For Volume 9, SHIFT invites you to submit poetry, prose, or plays that creatively interprets the theme "Imagined Change." And, for the first time ever, the author of one submission will be selected by our judges to be interviewed as an MTSU Write featured author! Please limit submissions to 5,000 words or five poems/micro pieces (less than 1,000 words). 

General Guidelines: We do not accept previously published work. We do not accept work with song lyrics or any other copyrighted material that doesn’t fall under fair use or isn’t in the public domain. 

Formatting your manuscript: Do not submit PDFs—only Word documents. We prefer that all manuscripts be in 12-point type in any of the standard fonts (Times New Roman, Cambria, Calibri, etc.). Number pages sequentially with page numbers positioned at the bottom center of the page and keep margins at 1”. 

Include a cover page with the title of the piece and author’s contact information (name, email address, address, and telephone number). All work should be submitted with a bio that includes the name you wish to be included as your byline for your piece. 

Simultaneous submissions: MTSU Write wants every writer to have the greatest possible chance at acceptance. Therefore, we accept multiple submissions from one writer. You may submit work in up to three genres. Please follow the guidelines for each genre listed below when submitting. 

Submission period: SHIFT will accept submissions from November 1, 2026 until March 15, 2027 

Submission fees: MTSU Write charges a minimal fee per submission to cover the cost of the Submittable platform. 

WORD COUNT GUIDELINES 

Fiction and Short Story: Flash fiction pieces should be approximately 100-1,000 words. Short story submissions may not exceed 5,000 words. We accept any genre from literary fiction to horror. Double-space the text of the manuscript. 

Creative Non-fiction (CNF): Submissions of creative non-fiction should not exceed 5,000 words. We accept personal essays, essays on writing technique and process, memoir excerpts, travel writing, journalistic essays, etc. 

Poetry Poetry submissions may be up to four pages in length and writers may submit up to five pieces of poetry. We accept poetry of all forms and genres, but no translations. 

Play: Keep play submissions to 10 minute or one-act forms. Follow the standard stage-play format when submitting. Here’s a helpful link for your reference: https://ptfaculty.gordonstate.edu/lking/CPF_play_formatting2.pdf 

If these guidelines are too strict for you, feel free to shoot us your questions at mary.leoson@mtsu.edu

For more information about our mentoring program, visit www.mtsu.edu/write or email Director Dr. Mary Leoson at mary.leoson@mtsu.edu