American Letters & Commentary is a literary annual particularly interested in innovative and challenging writing Please read a recent issue before submitting. Approximately 75% of the submissions we receive are rejected because they don't fit the journal's aesthetic or don't comply with our submission guidelines.

Only previously unpublished work is considered. Simultaneous submissions are accepted providing we are notified at once should the work be accepted elsewhere. We do not accept e-mailed submissions. Our reading period is October 1 – March 1.

A brief cover letter is always welcome, but please do not send resumes, reviews of your work, or lengthy lists of previous publications. Please do NOT include an SASE for response. Submissions will not be returned. We will contact via e-mail by September 1st those authors we wish to include in the forthcoming issue. Please be sure to include an email address in your contact information.Submit to the address below and please indicate genre on outside of envelope.

Poetry
Send 3 to 5 poems, 10 pages maximum.

Fiction
Stories of 10 pages or less have the best chance. Most of our stories are shorter than that.

Non-fiction (essays)
We are interested in creative non-fiction essays and in critical essays with experimental slant/subject matter. Please see past issues for examples.

We regret the size of our staff makes these restrictions necessary. We also regret that the publication of just one issue each year means that we must turn down many worthy pieces that come our way.

Payment is one copy. All rights are returned to the author upon publication.

Thank you for your interest in our journal.