sneaker wave magazine, general nonfiction
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sneaker wave submissions guidelines
sneaker wave magazine’s mission is to be a leading online home for compelling nonfiction storytelling. If you have written a compelling true story, submit it to us!
*SUBMISSIONS WILL OPEN ON FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2026.*
Submissions will be responded to on a rolling basis (with an average response time of less than two months). Our submission window will be open through June 15, 2026, or until our cap of 300 submissions is reached.
We only publish nonfiction. No fiction or poetry, please. All submissions must be between 2,000 and 4,000 words. Standard formatting is expected: standard twelve-point font, double spacing, and page numbers, please.
Stories must be original, previously unpublished work. We acquire first serial rights in English and non-exclusive anthology rights. All submissions must come through Submittable. Simultaneous submissions are welcome! Please let us know if your submission has been accepted elsewhere.
We are a weekly nonfiction magazine and have an extensive editorial process that includes both developmental and polishing edits, via multiple rounds of revision with multiple editors in order to present your piece in the best possible light.
With nonfiction in particular, it can be so difficult to approach the work as a writer rather than as someone involved in the story. Please trust that we have you and your story’s best interests at heart. We love working with writers to make pieces stronger, clearer, sharper. We hope you’ll approach the process at sneaker wave with an eager willingness to participate in the editorial process. Let’s enjoy the bounty of language and storytelling together.
TLDR; Check your ego at the door.
We offer three different types of submissions. All submissions will be considered for publication at sneaker wave magazine. Since our magazine prioritizes intensive developmental editing, we also offer line-level essay feedback. If you would like a full essay markup with margin notes by one of our editors, select the “individual developmental edit” option ($150). For a full essay markup with margin notes by three of our editors, select “collective developmental edit” ($250). All edits are done by the editors on our masthead.
These fees go directly toward paying our writers. Should your piece be accepted, the magazine will pay you a small honorarium (recently updated to $75!) the week after publication. We recognize this is just a token and not the true value of your work, and we hope to pay more in the future.
We look forward to reading your story. Thank you for considering sneaker wave magazine as a home for your writing!