Thin Air

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Submissions for Thin Air Magazine Issue 31 and Thin Air Online are now open!

Thin Air Magazine (print) Guidelines

Thin Air Magazine is published annually each spring, our latest issue, Issue 30, is forthcoming February 2024. Submissions for Issue 31 are now open and close in fall 2024.

Submitting to Thin Air Magazine requires a $3.00 reading fee. However, in an effort to minimize barriers and encourage work from marginalized writers, the fee will be waived in early October in celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Check back on those days to submit for free!

  • We only consider unpublished work. Please do not submit material previously published in anthologies, chapbooks, online, or on personal websites (including FB, Twitter, Insta, Flickr, blogs, etc.)
  •  We accept simultaneous submissions. If any part of your submission is selected for publication elsewhere, please notify us immediately using Submittable.
  • In an effort to encourage submissions from both established and emerging writers with diverse voices, Thin Air reads all submissions anonymously. Do not include any identifying information within your submission.
  • For a better idea of our editorial focus, we encourage submitting authors to read past issues of Thin Air. You may purchase a past issue from us for $8 (which includes shipping in the US). If you’re in Flagstaff, Arizona you can stop by Bright Side Bookshop and pick up a copy as well!
  • Thin Air Magazine does not accept work from anyone affiliated with Northern Arizona University within the last 7 years.

Thin Air in print aims to respond to your submission within 3 – 5 months. If you submit April-August, know that we likely won’t be able to respond until September when school is back in session. We appreciate your patience! The Thin Air staff is a volunteer-graduate-student-run magazine and we strive to read every submission carefully before making a decision.

Print Magazine Formatting Specifications: Please use fonts like Times New Roman/Calibri/Arial, 12pt., double-spaced, 1-inch margins. INCLUDE page numbers and a word count at the top of your manuscript. DO NOT INCLUDE your name/identifiers in your manuscript. If the unique format of your submission is critical to the piece, please feel free to keep your unique formatting.

Note: We may have to alter format for printing due to physical restraints and requirements. Thank you for submitting!

Thin Air Online Submission Guidelines

Thin Air Online is looking for your poems, art, fiction, tiny films, nonfiction, humor, songs, paintings, collages, interpretative dances, jokes, audio projects and other precious creations that celebrate winter. For the first time ever, NAU’s Thin Air literary website is inviting its university community to submit their work. Submissions are open to all. It’s an online literary farmer’s market – give us your fresh, seasonal, and local.

If you’re more inspired by autumn, spring or summer, share that with us too! Accepted work will be published in their corresponding season. Please clearly label your submission’s genre and season. Written submissions must be 5,000 words or less. Video and audio pieces must be shorter than 10 minutes. Submit poems in batches up to three.

Thin Air Online

Please review our general and genre-specific guidelines below:

  • Thin Air Online is now open to everyone, including the NAU community.
  • Clearly label your submission’s genre and season.
  • Written submissions must be 5,000 words or less. 
  • Submit poems in batches up to three.
  • Video and audio pieces must be shorter than 10 minutes. 
  • We only consider unpublished work. Please do not submit material previously published in anthologies, chapbooks, online, or on personal websites (including FB, Twitter, Insta, Flickr, blogs, etc.)
  • We accept simultaneous submissions. If any part of your submission is selected for publication elsewhere, please notify us immediately using Submittable.
  • In an effort to encourage submissions from both established and emerging writers with diverse voices, Thin Air Online reads all submissions blind. Do not include any identifying information within your submission.
  • Thin Air Online aims to respond to your submission within 3-5 months. If you submit April-August, know that we likely won’t be able to respond until September when school is back in session. We appreciate your patience! Our staff is a volunteer-graduate-student-run magazine and we strive to read every submission carefully before making a decision. 

COPYRIGHT

We ask for first North American print magazine rights and online serial rights. Copyright is retained by the author at all times. We regret that we are unable to pay our contributors at this time, and thank you for your interest in Thin Air!