The Offing A Literary Magazine

About

The Offing is an online literary magazine publishing creative writing in all genres and art in all media.
The Offing publishes work that challenges, experiments, provokes — work that pushes literary and artistic forms and conventions.
The Offing is a place for new and emerging writers to test their voices, and for established writers to test their limits.
The Offing actively seeks out and supports work by and about those often marginalized in literary spaces, including Black and Indigenous people, and people of color; trans people, cis women, agender, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, two-spirit, and non-binary people; intersex people; LGBQA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, asexual/aromantic) people; people with disabilities; and especially people living at the intersections of these identities.

Voluntary Fees: This project accepts voluntary fees for "tip jar" submissions.

Important: Check their guidelines to see which departments are currently accepting submissions.

Want more insight into the editors' preferences? Read our interview with the editor(s).

Country of Publication & Year Established

United States

Established in 2015

Publication Medium & Frequency

Electronic Publication Electronic Publication: Unknown publication frequency

AI Policy

AI use may be permitted in some circumstances (see their site for details)

1,024 members set this magazine as a Favorite.

Statistics Synopsis

Slower: The Offing's overall average response time is slower than most magazines.
More Challenging: The Offing's overall acceptance rate is lower than most magazines.
Responsive: The Offing's overall rate of non-response is within a normal range for magazines.

Learn more about our statistics

Collapse section Fiction Open

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience, including: All ethnic groups/populations, All genders, Females, Nonbinary people, Transgender people, All sexual identities, People with disabilities.

Genres:

General Open to all/most Subgenres

Lengths:

Flash Fiction: Up to 560 words.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Humorous, Literary.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics including...
Nature/Environment.
Place/Regions: General, Suburban areas.
Science.
Sexuality/Gender: LGBTQ issues, Women/Female issues.
Society/Culture: Ethnicity/Race.
Other: May vary.

Payment:

Token payment (under 1 US cent per word) to Professional payment (5 or more US cents per word) Pay ranges from Token payment to Professional payment. Details: USD $25-$100.

Submissions:

Method: Submittable submission manager.
Reprints: Reprints are NOT allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are allowed.
Media: Text.

Collapse section Nonfiction Open

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience, including: All ethnic groups/populations, All genders, Females, Nonbinary people, Transgender people, All sexual identities, People with disabilities.

Lengths:

Essay: No specific word count limits known.
Narrative Nonfiction: No specific word count limits known.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Humorous, Literary.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics including...
Nature/Environment.
Place/Regions.
Science.
Sexuality/Gender: LGBTQ issues, Women/Female issues.
Society/Culture: Ethnicity/Race.
Other: May vary.

Payment:

Token payment (under 1 US cent per word) to Professional payment (5 or more US cents per word) Pay ranges from Token payment to Professional payment. Details: USD $25-$100.

Submissions:

Method: Submittable submission manager.
Reprints: Reprints are NOT allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are allowed.
Media: Text.

Collapse section Poetry Open

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience, including: All ethnic groups/populations, All genders, Females, Nonbinary people, Transgender people, All sexual identities, People with disabilities.

Genres:

General Open to all/most Subgenres

Lengths:

Poem: No line limits known; Up to 5 pieces.

Poetry Forms:

Open to all/most Forms.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Humorous, Literary.

Topics:

Payment:

Token payment (under US$5 per poem) to Professional payment (US$50 or more per poem) Pay ranges from Token payment to Professional payment. Details: USD $25-$100.

Submissions:

Method: Submittable submission manager.
Reprints: Reprints are NOT allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are allowed.
Media: Text.

Collapse section Visual Art Temp Closed

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience, including: All ethnic groups/populations, All genders, Females, Nonbinary people, Transgender people, All sexual identities, People with disabilities.

Lengths:

Artwork: Unknown number of pieces.

Art Media:

Open to all/most Art Media, including...
Painting.
Photography.

Art Styles:

Open to all/most Art Styles.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics including...
Place/Regions: General, Suburban areas.
Sexuality/Gender: LGBTQ issues, Women/Female issues.
Society/Culture: Ethnicity/Race.
Other: May vary.

Payment:

Token payment (under US$10 per piece) to Professional payment (US$50 or more per piece) Pay ranges from Token payment to Professional payment. Details: USD $25-$100.

Submissions:

Method: Submittable submission manager.
Reprints: Reprints are NOT allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are allowed.
Media: Image.

Always check guidelines for details and restrictions. If you aren't familiar with these terms, see our glossary.

Recent cover image or website screenshot for The Offing

Go to publication's website

Report:
Submission/Response
Correction/Update
New Cover Art

Social:
Bluesky @theoffingmag.bsky.social
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Support this Publisher:
Support on Patreon

For the Editor(s):
Request Interview
Duosuma Submission Manager
Link to Duotrope

The Offing Submission Statistics

The statistics in this section are compiled from submission reports sent to us through our submission tracker. They are not provided by the publication's editors/staff or by Duotrope's admins. Information in this section is updated a few times per day. Learn more about the statistics.

This project ranks among the 25 Most Challenging Nonfiction Publishers in our database.

Filter:

Group by submission

Include outliers

Accuracy

We have received 225 reports from 190 different members within the past 12 months, not including pending responses (see below). The more responses reported, the more accurate the information.

Days Reported

1 min | 86.9 mean avg | 67.0 median | 401 max days (171.1 std dev)

Responses

86.22 %

Acceptances:

1.78 % of submissions accepted (146.5 avg. days per acceptance) | 2.11 % of submitters accepted

Rejections:

84.44 % (70.1 avg. days per rejection) | 14.2 % personal, 61.1 % form, 24.7 % unspecified | 0.4 % rewrite requests | 0.9 % shortlisted

Non-Responses

1.77 %

Lost/Returned:

0.44 % (216.0 avg. days before reporting submissions as lost or returned)

Never Responded:

1.33 % (367.0 avg. days before reporting submissions as never responded)

Withdrawals

12.00 % (109.4 avg. days per withdrawal)

Pending

72 responses are pending (2 min | 117.3 mean avg | 133.0 median | 285 max days waiting | 668.5 std dev) from 71 different members

Other Information

The editors will try to make a decision within 180 days. (7.6 % of the responses reported to us for this listing have taken longer than 180 days.)
The most common submission tip paid: USD $3.00. (9.3 % reported giving a tip.)
Submissions are acknowledged within 4 days on average.
Most recent response reported was received on 07 Sep 2026.
Responses have been received for submissions sent as recently as 01 Jun 2026.
Date compiled: 09 Sep 2026 07:52 UTC (4 hours, 47 minutes ago).
View report of recent responses from this project

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Your Submissions

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Before Submitting

We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is correct. It is not unusual for publications to evolve or close without notice. We do our best to keep up, but it isn't always possible. Duotrope listings do not imply endorsement or recommendation of the project being listed. Before submitting, you should use your own judgment to determine whether the project meets your standards.

Always read the full guidelines provided by the publisher.
Try to read at least one previous publication to get a better idea of what the editor would like to see.
Unless the publisher's guidelines state otherwise, always use industry standard manuscript formatting.
Be professional, patient, and persistent.

Dates

Last Updated: 05 Sep 2026

We check their guidelines for changes every four weeks, and we audit the listing twice a year.