Hello Hive members, friends, and fans:
Cotton Xenomorph is changing to a 3 month open/closed submissions cycle, beginning in April 2022. We will be open for 3 months, then closed for 2-3 months, and so on. When we first started CX four years ago (wild how time flies!?) we never thought CX would grow into what it is today. As fellow writers and general life-havers, we (the editors and readers) want to ensure that we’re committing the very best of our abilities to reviewing submissions not only in a timely manner, but also supporting the authors we publish. After closing the queue this past winter, we’ve reflected on what we could be doing better not only for the writers who send us their work, but also what’s best for us as managing editors of an online literary space. Since we are not a paying market, the least we can do is better promote our authors by sharing their news and updates, nominating for ‘Best Of’ awards and inclusions in anthologies, etc. As editors, we also want to continually do more outreach in publishing under-represented writers, poets, and artists. It’s all part of our ongoing mission to not only be inclusive, but actively involved in making the online literary space equitable for everyone.
The following is our updated 2022 submissions calendar*:
Open: April/May/June
Closed: July/August/September
Open: October/November
Closed: December 2022/January 2023
*Dates can be and are subject to change
As for our publishing schedule, we also want to space out publication times so the writers we publish have enough time to promote and share their works without feeling like we just move on every 5 days. We will resume publishing in March 2022, with one new work being published every other week.
Lastly, we have some amazing projects forthcoming in 2022 and 2023, so stay tuned for some exciting developments in the next several months. All this information will be updated on our submissions guidelines and FAQs pages for future reference.
Thank you for your patience and participation. Cotton Xenomorph wouldn’t exist without a literary community such as this one.
Love,
Cotton Xenomorph