Submission Guidelines

The Divine Animal, an online journal of literary erotica, will premiere in December and will appear monthly from thereon.

We are seeking submissions of non-fiction, fiction, poetry and visual art. We are especially interested in styles of writing and art that are capable of going beyond genre; surrealism and experimentalism are welcome.

This is a journal emphasizing the sacred nature of human sexuality and the celebration of life through the expression of the sensual. We desire writing about sexuality/eroticism in an honest and human manner, with no smut or smirking. You may be as explicit as you like, but you must be capable of writing about something more than fucking or getting off. If you don’t yet understand that sexuality is not defined by “crotch-shots” then I suggest you watch the movie Henry and June, or read anything by Henry Miller, Lenore Kandel, Anais Nin, D.H. Lawrence etc.,

Please be articulate, thought provoking, politically incorrect, daring,

 radiantly sexual, forthright and above all, express your humanity!

We are not seeking anything glorifying violence, sickness or self-destruction; you may address any of those subjects but only in such a way that it is not an affirmation of dysfunction (this means no BDSM or heavy fetish/kink type writing/art. It’s not that we’re vanilla. We’re just not especially aroused by pain.).

Subjects of special interest are earth-based sexuality, the human body and eroticism outside of cultural confines, and joyous sexuality without guilt or penance.

Submissions should include a brief but interesting bio. If you do not include a bio in your submission and we choose to accept your work we will be forced to fabricate an imaginary one for you. Please include your full name, email address and location. All submissions except visual art should be included in the body of the email; if your email includes an attachment and does NOT say “Visual Art Submission” in the subject line it will be deleted immediately.

We take first American serial rights and reserve the right to reprint or anthologize your work should we publish it. No simultaneous or previously published work accepted. We can offer no monetary compensation for your work at this time, although we hope in time this will change.

All submissions should be addressed to submissions@divineanimal.com and include the type of submission in the subject line (i.e. “Poetry submission”). If you choose to submit more than one type of submission in the same month, please send them in different emails.

Specific guidelines are as follows:

Non-fiction in the form of personal essays exploring eroticism and sexuality may vary in length from 200-3,000 words.

Fiction: From 200-5,000 words, although anything falling within the realm of short-short or micro-fiction must pack the same punch as a regular length short story.

Poetry: Any length, any form. No prejudice against any form (or non-form) of poetry as long as the poem itself electrifies. Submit 1-10 poems for any given month.

Visual Art: Digital art, photography, pen and ink, oil paintings etc. Open to any media. Please email a URL where your artwork may be viewed or send 1-5 pieces in an attachment. All art must be in jpeg or gif format.

All length limitations are flexible if the piece in question is worth it. In fact, all rules/guidelines are flexible and liable to be broken if we feel thus inclined.