Press Spotlight: HOOT

Olivia Smith // Blog Writer

Finding places to submit your work can be one of the hardest parts of writing. With hundreds of different presses, journals, and literary magazines, the choices are overwhelming. Sure, there are plenty of catalogs – DuoTrope, The Review Review Classifieds, and New Pages, to name a few – that help narrow down the options. But even with those resources, figuring out what is a good fit for your writing can be exhausting. In this miniseries, I’m going to be finding and showcasing all the best presses so you don’t have to.

What is HOOT?

If you stress quality over quantity and choose each word carefully when writing, microfiction is probably a form you know well. Oftentimes, it can be a great mix between the form of fiction and the lyricism of poetry. Unfortunately, the biggest issue with microfiction is the fact that so few places will accept it. A common submission guideline is that works must be a minimum of 100 words, but what about your great work of prose or poetry that’s under that?

That’s where HOOT comes in! Everything HOOT publishes has to fit on a postcard, making their submissions a maximum of 150 words or 10 lines of poetry. They have two different kinds of publications: their online catalog and physical printings of their submissions.

Each postcard includes the submission and gorgeous complementary art as a background. It also can be mailed like any other postcard.

How to Submit

Submissions are gathered through Submittable, and each one can contain two standalone pieces. You may submit as many times as you like, but keep in mind that there is a $2 fee for each one.

If you can’t pay the fee, don’t worry! They also accept mailed submissions, as long as you include an addressed and stamped return envelope.

Their biggest submission requirement is that it stays under 150 words. If it’s poetry, they may have to change line formatting slightly to fit the designs, so make sure you’re okay with that before submitting.

Each month, they publish one physical postcard and up to four digital posts. If your submission is made into a postcard, you’ll even get paid. Authors get a minimum of $10. You may receive more based on how many submissions (i.e., submission fees) they received while you were in the Submittable pool.

Of course, before submitting, be sure to read through their website and issues.

How to Support Them

It’s important to support small presses, regardless of whether they have published you! HOOT is a nonprofit, so all support is welcome. All of their postcards are gorgeous and inexpensive, so check out their online store.

They also have a weekly workshop with their editors and other submitters. Each Wednesday, through a Slack chatroom, they will give you feedback on your work while you do the same for others. If you like their work, be sure to follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

 

Check out my next Press Spotlight for another awesome submission opportunity!