Nat 1 Publishing
a literary nonprofit
We like the strange, quirky, and unique. We aim to find entertaining stories in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre by both new and established writers worldwide—particularly those of underrepresented demographics. Working with the authors, we dedicate our services to honing their craft and getting their work out to an audience that will enjoy and appreciate it.
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Decisions on stories are made the month after a project's submission window closes; novella/novelette submissions within nine months.
Our imprints & genres
Nat 1 Publishing primarily deals in fantasy and science fiction—usually with a dash of humor (comedy, satire, or parody). We take any subgenre but tend to lean toward sword and sorcery, romantasy, and soft science fiction.
Audience Askew is first and foremost a literary journal featuring poetry, literary fiction, and art. In addition to the AALJ, Audience Askew also publishes chapbooks and creative nonfiction.
Gaslamp Pulp is a tri-annual anthology series, with one issue dedicated to fantasy, a second dedicated to science fiction, and a third of either a random theme or some other genre of pulp fiction.
GASLAMP PULP: SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY ANTHOLOGIES
THEME: Fantasy. Preferably pulpy, but not required.
DEETS: Submit 1-3 short stories, and/or 1-5 poems, and/or 1-5 images. No word limit, but no novels.
Please Note: Images will be printed in grayscale, so they must work in black and white.
DEADLINE: 31 December 2025
READING PERIOD: January 2026
PUBLICATION: 14 February 2026
* Stories must be appropriate for readers of a high school level (roughly 16+), meaning nothing too explicit.
* No glorifying sexism, racism, ageism, ableism, or any other isms.
* It must be your own original work; NO AI-GENERATED SUBMISSIONS.
* We accept previously published works, just let us know—do not submit works previously accepted by Nat 1;
* It does not infringe on existing copyright material (this includes fan fiction);
* Simultaneous submissions are okay, if accepted elsewhere, let us know so first publication credit can be given;
* We read submissions blind. Do not put any identifying information on your submission, including the file name.
Contributors will receive a free digital copy of the issue in which their work appears.
IMPORTANT—PLEASE READ: accepted works will also become part of the Faewalk Shared Universe; authors keep the rights of their written work and main characters, but locations, minor characters, concepts, etc. will become public and other authors may utilize them.
For more information regarding this, email admin@nat1publishing.com
For a brief synopsis of Faewalk, see https://www.nat1publishing.com/faewalk/
For more information regarding submissions or the world, join the Nat 1 Discord Channel https://discord.gg/yqR8J5NBPv
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Submission Guidelines
THEME: Humorous; stories about "total party kills" and other failures that adventurers may experience.
DEADLINE: 12/31/25 or until all slots are filled
READING PERIOD: January 2026
DEETS: Submit 1-3 short stories, or 1-5 poems. No word limit
- No glorifying sexism, racism, ageism, ableism, or any other isms.
- It must be your own original work and does not infringe on existing copyrighted material (includes fan fiction);
- It must be your own original work; NO AI-GENERATED SUBMISSIONS.
- It must be previously unpublished (personal blogs, websites, Patreon, Reddit, etc. are okay);
- Simultaneous submissions are okay, if accepted elsewhere let us know ASAP;
- We read submissions blind. Do not put any identifying information on your submission, including the file name.
What we have presented here are three horribly made covers that you would expect from an over-enthusiastic self-publishing author who insists that their skills with Photoshop are all they need in the world. Well, that and a little bit of written content. Minor. How does this involve you? We need the questionable content to go with them!
Over the next three months, until December 31, we will be taking submissions for novelettes/novellas that use the covers as the prompts. While we anticipate and desire the outrageous, eyebrow-raising chaos that these are sure to prompt, we also want them to be polished. That means put effort into the stories, give them a semblance of making sense, read, reread, and edit.; at the end of this submission period, the best submission for each cover will be fully published — not only will you receive royalties, but you'll also get $25 (because lets face it, the royalties probably won't be huge. These are shitpost covers, after all!).
Now... The Deets.
3,000+ words
Any level of spice. These will be rated 18+, so go wild if you must.
1 submission per cover. Make a new submission for each cover (ie, only send one story at a time on Submittable)
Decisions will be sent out in January 2026.
Follow Nat 1 Publishing's standard rules
- No glorifying sexism, racism, ageism, ableism, or any other isms;
- It must be your own original work and does not infringe on existing copyrighted material (includes fan fiction);
- No AI- generated text;
- It must be previously unpublished (personal blogs, websites, Patreon, Reddit, etc. are okay);
- Simultaneous submissions are okay, if accepted elsewhere, let us know ASAP;
- Please don’t resubmit a rejected piece from another Nat 1 submission.
- We read submissions blind. Do not put any identifying information on your submission, including the file name.
And here are the horrible covers to choose from
ANY GENRE
Chapbooks, children's books, and novelettes
Please don’t resubmit previously rejected books.
(speculative fiction likely to be published through Nat 1 Publishing;
literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry published through Audience Askew)
Submit one work of less than 20,000 words for consideration.
- No glorifying sexism, racism, ageism, ableism, or any other isms;
- It must be your own original work; no AI generated content;
- It must be previously unpublished (personal blogs, websites, Reddit, etc. are okay);
- It does not infringe on existing copyright material (this includes fan fiction);
- Simultaneous submissions are okay, if accepted elsewhere, let us know ASAP;
- Please don’t resubmit previously rejected books.
- We read submissions blind. Do not put any identifying information on your submission, including the file name.
Generally, non-expedited decisions take between 4 and 9 months.
Fantasy & Science Fiction
Novellas and Novels
Please don’t resubmit previously rejected books.
Submit one work of 20,000+ words for consideration.
- No glorifying sexism, racism, ageism, ableism, or any other isms;
- It must be your own original work; no AI generated content;
- It must be previously unpublished (personal blogs, websites, Reddit, etc. are okay);
- It does not infringe on existing copyright material (this includes fan fiction);
- Do not resubmit books that we have previously rejected.
- Simultaneous submissions are okay, if accepted elsewhere, let us know ASAP;
- We read submissions blind. Do not put any identifying information on your submission, including the file name.
Generally, non-expedited decisions take between 4 and 9 months.
THEME: none. submit what you want!
DEETS: Submit 1-3 short stories (50-3k words), 1-5 poems, and/or 1-5 images — include all works in a single submission, but submit the different mediums (short stories, poetry, art) separately.
DEADLINE: 31 December 2025
READING PERIOD: Decisions will be made January 2026 except for expedited submissions.
PUBLICATION: 15 April 2026
* No glorifying sexism, racism, ageism, ableism, or any other isms;
* It must be your own original work; NO AI-GENERATED SUBMISSIONS.
* It must be previously unpublished (personal blogs, websites, Reddit, etc. are okay);
* It does not infringe on existing copyright material (this includes fan fiction);
* Simultaneous submissions are okay, if accepted elsewhere, let us know ASAP;
* We read submissions blind. Do not put any identifying information on your submission, including the file name.
Contributors will receive a free digital copy of the issue.