From: Lady Bones
Dear Writer,
The forest is hungry, and it will not survive on moonlight alone. I tend the archives beneath the roots, where stories are carefully gathered, studied, and, when worthy, allowed to linger. Gnome & Bone exists to sustain the forest with work that is clever, atmospheric, and alive. This is your invitation to offer yours.
I am looking for writers who carry entire worlds behind their eyes—richly imagined landscapes, candlelit corridors, frost-covered hollows, and shadowed castles. I crave characters who bleed pieces of themselves, who speak truths masked as metaphor, irony, or mischief. Humor is welcome, darkness expected. Endings need not resolve neatly, but arrive as life does—unforeseen, uneven, and honest.
We are drawn to worlds where magic is treated realistically—as labor, inheritance, inconvenience, or quiet power. Here, gnomes, elves, fairies and ancient creatures are not just fantasy symbols, but living beings with ordinary struggles: political, social, and deeply personal. We want to see the human reflected in the other, the emotional mirrored in the magical, the strange made tangible.
Offer your words, brave one. The roots are listening.
Submissions are: Open.
We Accept:
Fantasy fiction: Short stories between 1000-9000 words.
Essays: Reflective, critical, or narrative explorations of fantastical worlds or ideas, up to 3,000 words.
One poem per issue: A singular work that resonates with the forest.
The forest listens for human voices. Work generated or substantially assisted by artificial intelligence will not be considered.
Art Submissions:
Gnome & Bone also welcomes visual art that embodies the spirit of the magazine.
We are drawn to artwork that feels mythic, strange, intimate, or unsettling—pieces that could exist beside our stories like relics pulled from the same dark soil. Illustration, painting, collage, photography, mixed media, and experimental digital works are all welcome.
Think bones and moss, forgotten gods, soft horrors, ancient magic, feminine rage, and liminal spaces. Your work does not need to explain itself. It only needs to feel like it belongs here.
Art may accompany a story or exist as its own offering. All selected artists will be fully credited.
We accept only artwork created by humans. AI-generated work will not be considered.
Who May Submit?
While Gnome & Bone Magazine was created with a special love for unpublished voices, we welcome submissions from both published and unpublished writers.
Simultaneous Submissions:
You are welcome to send work that is under consideration elsewhere. All we ask is this: if your piece is accepted by another publication, please inform us promptly so it may be withdrawn from our care.
There is no penalty for being chosen by another home first. I only ask for honesty—Lady Bones does not like to be surprised after the fact.
Guidelines:
Submit as a Word document (DOC) or PDF, in Modern Manuscript Format to gnomeandbonemagazine@gmail.com
Kindly label the email subject line:
Submission: Title of Your Piece—Last Name.
Include a brief cover letter or note to the Lady Bones (optional, but delightful.)
The forest asks for one offering at a time. Please submit only one piece per submission period.
All work must be original, unpublished, and in English.
Rights & Permissions:
At Gnome & Bone Magazine, we honor the magic of original creation. We do not claim ownership of our contributors’ work.
By submitting, you confirm that the work is your own, that you hold the copyright, and that you have the full right to grant us permission to publish it.
If your work is accepted, you grant Gnome & Bone Magazine the following rights:
First Publication Rights—allowing us to be the first place your work appears.
First North American Serial Rights (FNASR)—allowing us to be the first North American publication to publish the work.
First Electronic Rights—allowing us to publish the work digitally on our website and associated platforms.
Non-exclusive archival rights—allowing us to preserve the work indefinitely within the issue in which it appears, like a pressed flower between the pages of time.
All other rights remain entirely with the creator.
After publication, contributors are free to let their work wander elsewhere. We simply ask that future appearances include a small nod to its origins, such as:
Originally published in Gnome & Bone Magazine.
By submitting to Gnome & Bone Magazine you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Payment:
At present, the archives cannot offer coin. Contributors will receive publication, promotion, and the satisfaction of feeding the forest.
Response Time:
Lady Bones balances the care of the archives with studies and other editorial responsibilities in the mortal world. Responses may take several weeks, (30-60 days), though every tale is read with care.
Gnome & Bone Magazine 