Submission Guidelines
Cardgame, SF Northbeach
What We Read, What We Publish
- We read Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Flash Prose, Poetry, Visual Art, Young Adult Literature, and Literary Translation.
- We also curate Amuse-Bouche, a monthly content series, highlighting works of all genres.
- We award two prizes each magazine cycle as well: The Diana Woods Memorial Prize in Creative Nonfiction and the Gabo Prize for Literature in Translation & Multilingual Texts.
Submitting to Lunch Ticket’s Next Issue
- Lunch Ticket’s Issue 29 came out in June 2026.
- Lunch Ticket‘s Issue 30 will come out in December 2026.
- Submitting to Lunch Ticket is always free.
- The age requirement for Lunch Ticket is currently 18 and older.
- We welcome multilingual submissions in all genres.
- The submission windows for Issue 30 are as follows:
- Creative Nonfiction — August 1st to August 31st
- Fiction — August 1st to August 31st
- Flash Prose — August 1st to August 31st
- Poetry — August 1st to August 31st
- Amuse-Bouche — August 1st to September 30th
- Visual Art — Open year-round and reviewed between August 1st and September 30th
- Translation — Open year-round and reviewed between August 1st and September 30th
- Young Adult — Open year-round and reviewed between August 1st and September 30th
Ralph & Rita in Sienna, 36″x24″
Submission Guidelines
- Please submit to Lunch Ticket only once per submission reading period (regardless of genre).
- If your work has been published in Lunch Ticket, please skip one submission reading period before submitting again.
- All submissions at Lunch Ticket are read anonymously in the first round. We only read pieces that have all identifying information removed. Make sure no identifying information exists in the document title, submission title, or the work itself. Identifying information (such as names and bios) can only be included in the cover letter, and not in any attached files or the submission title.
- There is a 3,500-word limit for all genres and a three-poem limit for all genres that accept poetry. Longer submissions will not be read.
- All genres have a submission cap of 300. (Submission windows will close on the date specified above or after this threshold is met, whichever comes first.)
- Please submit work to us that is double-spaced, and in size 12 Times or Times New Roman font.
- Please read the genre-specific guidelines in Submittable before submitting to Lunch Ticket.
Generative AI Policy
We do not accept submissions of any AI-generated work, including writing, visual art, or translations that were created, edited, revised, or translated with generative AI software. This includes, but is not limited to, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and other generative AI editing tools. In compliance with Antioch University’s MFA Program policy, use of Grammarly is not allowed. We will decline and rescind acceptance and publication of all work found to be created with generative AI.
Selection Process
For all genres and contests, you will receive a selection notification by or before the end of November. For Amuse-Bouche, selection notifications are sent on a rolling basis.
We will contact you no matter the result of your submission.
Kitchen I, 48″x36″
Notes About Publication
If your piece is selected, Lunch Ticket retains the first North American serial rights to publish, produce, reproduce, distribute, and market your submission. All other remaining rights revert to the author upon publication. If the work is published again, we ask for a credit line to indicate that the work first appeared in Lunch Ticket.
We encourage submissions from Antioch University Alumni, if and only if two or more years have passed since their graduation. (Please see our “About” page for further opportunities for students and recent graduates.) We do not accept submissions from the Antioch MFA program’s faculty or staff for publication in any section of the journal.
Literary Translation note: Please refer to standard Lunch Ticket guidelines for either poetry or prose. Your submission should include the original work along with your translation. We also require a statement that grants us permission to publish both the original work and the translation online, and that certifies that you have received permission from the original rights holder (either the publisher or the author, as applicable) to grant us such rights.
Thank you for your interest in submitting to Lunch Ticket! We look forward reviewing your submission(s).
