Cottonwood Literary Magazine

About

Cottonwood is a literary magazine publishing new and well-known writers of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. We publish a wide variety of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Poetry submissions should be limited to the five best, fiction to one story.
Over the years authors such as William Stafford, Rita Dove, Connie May Fowler, Virgil Suarez, and Ann Waldman have appeared in the pages of Cottonwood, and recent issues have featured the work of Doug Ramspeck, Patricia Corbus, Joanne Lowery, Donna Pucciani, and Oliver Rice, among others.

Country of Publication & Year Established

United States

Established in 1965

Publication Medium & Frequency

Print Publication Print Publication: Published 1 x per year

AI Policy

Human-created work only; no AI use allowed

138 members set this magazine as a Favorite.

Statistics Synopsis

Regular Speed: Cottonwood Literary Magazine's overall average response time is within a normal range for magazines.
Normal Acceptance: Cottonwood Literary Magazine's overall acceptance rate is within a normal range for magazines.
More Responsive: Cottonwood Literary Magazine's overall rate of non-response is lower than most magazines.

Learn more about our statistics

Collapse section Fiction Open

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Genres:

General

Lengths:

Flash Fiction: 150 - 1,000 words.
Short Story: 1,000 - 7,500 words.
Novelette: 7,500 - 8,000 words.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Literary.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics.

Payment:

No monetary payment Provides free copy/copies No monetary payment. Provides free copy/copies.

Submissions:

Method: 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.

Lengths:

Essay: No specific word count limits known.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Literary.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics.

Payment:

No monetary payment Provides free copy/copies No monetary payment. Provides free copy/copies.

Submissions:

Method: 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.

Genres:

General

Lengths:

Poem: 10 - 80 lines.

Poetry Forms:

Open to all/most Forms.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Literary.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics.

Payment:

No monetary payment Provides free copy/copies No monetary payment. Provides free copy/copies.

Submissions:

Method: 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.

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Social:
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For the Editor(s):
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Cottonwood Literary Magazine 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.

Filter:

Group by submission

Include outliers

Accuracy

We have received 28 reports from 25 different members within the past 12 months, not including pending responses (see below). The more responses reported, the more accurate the information.

Days Reported

2 min | 70.5 mean avg | 79.0 median | 162 max days (46.3 std dev)

Responses

75.00 %

Acceptances:

7.14 % of submissions accepted (159.5 avg. days per acceptance) | 8.00 % of submitters accepted

Rejections:

67.86 % (80.9 avg. days per rejection) | 15.8 % personal, 63.2 % form, 21.1 % unspecified

Non-Responses

0.00 %

Lost/Returned:

Never Responded:

Withdrawals

25.00 % (23.0 avg. days per withdrawal)

Pending

20 responses are pending (5 min | 49.6 mean avg | 40.0 median | 148 max days waiting | 674.0 std dev) from 19 different members

Other Information

The editors will try to make a decision within 150 days. (10.7 % of the responses reported to us for this listing have taken longer than 150 days.)
Do not query on the status of your submission before 180 days have passed.
Submissions are acknowledged within 11 days on average.
Most recent response reported was received on 13 Aug 2026.
Responses have been received for submissions sent as recently as 17 Jun 2026.
Date compiled: 15 Sep 2026 10:02 UTC (less than a minute ago).

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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 Aug 2026

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