Exactly is hard to say except to say read everything on our website. f you do and you still think your writing is similar in some way or another — or that the net might be wide enough for through-fare of cattle — send it to us. Then there's The Surprise Package. The one we didn't know we'd like but did for some reason. Send us that too.
Multiple submissions: obviously allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: don't care. Don't even notify us.
Double-space prose submissions. If you don't, we call the police.
Poetry can do what it wants.
Flash: up to 1,000 words.
Short Stories: 1,000-8,000 words.
Double space it or the police will be called.
Up to 8,000 words,
True things. Mostly true things. Things that became true while you were writing them. You know what nonfiction is.
Poets, knock yourselves out. The floor is yours. However many words. However you may wish to structure the thing.
Just make it good.
We're looking for a manuscript, our first, and second and hopefully on to the Penguin standards: Bog-Stanley reading books for washed pants and emerald cookies.
Poetry collections, chapbooks and the like are especially sought after. We have these grand ambitions of making poetry read by more people.
Novels, novellas, fiction and nonfiction are welcome too.
Then there's The Surprise Package.
You catch the drifting willows.
People give it The Big I Am. They Talk The Talk. Bark Woof Woof.
Diversity and inclusion is not just a trend.
We're open for LGBTQIA+ fiction, nonfiction, poetry, visual art and all the things in relation to LGBTQIA+.
We shouldn't have to mention it, right? But some catch-up needs to be played. Some noise needs to be made.
Words got us into this. They'll get us out of it.
LGBTQIA+. Let's do this now.
It's the absolute classic. The nail me to the cheeseboard and rinse out my underpants. We're all throwing tangerines at the shower curtain.
How to tell everything in 100 words?
Big Whoopie Deal is awarding $1,000 to the winner.
100 words maximum. Not 99 because you got scared. Not 176 because you got carried away. 100.
PRIZE: $1,000
ENTRY: $20
MAXIMUM: 100 WORDS
Simply select the 'Critique' box in the fees section when submitting your work through Submittable.
$39 for most submissions. $59 for manuscripts.
Most people love our critiques. They don't tell us that but they think it to themselves as they dry themselves getting out of the sauna baths in Kuwait, the toes, dry the inbetween part of the toes and then how to dry the bits of water that get in your ear? What a fantastic and useful critique. Totally worth the cash. I didn't even wet my back. It's completely dry.
We have made our critique as simple and clear as possible so you can focus on the one or two things that will make the biggest difference to your work.
We rate the relevant elements of your submission from 1–10:
Voice / Tone / Pace / Flow / Lyricism / Opening / Reader Appeal
Depending on the work, we may also look at line breaks, arc or anything else that seems particularly relevant.
It's an extremely reductionist approach. That's the point. You get a clear picture of what's working, what isn't, and what we'd concentrate on next.
Then we tell you how we'd improve it.
You are welcome to come back for another critique after revising.
If you've addressed the issues raised in your first critique, good. We won't simply give you the same comments again. We'll assess the new version as it stands and focus on what now needs attention.
Purchasing a critique has no bearing on whether your work is accepted for publication.
Multiple submissions are permitted.
Simultaneous submissions are permitted. You do not need to notify us unless your work is accepted elsewhere, in which case please withdraw the relevant submission through Submittable where possible.
All submissions must be the submitter’s own work and must not plagiarise, infringe copyright, or otherwise infringe the rights of another person or entity.
Submitting work does not guarantee publication.
Big Whoopie Deal may decline a submission at any point before an offer of publication has been made.
Unless otherwise stated for a particular submission category, any applicable submission fee is shown on Submittable at the time of submission.
Submission fees are non-refundable.
Copyright remains with the author.
For work accepted for publication, Big Whoopie Deal requests First English-language Serial Rights for online publication, with six months of exclusivity from the date of publication.
After six months, those rights revert to the author. Big Whoopie Deal retains non-exclusive archival rights so that the published work may remain available in the magazine’s online archive.
Accepted authors will receive a publication agreement setting out the applicable rights and terms before publication.
The price of a critique is displayed on Submittable at the time of submission.
Critiques are intended to provide a concise editorial assessment of the submitted work. The particular elements discussed will depend on the submission.
A critique purchase covers one critique of the work submitted. It does not include ongoing correspondence, additional revisions, or further rounds of feedback.
Writers are welcome to submit revised work for another critique. This is treated as a new critique request and the applicable fee must be paid again. Where issues raised in an earlier critique have been addressed, we will assess the revised work as it now stands rather than simply repeating the previous comments.
Purchasing a critique has no bearing on whether Big Whoopie Deal accepts or declines work for publication.
Critique fees are non-refundable.
Entries must comply with the requirements stated on the relevant contest’s Submittable page, including any applicable word limit, eligibility requirements and closing date.
Entries must be the entrant’s own work and must not be plagiarised, infringe copyright, or otherwise infringe the rights of another person or entity.
Multiple and simultaneous submissions are permitted unless otherwise stated for a particular contest.
The entry fee and prize amount are specified on the relevant Submittable page.
Entry fees are non-refundable.
For currently running contests, winner(s) are expected to be announced by the end of October 2026. Entries may be accepted until five days before the relevant winner announcement unless a different closing date is stated on Submittable.
Big Whoopie Deal may decline an entry at any point before the prize is awarded and the winner(s) notified.
Big Whoopie Deal may make additional offers of publication to entrants whose work does not win the prize.
Big Whoopie Deal reserves the right not to award a prize if, in the editors’ judgment, no eligible entry warrants the award.
Where winning work is published, the publication rights described under Publication & Rights above will apply.
Big Whoopie Deal may make reasonable changes to contest schedules or administrative arrangements where necessary. Any change will be published on the website or relevant Submittable page and will not materially disadvantage entrants who have already submitted.