Submissions

Ptenopus accepts submissions on a rolling basis and crawls out with its themed opuses (issues) annually to welcome pieces from writers, poets and artists alike from wherever you may be. We publish ten works for each thematic issue and are open to all kinds of discourse as long as it is centred on or inspired by art. We do not, however, accept works that promote bigotry, misinformation, discrimination or gratuitous violence. As for language, though we prefer that submissions be made in English, our editorial team may allow submissions in Bengali, Hindi and Tangkhul (with smatterings of German and French). We accept submissions in the following categories:

Nonfiction – Essays, Reviews and Commentaries of 900-4,000 words.

Fiction – Short stories or excerpts from unpublished novels of 1,500 – 5,000 words. We’re looking for ‘artistic prose’, meaning either centred on art, artist(s) or experimental.

Poetry – Send concrete, illustrated, or comics poems in a single file; not more than five.  Images must be at least 1 MB.

Artwork and Photo Essays- Photo Images must be at least 1 MB in size with a description not exceeding 50 words.

Electronic Submission Guidelines:

Email Subject must be in the following format: “PTENOPUS #ISSUE NO. [CATEGORY] SUBMISSION”. Example: PTENOPUS #1 [ESSAY] SUBMISSION.

Email Body must have your full name and alternate contact details.

By-Line must have your full name + year, course, college, school or Designation.

Prose submissions must be made in Word doc., font style Times New Roman, font size 12.

Photo Images must be at least 1 MB in size in JPEG format.

Note:

  • We accept one submission at a time; no multiple submissions.
  • We accept only completed and original/unpublished manuscripts and artworks; no pitches.
  • Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but the Ptenopus editors must be immediately notified that your piece has been accepted elsewhere.
  • Ptenopus will hold exclusive print and digital rights to your piece for 120 days, after which you will retain the rights; your piece will remain archived online.
  • Republishing must carry the line: This work was originally published by Ptenopus, an online literary magazine on art. The word Ptenopus must be hyperlinked to our homepage. The original language in the work should remain as it is, unless adjusted for time, place, or style.
  • We are currently short-staffed. Allow at least three weeks for a response.
  • Ptenopus offers honoraria of Rs.50 for poetry/artwork/photograph, Rs.100 for original essays, and Rs.150 for original fiction (applicable only to Indian bank account holders). For overseas contributors, we provide an honoraria in kind: A digital artwork based on a reference work(s)/word(s). The contributor will own the artwork but not the right to reproduce it; the copyright shall remain with the artist.

We are currently accepting submissions for our Opus #7. Last date for submissions: 10th January, 2026. Find out more here. Reach out to us at ptenopusmag@gmail.com for further queries.