#8: Do I HAVE to submit online? Can I mail a check?

Do I have to make my submission online? Can I just mail you my story?

The online submission is extremely helpful to us, especially in managing the complex process of judging competition submissions. (There are just the two of us here and we love reading ALL of the submissions ourselves.) The online submission system is good for you, too—it saves paper and postage costs and allows you to check status on your submission at any time.

If you’re having trouble using the online system, please—before you give up—read the Need Help/FAQ section for writers. And maybe you can find a friend or family member who will help you make the submission.

But, if you cannot, or prefer not, to submit online for any reason (technical challenges, don’t have or prefer not to use visa/mc and really, really want to make a competition submission instead of a standard story submission for which there are no reading fees, for instance), you can, as long as you're willing to accept these less than ideal conditions:

Paper submissions are first screened by volunteers who refer their favorites to us.
Reading-fee checks are deposited eventually, but not quickly enough to give you comfort, "Oh, they got it. Good."
Be sure to include a SASE to get results. If you are making a competition submission and you want results other than “Your work wins” (we’ll call you if that’s the case—be sure we have good contact info on the first page of your story), you must write this on the SASE, too: For results of the May Short Story Award for New Writers (or whatever the competition is).

Send your submission by ordinary mail to this address:

Category Name (standard, very short, fiction open, whatever)
Glimmer Train Press, Inc.
1211 NW Glisan, #207
Portland, OR 97209

And don’t worry. There is always a one-week grace period for all submissions so if you’re having to submit a story by mail at the last minute because of technical difficulties, for instance, as long as the story is postmarked within 7 days of the close of that competition, you’re fine.

We look forward to reading your work!