, and production handled by The Itch Press
• Editorial collaboration and proofreading
• Promotion through The Itch's website and social media channels

Author compensation

• 40% of the royalties and sales proceeds actually paid to The Itch Press by Amazon
• This includes eligible paperback sales, Kindle ebook sales, and Kindle Unlimited page-read revenue.
• No additional deductions for editing, cover design, formatting, or marketing from the author's 40% share.
• Two complimentary paperback copies of the finished book.

The Itch Press retains the remaining 60% to cover production, distribution, promotion, and operating expenses.

There is no cash advance or guaranteed payment. Author earnings depend on actual book sales and eligible subscription reads.

Selected authors will receive a written publishing agreement detailing royalty accounting, payment schedules, publication rights, and other terms before committing to publication.

Authors retain copyright to their work. The publishing agreement will specify the rights licensed to The Itch Press.

We hope to make eligible titles available through Kindle Unlimited.

Participation in Amazon's KDP Select program requires digital exclusivity during enrollment periods. Authors selected for publication will be able to review these requirements before signing a publishing agreement.

We're not interested in publishing books just to say we've published books.

We're interested in manuscripts that itch.

The ones that linger. The ones that make us uncomfortable. The ones that make us laugh when we shouldn't. The ones that feel like somebody had to write them.

If you've got a collection that's been sitting in a folder waiting for somewhere to belong, we'd love to read it.

Send us something that won't leave us alone.

Submit

Some stories entertain.

Some stories explain.

The stories we love most do neither.

They linger.

They follow us into grocery stores and waiting rooms. They wake us at three in the morning. They demand another draft. Another reading. Another look.

The Itch exists for writing that refuses to leave.

We publish work that burrows beneath the skin—flash fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and hybrid forms that surprise, unsettle, delight, or haunt.

If we're still thinking about it tomorrow, we want it.

Submit

Free to submit

400 words or fewer.

We’re looking for tiny pieces that still feel whole.

Send us fiction or creative nonfiction with voice, tension, movement, surprise, emotional weight—or some other reason we keep thinking about it after the last line.

We like compression that creates pressure. We like implication.Strange little turns. Precise details. Work that trusts the reader.

A small piece does not have to be a small idea.

• Fiction and creative nonfiction welcome
• Submit one piece
• 400 words maximum
• Previously unpublished work only
• Simultaneous submissions are welcome
• Please withdraw promptly if your work is accepted elsewhere
• One submission at a time, please
• No AI-generated creative work

There is no submission fee for this call.

If accepted, your work will be published in The Itch Lit.

Give us 400 words or fewer.

Make them itch.

Submit

Editorial Feedback — $15

Want to know what an editor thinks of your work?

For $15, you'll receive personalized editorial feedback within 3 days of submission. We'll highlight what works, what could be stronger, and offer specific suggestions for revision.

Feedback is honest, constructive, and focused on helping you improve your piece.

This option does not guarantee publication or influence acceptance decisions. Feedback does not include line edits or multiple rounds of revision.

Fiction, CNF, Poetry, Hybrid work under 1000 words.

Submit

This is for expedited responses. You'll receive a decision within 24 hours.

Some stories entertain.

Some stories explain.

The stories we love most do neither.

They linger.

They follow us into grocery stores and waiting rooms. They wake us at three in the morning. They demand another draft. Another reading. Another look.

The Itch exists for writing that refuses to leave.

We publish work that burrows beneath the skin—flash fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and hybrid forms that surprise, unsettle, delight, or haunt.

If we're still thinking about it tomorrow, we want it.

Submit

Some stories entertain.

Some stories explain.

The stories we love most do neither.

They linger.

They follow us into grocery stores and waiting rooms. They wake us at three in the morning. They demand another draft. Another reading. Another look.

The Itch exists for writing that refuses to leave.

We publish work that burrows beneath the skin—flash fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and hybrid forms that surprise, unsettle, delight, or haunt.

If we're still thinking about it tomorrow, we want it.

Submit

Some stories entertain.

Some stories explain.

The stories we love most do neither.

They linger.

They follow us into grocery stores and waiting rooms. They wake us at three in the morning. They demand another draft. Another reading. Another look.

The Itch exists for writing that refuses to leave.

We publish work that burrows beneath the skin—flash fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and hybrid forms that surprise, unsettle, delight, or haunt.

If we're still thinking about it tomorrow, we want it.

Submit