An Open Call for Submissions | How to Contribute Art and Writing

 

We are now accepting submissions
for We'Moon 2028!

Final due date for next edition: August 1, 2026
 Note: It is too late to submit for We'Moon 2027

We'Moon is like a combination literary journal, art magazine, and poetry digest all rolled into one. We would be delighted to consider your creative contributions for upcoming editions of We'Moon. 

The Call for Contributions is downloadable, and contains complete instructions about how to submit your work for possible publication in the next edition of We'Moon. 

We accept submissions of art and writing via email or snail mail!

The instructions for sending in your creative work via snail mail are slightly different than for submitting through email. Please only send your work through EITHER email OR snail mail. Pick one, not both.

Sister Circle © Carrie Martinez 2017

 

Our submissions process is accessible and we never charge a jury or entry fee. 

Our objective is to make the process of getting your work into our hands as easy as possible. If you need assistance, email. We will be happy to help.

 What you will find in this post:

• Basic information about We'Moon
• Whose work has been published in We'Moon
• How we select the pieces we choose to publish
• Submission Instructions: How to send your work to We'Moon for possible publication with special instructions for:
• Visual Art
• Photography containing images of people
• Poetry and Prose

• Who we invite to submit their creative work
• Compensation Information
• Thematic Inspiration

 
For My Mother © Penn King 2018

What is We'Moon? 

A poetry and art journal? An inspirational day planner? An ever-renewing collection of creative feminist work that thousands of women look forward to every year!

 "We’Moon is a unique datebook...It’s also a book of devotions: sacred space where women share written and artistic inspirations from their life-experiences, their love and concern for the world, their delight at saying Goddess! out loud as a name for divine energy."

~from an interview of Bethroot Gwynn, We'Moon Special Editor, titled 
The Magic Behind the Veil of Production!

We'Moon has proudly published works of art and poetry by:

Autumn Skye, Emily Balivet, Saba Taj, Gaia Orion, Jakki Moore, Leah Dorion and Qutress! Writers include, Oak Chezar, Naima Penniman of ClimbingPoeTree, Joanne M. Clarkson, Rose Flint, Toko-pa Turner and many more!

We'd love to see your work grace the pages of the next edition of We'Moon, too.

Contributions from many women from all walks of life is what makes We'Moon so very special to thousands of women. Visit our resources page for more links and bios of women who have been published in We'Moon in the past! 

How we jury the art and writing that is submitted to We'Moon:

Each piece of art and writing is circulated at Selection Circles where hundreds of women give us their opinions about the submitted works. If you are interested in joining a virtual Selection Circle, sign up for alerts via our newsletter. Our jury process is quite complicated which makes following the submission guidelines important!

By crowdsourcing our jury process, we get to bring the opinions of hundreds of other women into the production process. We bring to the foreground the most well-loved work, and those are the pieces we work with, primarily, during the creation of We'Moon in our small group process.

Instructions and Guidelines for Email Submissions:

We do not consider work that does not meet our guidelines, so read through these instructions carefully. 

We do accept submissions that are being reviewed simultaneously by other publishers. 

Step by step instructions about how to submit your poetry, short creative writing, and art for possible publication in our next edition:

 

1. Complete & Sign a License 

2. Prepare files of your Art and/or Writing submissions

3. Send them as attachments to MotherTongue Email

 

1. Complete a License 

The Call for Contributions contains the license for all artists and writers to fill out and send in with the submissions. NOTE: Submissions will not be processed without a completed & signed license. 
If you find this form daunting, you are not alone. Here's a how-to video about how to complete a license. (Passcode: @DhD&Yz3)
Please call or email, and we will happily assist you. 

• Download the License and save the document using this format: YOUR NAME License (example: Frida Kahlo License). 
• Open the license using a program like Acrobat or Preview and fill it out. (Alternatively, this document can be printed and filled out by hand. Take a photo of the license or scan it. Name the file with the correct name, and attach it to the email.)
• Make sure to completely fill out & sign*** the license. An incomplete license may result in your submission not being accepted for consideration. 
• If you would prefer a more old-school method, you are welcome to send your submission by snail mail instead. Click HERE for those instructions. 

 

***Note: If you are unable to sign the license electronically, don't panic!

This is a common issue. We can accept your written permission in the body of the email containing your license. Example: 
     "I (your name) give permission to We'Moon to publish my work. This is my electronic signature."

2. Prepare your files for email!

• Here's a how-to video about how to prepare your files. (Passcode: @DhD&Yz3)
• Each piece should be in its OWN file with its OWN file name. Note: We will not accept submissions that do not have a file name.
• File names should include the TITLE of the piece, CREDIT NAME (your name as you would like it published) & the credit YEAR (the year you created the piece. (example file name: Self Portrait-Frida Kahlo-1940.PDF)
• Formats we accept are: PDF, JPEG, TIFF, PNG, DOC, DOCX. We do not accept .exec files, google drive, or dropbox submissions.
• For Artwork: Please keep your file size down to 1 MB or less. If your work is chosen for publication, we will contact you to request a higher resolution digital file. 
• For Photography: If you are submitting photography that contains a recognizable human subject or model, you will need to send in a release form for each individual in the photo. (exception: self portraits do not require a special release.)
  • If the subject is under the age of 18, a parent or guardian must give signed permission for publication.
  • Download the photographer's release form.
  • Download the subject/model release form.
  • Include these forms with your submission. 
• For Writing: Limit Prose to 350 words maximum. Poetry should not exceed 35 lines (12± words per line). Limit your written word submissions to one side of one page. If you are not able to comfortably format it onto one single page, it is too long to submit. Please edit or excerpt it for our consideration.

 

3. Send it on in! 

• Attach up to 6 different pieces of writing, or 8 pieces of art into an email to MotherTongue
• Remember to include your fully completed and signed license
• Add "We'Moon Submission" to your subject line
• Click send and jump for joy!

 

We will contact you in the Spring to let you know whether or not your work has been selected for publication.

 

Final due date by: August 1, 2026 

 

Who is invited to submit their
art or writing to We'Moon?

We seek to hold welcoming, celebratory space for all women, and are eager to publish more works depicting Black, Brown, Indigenous, Asian, Latine, and all voices from the margins, created by women who share those lived experiences.

 

Compensation Information:

• Product compensation for each published piece of art or writing is two complimentary We’Moon datebooks.

• Small honorariums will be given for each published piece. The dollar amount will depend on size and placement.

• All published contributors will get a 40% discount off the purchase price of additional We’Moon products which include their work, if they wish to purchase additional copies.

• In addition, the front cover artist will receive $500, the back cover artist $350, plus extras.

• Work published in the datebook may also be included in We’Moon on the Wall and/or Greeting Cards, with additional terms and compensation.
  

Thematic Inspiration

These past four years we have based We’Moon's theme on the first phases of the Lunar Cycle . . and now at its Waning Phase . . . It is time to celebrate all that has been accomplished!

The 2028 datebook theme is On the Cusp
We draw inspiration from the Waning Half Moon.

The Waning Half Moon is our touchstone for We’Moon 2028. Here we stand astride the luminous liminal line that splits the moon in two: one foot in fading brightness, one in deepening shadow. Here intuition is sharp, embodied, steady, and trustworthy.

Even in diminishing light, a spark flashes—unexpected pockets of possibility, expand-o time—it’s a leap year! 

This last quarter moon invites balance and counterbalance. From this vantage we can appreciate alternative perspectives, dare to share our views with those on the other side of an opinion. In this place, differences are honored, cherished. Both /And. Two sides of the same coin.

The dance of transcending polarities plays out in our personal realms as surely as on the world stage. The personal is political is planetary. 

This is also Crone territory—autumnal, reflective, wise. Harvest time! What is ready to be forgiven, composted, released? In this shadow realm, generations gather, are re-membered, and transformed. This is We time.

We will need community—our collective intelligence and shared resilience—to stay balanced as perspectives and paradigms shift.

And like the nimble Monkey (our lunar year companion), we may find that adaptability, curiosity, and even a touch of sacred play are not distractions, but survival skills—creative responses to changing terrain. 

Artists and writers, we invite you to stir this rich cauldron with us. Send your images, your poems, your stories born of shadow and insight—Help us moonifest We’Moon 2028!

Show us what stirs for you
as the Moon continues to share
Her hidden treasures!

Frog at Night © Amanda Suutari 2021

Questions to inspire you as
you consider work that you would like to submit:

• Tell us about the sheroes who are preparing for the next cycle of leadership. What does a world shaped by matriarchal values feel like, sound like, look like? How do we help one another, our communities, through darkest passages toward a brighter future?
• What inherited wisdoms and elder guidance resonate now? Are there nourishing learnings from the past we can preserve for generations to come? What, with clear eyes and grateful hearts, can we compost? What will sprout from that dark soil?
• What keeps you awake at night? What creative imaginings show up with possible solutions for personal quandaries? For a planet on the edge?
• What does Leap Day awaken in us? A spark of women’s empowerment? A call to take initiative and hold the reins? In this Monkey year, where are we claiming nimble courage and creative resilience? When has playful disruption become wise expression? How are we adapting—creatively and communally—on the cusp of shifting times?
• How can maintaining/respecting boundaries help us grow? Strengthen relationships? What does it mean to re-member our families—by blood and/or by choice? As we re-weave herstory, what tapestry takes shape in our shared hands?
• What does lasting repair from harm look like? Explore the tension between revenge and restoration on the world stage. What bridges are calling out to be mended in our personal lives? In our care for the earth and her creatures? How do we take accountability for mistakes, so we may step into a better tomorrow?

 

Thank you for sharing your creative work with We'Moon. May the light of the Muses shine brightly for you.—Blessings!

 

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