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Copper Nickel

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About

Copper Nickel—the national literary journal housed at the University of Colorado Denver—was founded by poet Jake Adam York in 2002. When York died in 2012, the journal went on hiatus until its re-launch in 2014.

Work from Copper Nickel has been reprinted in the Best American Poetry, Best American Short Stories, and Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses anthologies, and has been listed as "notable" in the Best American Essays anthology.

Contributors to Copper Nickel have received numerous honors for their work, including the National Book Critics Circle Award; the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award; the American, California, Colorado, Minnesota, and Washington State Book Awards; the Georg Büchner Prize; the TS Eliot and Forward Poetry Prizes; the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award; the Whiting Writers Award; the Alice Fay Di Castagnola Award; the Lambda Literary Award; and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts; the Guggenheim, Ingram Merrill, Witter Bynner, Soros, Rona Jaffe, Bush, and Jerome Foundations; the Bunting Institute; Cave Canem; and the American Academy in Rome. Other contributors have had their first published work appear in our pages.

Fees Notice: This project charges fees (or requires purchases) for all submissions. (Note: About 8% of magazines always charge fees.)
The fee is USD $3 (average for magazines that charge).
Submission Caps: They may close to submissions early if they reach their quota.

Country of Publication & Year Established

United States
Established in 2002

Publication Medium & Frequency

Print Publication Print Publication
Published 2 x per year

AI Policy

Human-created work only; no AI use allowed

Statistics Synopsis

Slower
Copper Nickel's overall average response time is slower than most magazines.
More Challenging
Copper Nickel's overall acceptance rate is lower than most magazines.
More Responsive
Copper Nickel's overall rate of non-response is lower than most magazines.

Collapse section Fiction Open Fee-based

Dates:

Open to fiction submissions through 01 December 2026* (approx. 88 days from now).

27

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Genres:

General

Lengths:

Flash Fiction: No specific word count limits known (our definition: up to 1000 words); Up to 3 pieces.
Short Story: No specific word count limits known (our definition: 1000 to 7500 words).

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Literary.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics.

Payment:

Professional payment (5 or more US cents per word) Provides free copy/copies Professional payment. Provides free copy/copies. Details: USD $30 per printed page; two $500 prizes per issue.

Submissions:

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

Collapse section Nonfiction Open Fee-based

Dates:

Open to nonfiction submissions through 01 December 2026* (approx. 88 days from now).

2

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Lengths:

Essay: No specific word count limits known.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Literary.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics.

Payment:

Professional payment (5 or more US cents per word) Provides free copy/copies Professional payment. Provides free copy/copies. Details: USD $30 per printed page; two $500 prizes per issue.

Submissions:

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

Collapse section Poetry Open Fee-based

Dates:

Open to poetry submissions through 01 December 2026* (approx. 88 days from now).

47

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Genres:

General

Lengths:

Poem: No line limits known; 4 - 6 pieces.

Poetry Forms:

Open to all/most Forms.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Literary.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics.

Payment:

Semi-pro payment (US$5-49 per poem) to Professional payment (US$50 or more per poem) Provides free copy/copies Pay ranges from Semi-pro payment to Professional payment. Provides free copy/copies. Details: USD $30 per printed page; two $500 prizes per issue.

Submissions:

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

Always check guidelines for details and restrictions. If you aren't familiar with these terms, see our glossary.
* We do not know the time and/or timezone, so we cannot be more precise. Submit early to avoid disappointment.

Copper Nickel 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 Extremely Challenging Fiction Publishers in our database.
This project ranks among the 25 Most Challenging Nonfiction Publishers in our database.
Filter:
Accuracy
We have received 568 reports from 504 different members within the past 12 months, not including pending responses (see below). The more responses reported, the more accurate the information.
Days Reported
0 min | 99.1 mean avg | 101.0 median | 331 max days (186.8 std dev)
Responses
94.01 %
Acceptances:
0.70 % of submissions accepted (108.8 avg. days per acceptance) | 0.79 % of submitters accepted Rejections are often underreported, which skews the statistics in favor of acceptances. Most publishers have a lower acceptance rate than indicated here.
Rejections:
93.31 % (100.6 avg. days per rejection) | 12.6 % personal, 68.3 % form, 19.1 % unspecified | 0.2 % shortlisted
Non-Responses
0.18 %
Lost/Returned:
-
Never Responded:
0.18 % (239.0 avg. days before reporting submissions as never responded)
Withdrawals
5.81 % (69.4 avg. days per withdrawal)
Pending
142 responses are pending (0 min | 28.6 mean avg | 14.0 median | 263 max days waiting | 816.4 std dev) from 141 different members This only includes pending reports from people who have been active on Duotrope within the past 30 days

Other Information

The editors will try to make a decision within 84 days. (65.0 % of the responses reported to us for this listing have taken longer than 84 days.)
Do not query on the status of your submission before 90 days have passed.
The most common submission fee paid: USD $3.00.
Most submissions are acknowledged within one day.
Most recent response reported was received on 04 Sep 2026.
Responses have been received for submissions sent as recently as 17 Aug 2026.
Date compiled: 04 Sep 2026 20:04 UTC (42 minutes ago).
View report of recent responses from this project

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Your Submissions

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Copper Nickel Contests CLOSED  Charges fees for all submissions
Jake Adam York Prize  Charges fees for all submissions

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: 03 Sep 2026

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

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