Submission guidelines

What to submit

Mycroft welcomes submissions in English of short crime, mystery and psychological suspense fiction from emerging and established writers worldwide. We seek previously unpublished flash fiction of up to 1,000 words and short stories between 1,001 and 5,000 words. We love a good twist, provided it is well executed.

Please submit complete stories only, no excerpts from novels.

Please do not resubmit a story already considered unless you have been invited to.

When to submit

Mycroft publishes quarterly in February, May, August and November. Submission windows open in December, March, June and September.

How to submit

Please email your submission to submissions@mycroft.com.au during the relevant submission window. Use the subject line: Submission – [Story Title] – [Author Name].

Please attach your story as a Word document (.docx). PDF submissions are not accepted. 

Your submission should include:

  • story title;
  • your name;
  • a short author biography (no more than 100 words) written in third person to be published alongside your work; and
  • your email address.

Formatting

  • 12-point Times New Roman
  • Double-spaced

Copyright

By submitting to Mycroft, you confirm that this work is original and unpublished in any form, including personal blogs, newsletters and social media.

Writers retain copyright of their work. By submitting to Mycroft, writers grant Mycroft first electronic publication rights upon acceptance. Rights revert to the author after publication.

All submitted work must be entirely your own. We want to hear your voice. We will not publish work that has been generated or substantially written, rewritten or edited using generative AI.

You may use ordinary spelling and grammar-checking tools, but the story itself must be your own work and voice.

Please include the following declaration in your submission email:

I confirm that this work is my original work, that I have the right to submit it for publication, that it has not previously been published, and that it has not been generated using generative AI.

What happens next

Mycroft welcomes simultaneous submissions, but please let us know as soon as possible if a submitted piece has been accepted elsewhere. Simply email us at submissions@mycroft.com.au with ‘Submission withdrawal’ as your subject line and we will do our best to withdraw the story from consideration. If the story has already entered the final stages of editing or production, we may be unable to withdraw it.

Accepted submissions may be subject to editorial revisions in consultation with the author prior to publication.

While we do not charge entry fees, unfortunately we are currently unable to pay for successful stories. We hope to one day pay our authors, but this is not possible while we are starting out. However, please rest assured that a lot of time and effort goes into editing and publishing submissions.  

Due to submission volume, we are unable to provide individual feedback on all submissions, although personal feedback may be offered for shortlisted work.