Hello, Dear Chum,

As you may have noticed, we’ve had a submissions makeover. Eyes up here, please. Yes, we’ve been changing some things. For one thing, we’re now accepting submissions through Submittable. For another, we’re now a paying market. Actually, 2025 marks our third year awarding the Dead Herring Prize to writing that slays real world red herrings, but we’re pleased to formally announce that we’re now paying .01 cent/word, minimum $5, for each piece of writing we publish. Additionally, we’re offering a flat rate of $25 for original visual art and comics. It isn’t much, but it means a lot to us. It’s a step in the right direction.

Another thing you might have noticed is, for a brief time at least, we were only accepting tip jar submissions, free submissions having been limited to the first week of each month. This is because we had just switched to Submittable and weren’t sure how we wanted to account for administrative costs. After all, many journals charge tip jar submissions, right? Not us. Not anymore. Moving forward, submissions to Skipjack will always be free.

Send us your truths. Send us your untruths. Send us your tales of victory. Send us your tales of whoa—like that time you got stoned before mowing the lawn and forgot to turn the blades on until your second pass. (Like, whoa, man.) In all seriousness, read our past issues to get a better sense of the kind of writing and art we publish. Put simply, we’re interested in writing and art that slays red herrings in our day-to-day lives and/or offers insight into a particular time and place. If it pokes holes in preconceived notions, bursts bubbles, shines a light, or makes light where, otherwise, darkness might prevail, we want it to—and we want it, too! Our submissions guidelines can be found at skipjackreview.com/submit/. Come on in, the water’s fine.

Till later,

Ope