NonBinary Review’s themed issues are fantastic and this one is no exception, with fiction, nonfiction, poetry and art from over 40 authors and artists inspired by the theme “mistaken identity.”
“There’s who we think we are, and then there’s who other people think we are, and those two are not always the same. But that’s just one kind of mistaken identity. Join our three dozen authors and artists in their exploration of how many ways others mistake someone’s identity, how people mistake their own identities, and how circumstances conspire to hide someone’s identity from us.”
Issue #39, is available to download for only $5.
The best news is, not only is NonBinary Review a paying market, but they have a few more projects lined up for the near future and submissions are open! Upcoming themes include: Epiphany and A Psalm for the Wild Built.
Click here to submit to NonBinary Review
- THEME: Epiphany / DEADLINE: April 30, 2025
- THEME: A Psalm for the Wild Built / DEADLINE: July 31, 2025
- SUBMISSION FEE: None
- FORMS: poetry, fiction, nonfiction, visual art
- PAYMENT: NonBinary Review asks for first worldwide electronic rights, and pays 1 cent per word for fiction and nonfiction, $10 flat rate for poetry, and $25 flat rate for art.
Here’s my interview with their publisher Li Quintana from 2022:
HOPKINSON: Tell me a little bit about NonBinary Review.
QUINTANA: NonBinary Review is a quarterly themed lit journal. Zoetic Press also produces Alphanumeric, a podcast that highlights pieces from the current NonBinary Review issue. We embrace the nonbinary – things that are not one thing or the other, or maybe both. Lots of people have claimed “nonbinary” as it relates to their gender, their academic focus, or their career (honestly, I’ve heard it applied to architecture, programming, human sexuality, human gender expression, cuisine), and we embrace all of it.
HOPKINSON: How/why was NonBinary Review originally started?
QUINTANA: Right after grad school, I created a new e-reader that made nonlinear literature possible. I needed a way to prove the concept, so I created NonBinary Review. Once we wrapped up the software project, I realized I was in love with the journal and the community it had created. More recently, we took a 1-year hiatus. Prior to 2019, we had been basing all our issues on classic works of literature. Going forward, starting with our March 2021 issue, we’re broadening our themes.
HOPKINSON: Who is your target reader audience?
QUINTANA: My ideal reader is anyone who’s both familiar with classic literature, and who’s excited about possibilities – exploring edge cases, thinking in 5 dimensions, using language like a paintbrush, a scalpel, a javelin, a rocket. And who’s willing to cough up two and a half bucks.
HOPKINSON: What type of work are you looking for?
QUINTANA: Since our issues are themed, I’m looking for work that doesn’t go for the obvious. Every issue, we get a lot of the same responses to our theme. I’d love for people not to go with their first reaction to a theme. Explore it, pick it apart, examine it under a microscope and find something we haven’t seen or thought of before.
HOPKINSON: What do you wish you’d see submitted, but rarely comes in?
QUINTANA: Humor and horror. When we do horror-related themes, we get it, but I’d love to see the creepy in Anne of Green Gables or the scary parts of The Wind in the Willows. Similarly, I want something funny for The Books of Blood or We Have Always Lived in the Castle.
HOPKINSON: What are some of your favorite lit mags/journals?
QUINTANA: I love things like Drunk Monkeys, Red Fez, Lunch Ticket, etc., that accept a wide variety of work from anyone. I’m also excited by any lit journal that strives for good literary citizenship. The indy press world is tiny, and we’re not competitors. We should be supporting each other.
HOPKINSON: What is your favorite part of being on staff with NonBinary Review?
QUINTANA: Mentoring. Both writers and staff. Every time we send out an acceptance to someone who’s never been published before, that’s amazing. Every time we get a new staffer who wants to learn editing or social media or layout and design, that’s exciting. I’d like to think that people come away from their interactions with us a little better than before.
HOPKINSON: Where can we send submissions?
QUINTANA: You can find out what we’re looking for and submit on our Submittable page.
HOPKINSON: If someone has a question, how can they contact you?
QUINTANA: Email us at info@zoeticpress.com.
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