Submission Call from MLR Press

OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS:

Take a Pause

Mental illness, suicide, depression, addiction and self-injury – topics that are hard for a lot. Whether they’ve been diagnosed themselves or have someone close that has, the effects are felt for years. Every day someone gets a tattoo of a semi-colon to help keep the conversation going. A story can help the conversation too. The hope that can be written into a story can mean the difference to someone you don’t know. Give someone that hope.

Submissions should:
- All stories should have a theme of how this touches at least one of the main characters’ life
- Suggestions: two men that meet while trying to understand why a friend took their life; a tattoo artist that is doing a lot ofsemi-colon tattoos and doesn’t understand until one customer explains it to him; a nurse/doctor/counselor that works with patients battling depression or addiction; a EMT that has dealt with a rash of suicides that needs his partner to help ground him. 
- Be a minimum of 10k, maximum of 40k
- Any subgenre is welcome and all prohibitive guidelines are observed
- Submissions should be sent to special_submissions@mlrpress.com
- SUBMISSION DEADLINE: January 8, 2016

Any questions can be sent to Kris Jacen at KrisJacen@mlrpress.com