SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN FOR ISSUE 14 (_print_)!
(_deadline 3 March 2024_)
The editors of Waxing & Waning want what’s on the fringe. Whatever is deep and true. The moon represents this idea: what is dark, what is brooding, what is wild, what is crescent and changing. We want to feed the beast in you, the one buried beneath layers of manners and anxiety and internet induced abyss, repetition, and relative sameness. Work submitted to Waxing & Waning should be honest and well-executed. It should scream coherently; it should bring experiences and knowledge out of us that we have not seen before. It should rip out our black hearts and put them in front of our eyes. Bring us the work everyone else is afraid of. Bring us the work you’re afraid of. Bring us the work that gets at the trueness frightening you out of the routine.
In a world blanketed in monotony—we seek to search outside of ourselves so we can better love, give love, and sacrifice for whatever art could bring. We hope to wax in truth and wane into poetics—to shelter ourselves from reality. To bathe in the light of the moon.
- Submissions open year-round
- 1 online / 1 print release per year
- Simultaneous submissions accepted (please let us know, however)
- Poetry, Fiction, & Creative Nonfiction submissions $5
- Screenplays/Plays submissions $7
- Short Films & Comics submissions $3
- Art submissions FREE
Submission Guidelines
- Poetry: 1-5 poems, up to 3,000 words
- Fiction / Creative Nonfiction: 100-5,000 words (if any longer, it should be good enough to merit the space it will take up)
- Screenplays / Plays: Up to 25 pages (may be a part of a whole)
- Art: Please submit 1-5 pieces of art to be considered for our journal, both online and print. (We accept .GIF, .JPEG, .PNG, .MOV, MP4, .AVI, .FLV, and .M4V.)
- Comics: 3-10 pages, black-and-white or color
- Short Films: Up to 15 minutes, if Submittable lets you attach it, we'll look at it!
Waxing & Waning (April Gloaming Publishing) is a 501(c)(3) organization. All donations are tax deductible.

Waxing & Waning is proud to present The Academy—a place for scholarly articles published outside the ivory tower. We are looking for articles in Chicago standards under the broad subjects of Literature, Art, Philosophy, and Criticism, offering new perspectives, radical reinterpretations, deep investigations, and thorough analyses of literature, art, and philosophical thought. We want articles that freshly engage current events, re-examine the aporias in critical dialogue, and propose new, well-researched revelations that expand and diversify our intellectual conversations. The Academy is a home for those who would like their work available to the general public, without a subscription to a database or a login from a university--academic contributions to reach the masses. We want articles that breathe fresh life into our intellectual conversations, helping to reimagine a world where intelligent thought can exist and engage beyond ivory towers.
Page count requirements: Up to 15 pages, though we prefer publishing articles under 10 pages.
Style requirement: Chicago
Abstract (required): 100-500 words.
Note: We do not have the support staff to peer-review submissions. By submitting, you agree that all sources are cited correctly and that the article is free from plagiarism or Artificial Intelligence.
April Gloaming is excited to announce its second annual Moon Meridian Novella Award Competition. Submissions are open to fiction or creative nonfiction novellas that range from 20,000-40,000 words. Potential submitters are strongly encouraged to visit https://aprilgloaming.com/about and read through what we are looking for in our publications. Novellas that fall outside of this will have a much smaller chance of being awarded the winner.
Speaking of the winner, one novella will be notified by May 2024 of its award and will be published at the end of 2024, or early 2025. The winner will receive royalty payments twice per year after their novella has been published, and it will be available worldwide.
April Gloaming is excited to announce its second annual Apogee Poetry Chapbook Award Competition. Submissions are open to poetry chapbooks that range from 25-50 poems, or 25-50 pages. Potential submitters are strongly encouraged to visit https://aprilgloaming.com/about and read through what we are looking for in our publications. Poetry that falls outside of this will have a much smaller chance of being awarded the winner.
Speaking of the winner, one poetry chapbook will be notified by May 2023 of its award and will be published at the end of 2023, or early 2024. The winner will receive royalty payments twice per year after their chapbook has been published, and it will be available worldwide.
The editors of Waxing & Waning want what’s on the fringe. Whatever is deep and true. The moon represents this idea: what is dark, what is brooding, what is wild, what is crescent and changing. We want to feed the beast in you, the one buried beneath layers of manners and anxiety and internet induced abyss, repetition, and relative sameness. Work submitted to Waxing & Waning should be honest and well-executed. It should scream coherently; it should bring experiences and knowledge out of us that we have not seen before. It should rip out our black hearts and put them in front of our eyes. Bring us the work everyone else is afraid of. Bring us the work you’re afraid of. Bring us the work that gets at the trueness frightening you out of the routine.
In a world blanketed in monotony—we seek to search outside of ourselves so we can better love, give love, and sacrifice for whatever art could bring. We hope to wax in truth and wane into poetics—to shelter ourselves from reality. To bathe in the light of the moon.
GUIDELINES:
- 12-pt Times New Roman font
- Spaced accurately
- 1-5 poems, up to 3,000 words
The editors of Waxing & Waning want what’s on the fringe. Whatever is deep and true. The moon represents this idea: what is dark, what is brooding, what is wild, what is crescent and changing. We want to feed the beast in you, the one buried beneath layers of manners and anxiety and internet induced abyss, repetition, and relative sameness. Work submitted to Waxing & Waning should be honest and well-executed. It should scream coherently; it should bring experiences and knowledge out of us that we have not seen before. It should rip out our black hearts and put them in front of our eyes. Bring us the work everyone else is afraid of. Bring us the work you’re afraid of. Bring us the work that gets at the trueness frightening you out of the routine.
In a world blanketed in monotony—we seek to search outside of ourselves so we can better love, give love, and sacrifice for whatever art could bring. We hope to wax in truth and wane into poetics—to shelter ourselves from reality. To bathe in the light of the moon.
GUIDELINES:
- 1 piece
- 12-pt Times New Roman font
- Double-spaced
- 100-5,000 words
The editors of Waxing & Waning want what’s on the fringe. Whatever is deep and true. The moon represents this idea: what is dark, what is brooding, what is wild, what is crescent and changing. We want to feed the beast in you, the one buried beneath layers of manners and anxiety and internet induced abyss, repetition, and relative sameness. Work submitted to Waxing & Waning should be honest and well-executed. It should scream coherently; it should bring experiences and knowledge out of us that we have not seen before. It should rip out our black hearts and put them in front of our eyes. Bring us the work everyone else is afraid of. Bring us the work you’re afraid of. Bring us the work that gets at the trueness frightening you out of the routine.
In a world blanketed in monotony—we seek to search outside of ourselves so we can better love, give love, and sacrifice for whatever art could bring. We hope to wax in truth and wane into poetics—to shelter ourselves from reality. To bathe in the light of the moon.
GUIDELINES:
- 1 piece
- 12-pt Times New Roman font
- Double-spaced
- 100-5,000 words
The editors of Waxing & Waning want what’s on the fringe. Whatever is deep and true. The moon represents this idea: what is dark, what is brooding, what is wild, what is crescent and changing. We want to feed the beast in you, the one buried beneath layers of manners and anxiety and internet induced abyss, repetition, and relative sameness. Work submitted to Waxing & Waning should be honest and well-executed. It should scream coherently; it should bring experiences and knowledge out of us that we have not seen before. It should rip out our black hearts and put them in front of our eyes. Bring us the work everyone else is afraid of. Bring us the work you’re afraid of. Bring us the work that gets at the trueness frightening you out of the routine.
In a world blanketed in monotony—we seek to search outside of ourselves so we can better love, give love, and sacrifice for whatever art could bring. We hope to wax in truth and wane into poetics—to shelter ourselves from reality. To bathe in the light of the moon.
GUIDELINES:
- 1 piece
- 12 pt font
- Typical screenplay/play format
- Up to 25 pages
- May be a part of a whole
The editors of Waxing & Waning want what’s on the fringe. Whatever is deep and true. The moon represents this idea: what is dark, what is brooding, what is wild, what is crescent and changing. We want to feed the beast in you, the one buried beneath layers of manners and anxiety and internet induced abyss, repetition, and relative sameness. Work submitted to Waxing & Waning should be honest and well-executed. It should scream coherently; it should bring experiences and knowledge out of us that we have not seen before. It should rip out our black hearts and put them in front of our eyes. Bring us the work everyone else is afraid of. Bring us the work you’re afraid of. Bring us the work that gets at the trueness frightening you out of the routine.
In a world blanketed in monotony—we seek to search outside of ourselves so we can better love, give love, and sacrifice for whatever art could bring. We hope to wax in truth and wane into poetics—to shelter ourselves from reality. To bathe in the light of the moon.
We are currently accepting submissions for art, both moving and plastic.
GUIDELINES:
- Please submit 1-5 pieces of art to be considered for our journal, both online and print.
- We accept .GIF, .JPEG, .PNG, .MOV, MP4, .AVI, .FLV, and .M4V.
- If you're submitting a painted piece, we'd like them to be as cropped to the canvas as possible with indirect or natural lighting to avoid glare, but because we want a lot of visual stuff, we'll be more lenient with these particular guidelines.
The editors of Waxing & Waning want what’s on the fringe. Whatever is deep and true. The moon represents this idea: what is dark, what is brooding, what is wild, what is crescent and changing. We want to feed the beast in you, the one buried beneath layers of manners and anxiety and internet induced abyss, repetition, and relative sameness. Work submitted to Waxing & Waning should be honest and well-executed. It should scream coherently; it should bring experiences and knowledge out of us that we have not seen before. It should rip out our black hearts and put them in front of our eyes. Bring us the work everyone else is afraid of. Bring us the work you’re afraid of. Bring us the work that gets at the trueness frightening you out of the routine.
In a world blanketed in monotony—we seek to search outside of ourselves so we can better love, give love, and sacrifice for whatever art could bring. We hope to wax in truth and wane into poetics—to shelter ourselves from reality. To bathe in the light of the moon.
GUIDELINES:
- 3-10 pages, black-and-white or color
The editors of Waxing & Waning want what’s on the fringe. Whatever is deep and true. The moon represents this idea: what is dark, what is brooding, what is wild, what is crescent and changing. We want to feed the beast in you, the one buried beneath layers of manners and anxiety and internet induced abyss, repetition, and relative sameness. Work submitted to Waxing & Waning should be honest and well-executed. It should scream coherently; it should bring experiences and knowledge out of us that we have not seen before. It should rip out our black hearts and put them in front of our eyes. Bring us the work everyone else is afraid of. Bring us the work you’re afraid of. Bring us the work that gets at the trueness frightening you out of the routine.
In a world blanketed in monotony—we seek to search outside of ourselves so we can better love, give love, and sacrifice for whatever art could bring. We hope to wax in truth and wane into poetics—to shelter ourselves from reality. To bathe in the light of the moon.
GUIDELINES:
- Up to 15 minutes
- Pushes boundaries
- Artistically driven
- Masterfully crafted
Waxing & Waning is proud to present its annual High Moon Haiku Contest. Entrants may submit up to 3 haiku to be considered for selection by our staff, and this year's theme is Nature.
The winner of each year's haiku contest will be published in the print edition of Waxing & Waning and will be given 10 free copies, along with a $500 cash prize.
Please submit up to 3 haiku in one .pdf or .doc file.
Waxing & Waning is proud to present its annual Gibbous Limerick Contest. Entrants may submit up to 1 limerick to be considered for selection by our staff, and this year's theme is St. Paddy's Day.
The winner of each year's haiku contest will be published in the print edition of Waxing & Waning and will be given 10 free copies, along with a $500 cash prize.
Please submit up to one limerick in one .pdf or .doc file.