Breakwater Review only accepts previously unpublished work and is glad to review simultaneous submissions, but please inform us if your writing is accepted elsewhere.  We are not looking for poetry or prose of certain styles or theme, we just want work that moves us and will move the audience we’re building. We are also looking for visual art, photography, and original creative non-fiction.  We will consider literary criticism and book reviews, but pleasequery first.
Breakwater is published two times per year, in January and June. We offer rolling, open submission for each of our issues.  Submissions received after the close for each issue will be retained for consideration in a subsequent issue.  Submission cut-off dates are as follows:
  • November 15 for the January issue;
  • April 15 for the June issue.

Please submit your work via our new online submission manager. Submissions sent via e-mail will not be accepted.

Even though we’re a new journal, we receive a large number of submissions. Our submission guidelines are set up to facilitate our editorial process.  Please follow the instructions below to enter your submission, or your manuscript will be automatically withdrawn:
  • For documents, please use one of the following file formats: .doc, .rtf, .txt, or .pdf.  Submissions in other formats will not be accepted.
  • For visual art, please use .pdf, .jpg, or .png format.
  • Upload each piece (i.e., story, review, poem, artwork) as a separate submission.
  • Our review process is blind.  To facilitate this, please do not include your name or other biographical data anywhere on your manuscript.  Instead of using a cover page, please copy all information into the appropriate fields of our online submission manager.  The comment field may be used for listing of prior publications, a short bio, etc.
  • Also in the comment field, please let us know where you heard of our magazine.
  • Submit up to 5,000 words of fiction, 3,000 words of non-fiction, 5 poems, or 5 pieces of visual art per reading period. Please do not exceed the submission limits.