Submissions are open!
We celebrated International Women's Day on 3.8.26 with a flash event.
ABOUT GRANDE DAME LITERARY JOURNAL
Grande Dame Literary is for WOMEN WRITERS of any age and their VIBRANT VOICES. There is a Grande Dame in every woman, and we are women writers/editors who support women writers. We do not define age, nor should you. If you like our posts and feel your voice is a good fit, send us a piece. Empowering and encouraging women writers is of utmost importance. Your vibrant voice is the greatest asset to your writing and Grande Dame Literary accepts work based on the strength of the story, the solid arc of characters, and potential appeal to our readers. New to writing? No worries. We love first time authors.
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Please note, we do not accept work that promotes discrimination or division, is sexually explicit in nature, renders graphic depictions of abuse, or is politically motivated.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
Our theme and platform have some preset technological limitations. Please be understanding about how we ask you to submit material, which is in line with industry standards. It makes it smoother for the integration of transferring your work from word to our platform.
(Please note, we recently experienced a technological glitch, when our host platform made a change, which affected many of our posts. We are working to correct earlier work...there are about 300 of them.)
POETRY
- POETRY MAY BE SINGLE SPACED or double-spaced
- 12Pt Times New Roman, 1" Margins
SHORT STORY, MEMOIR, ESSAY
- 12Pt Times New Roman, 1" Margins, double-spaced
BIO & LINKS
Please include a fifty word bio. Readers love to find out more about writers. Including social media and website links as URLS.
AUTHOR'S RIGHTS:
By submitting work, authors grant Grande Dame Literary, LLC, First Publication, with the exception of reprints, and non-exclusive archival rights. Previously published works must be identified as reprints with proper credit. The journal retains the right to refuse, or remove any material at any time; all other rights remain with the author.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
ACCEPTED GENRES
FICTION:
literary chick-lit, upmarket women's contemporary, comedy, dramedy, rom-com, romance, drama, magical realism, humorous scary stuff like mystery, suspense, thriller, murder, we relish a good twist
MEMOIR:
the author must be the central 'character' in the memoir, must read like a story, no graphic description of abusive or sexual situations. Must read like a story. No academic pieces. Book excerpts are permitted, but must be able to act as standalone pieces.
ESSAY:
encouraging feel-good pieces that make the world a better place (food, motherhood, relationship, health, lifestyle), share an inspirational story
POETRY:
Follow same guidelines as above for acceptable subject matter. You may submit up to three poems at a time. We will choose anywhere from one to three, if accepted.
DIFFICULT SUBJECT MATTER: We accept difficult subject matter as long as it adheres to our accepted genres. Material that is discriminatory or promotes division is not welcome on GDLJ. Graphic depiction of abuse or abusers is not accepted.
General Information:
- NEW - PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED WORK IS ACCEPTED, please note at the end of the piece that it has been published elsewhere, and when, and that the previous publication is ok with this.
- Title formatting only allows for five words. It cuts automatically.
- Make your first sentence attention grabbing. It is what shows on the post listing and will get readers to view your work.
- Please allow up to 90+ days for review. We get a lot of submissions.
- Simultaneous submissions are accepted.
- Once your work has been accepted, changes are not allowed. If you need to make a change, you will need to resubmit. Please review your work carefully before sending. We have a no refund policy.
WORD COUNT BRACKETS for stories, memoir, and essay:
- 1500-3500 WORDS
- 3501-5000 WORDS
- 5001-7500 WORDS
POETRY:
- Three poems allowed per submission. On separate pages please.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
Our theme and platform have some preset technological limitations. Please be understanding about how we ask you to submit material, which is in line with industry standards. It makes it smoother for the integration of transferring your work from word to our platform.
(Please note, we recently experienced a technological glitch, when our host platform made a change, which affected many of our posts. We are working to correct earlier work...there are about 300 of them.)
TITLES:
- FIVE WORDS MAXIMUM (our software program will truncate it)
POETRY
- POETRY MAY BE SINGLE SPACED with double spaces between verses
- 12Pt Times New Roman, 1" Margins
SHORT STORY, MEMOIR, ESSAY
- 12Pt Times New Roman, 1" Margins, double spaced
- GDL paragraphs are indented, it is our style. We tried the flush left, but the paragraphs ran together.
BIO & LINKS
Please include a fifty word bio. Readers love to find out more about writers. Including social media and website links as URLS only.
AUTHOR'S RIGHTS:
By submitting work, authors grant Grande Dame Literary, LLC, First Publication, with the exception of reprints, and non-exclusive archival rights. Previously published works must be identified as reprints with proper credit. The journal retains the right to refuse, or remove any material at any time; all other rights remain with the author.