General Submission Guidelines
The editors of Image welcome unsolicited submissions and consider them all carefully. Because of limited staff time, we're not able to offer personalized feedback, but please know that we're grateful to each writer who takes the risk of sharing work with us.
All the work we publish reflects what we see as a sustained engagement with Judaism, Christianity, or Islam. That engagement can include unease, grappling, or ambivalence as well as orthodoxy; the approach can be indirect or allusive, but for a piece to be a fit for Image, some connection to faith must be there. Please browse the journal before submitting to get an idea of what we publish.
We do accept simultaneous submissions. Please update us immediately if work is placed elsewhere.
We don’t accept previously published material, including web-published or self-published material. Having shared work in a private group doesn't count as previously published.
We do accept translations, including translations of work previously published in the original language. Upon acceptance, we ask that translators secure permission from the original author. Translations can be submitted under their respective genres.
We do not accept unsolicited book reviews or play excerpts. If you have an idea for a film or book review essay, you may query our culture editor, Nick Ripatrazone, and nripatrazone@imagejournal.org.
After you submit, you'll get an acknowledgement email; if you don't get one, you may want to check your junk mail or clutter folder and add us to your "safe senders" list. Notification of our decision will come later from the same email address. We find that these messages occasionally get stuck in writers' spam, junk, or clutter folders.
Please send no more than five poems.
A Word document is preferable, but a pdf is also acceptable if you have special formatting that requires it.
Most essays we publish are between 2,000 and 5,000 words. In general, we have a 6,000-word maximum.
Though we do publish classic memoir and personal essay, we're increasingly interested in essays that offer point of view on an external topic (immunization, basketball, prayer, the Boer War, pleasure), with or without a first-person narrator. Such an essay might involve research, or blend journalistic or historical inquiry with literary writing, or otherwise fall between traditional categories.
We also welcome email queries:
- General nonfiction queries: Creative Nonfiction Editor Lauren Winner, lwinner@imagejournal.org
- Essays on film, music, books, theater, dance, and art in other media: Culture Editor Nick Ripatrazone, nripatrazone@imagejournal.org. Essays in our culture section include reviews, but also pieces that use one or several works of art as a jumping-off place for a broader kind of essay.
- Profiles of or interviews with contemporary visual artists: Visual Arts Editor Aaron Rosen, arosen@imagejournal.org
We don’t publish scholarly or academic essays.
A Word document is preferable, but a pdf is also acceptable if you have special formatting that requires it.
In general, we have a 6,000-word maximum.
A Word document is preferable, but a pdf is also acceptable if you have special formatting that requires it.
If you wish to nominate yourself or another visual artist for coverage in Image, you can do so here. We’re interested in all types of visual art that engage with spiritual themes, especially Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
We primarily run three types of feature, and you should specify which you wish to be considered for:
- In the Studio: Artist interview with our arts editor. 1,200 words with 3–4 images.
- Visual Essay: 8–12 images focused on a single theme of spiritual relevance, with accompanying prose by the artist. The writing could take multiple forms, including discursive captions, a short essay introducing the work, or personal reflection.
- Feature: An essay of 2,000–3,000 words on a spiritually relevant theme, or a profile of an artist engaging themes of interest. 4–7 images. Exhibition previews or reviews rarely accepted.
Note that we’re interested in proposals, not just finished pieces. Tell us about what you have in mind. If you're not sure whether your idea is a fit, feel free to query art editor Aaron Rosen at arosen@imagejournal.org.
Please include at least three high-resolution sample images and a link to your website (whether as an artist or writer).
You won't necessarily hear back after we confirm that we've received your nomination, but rest assured that we'll check it out. Again, to be clear: we'll contact you if we want to cover the work, but not otherwise; we don't send rejection notices for visual art nominations.
We do not accept mailed submissions from visual artists.
We welcome queries about interviews with writers and artists. Rather than using Submittable, please email editor in chief James K.A. Smith directly at jkasmith@imagejournal.org.
The typical Image interview, after editing, is about 6,000 words.
As well as writer's interviews, we also welcome conversations with songwriters, filmmakers, visual artists, and composers.
Ideally, we’ll want to read your questions before the interview takes place, and we reserve the right to add a few additional questions. Because of Image’s focus, several questions should address the subject’s faith in some way. We prefer that interviews reflect the arc of a career, not just the most recent project.
Image is looking for crafted, literary writing about sports, science and nature, food, travel, and the outdoors that approaches its subject from a spiritual or theological angle.
Image is a print and online literary quarterly with a focus on work that engages with religious faith. We publish writers like Leslie Jamison, Christopher Merrill, Shane McCrae, Ron Hansen, Emily Bernard, and Christian Wiman.
Our editors see plenty of great unsolicited writing about subjects like addiction or parenthood, where the spiritual analogies are pretty clear. But we also wish we saw more essays on subjects where spiritual themes come as a surprise.
Most of our essays are 3,000 to 5,000 words, with some flexibility. Pay is $25/page plus four copies.
A Word document is preferable, but a pdf is also acceptable if you have special formatting that requires it.
Image is looking for smart, surprising, crafted essays about music, film, theater, and dance that approach a subject from a spiritual or theological angle. We’re interested in writing that reflects on what’s going on in the contemporary arts with an eye to faith.
Image is a print and online literary quarterly with a focus on work that engages with religion and spirituality. We publish writers like Leslie Jamison, Christopher Merrill, Shane McCrae, Ron Hansen, Emily Bernard, and Christian Wiman.
Most of our essays are 3,000 to 5,000 words, with some flexibility. Pay is $25/page plus four copies.
A Word document is preferable, but a pdf is also acceptable if you have special formatting that requires it.