Update 11/1: Submissions are open for our 5th annual contest on the theme of Work & Labor. More details on how we define that theme and other info about the contest is on the form.
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After Happy Hour is a free online literary journal that comes out twice a year online in winter and summer, with a print contest issue in the spring. We're not limited to any particular genre, and publish poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, visual art, and hybrids of any of the above. We're headquartered in Pittsburgh, and love to get work from folks who have a connection to the region, but the journal is not exclusive to Pittsburgh-based writers and artists--we've published stories, poems, and artwork from all over the world. If you want more insights into what we look for, we posted some wishlists and hard sells on our blog.
Our typical reading periods are:
- March 1st-April 30th for the summer issue (released early August)
- July 1st-August 31st for the winter issue (released early December)
- November 1st-January 31st for the annual contest (print issue released in May)
Although time is wibbly-wobbly and these have been known to change (we'll update things here if they do).
For our online issues, we accept fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, visual art, photographs, graphic narratives, and any combination thereof. All contributors are paid $2.50 per printed page, with a minimum of $15 and a maximum of $50, on publication ($25 for our cover artist).
We have a few submission categories:
- Free general submissions (capped at 300 per month--we'll post an update if we hit that limit)
- $4 expedited submissions with a guaranteed response within 14 days of submission
- Feedback submissions for donations of any amount to our current target charity (currently Casa San José)
- $3 tip jar submissions (open only when our free submissions fill up)
Entries for our contest are $10, and can be fiction, poetry, or creative non-fiction.
As far as what we want from the work: Be bold and take risks, make an impact and make it early. AHH favors the audacious. If you want to get a sense of the type of work we publish, you can check out our past online issues free on our website.
After Happy Hour requests first publication rights on acceptance for unpublished pieces, and one-time publication rights for reprints. For our online issues, we also ask for non-exclusive electronic archive rights and anthology rights, to potentially re-print your work in our annual print issue (of course, we will let you know if we do). Authors and artists retain full ownership of their work and can do whatever else they want to with the work after publication (and if a piece we've published gets reprinted elsewhere, we'd love to hear about it so we can promote it to our readers, too! Especially if you've put out a collection, won an award, or some other exciting and cool thing).
We are looking for volunteers to help us review submissions to After Happy Hour. The gist of the reader's role: you'll read pieces in your chosen genre and vote on them to help the editors decide which pieces to bring to the discussion table. We'll review reader applications on a rolling basis, with the plan to respond to everyone by the end of March.
Some more questions folks might have about the reader position:
How does the editorial process work, and where do readers fit into it?
All submissions get an initial read from at least 3 members of the team. For this first pass, we read independently and vote on a spreadsheet. Submissions that receive unanimous "accept" or "reject" votes get a response without discussion. The rest are held and discussed at our monthly editor meetings.
Readers will be part of that initial screening read. You'll only be responsible for voting, not providing any feedback or commentary, although you can share more in-depth thoughts if you want to (accepted readers will get a full instruction document that explains how to do this). At the moment, we don't plan to have readers participate in the monthly editor meetings, and this certainly won't be a requirement. That said, if a reader feels strongly about a piece and wants to be part of the discussion, or just wants to get more insight into what goes down in the editor meetings, they're invited to attend (probably by Zoom, but if someone's in the Pittsburgh area and wants to come in person that's an option, too).
How much time will I need to commit?
We'd like to bring on people who can consistently read submissions for at least 1 hour a week during the months of March, April, July, and August. Beyond that, exactly how much and when you read will be up to you.
Do I need to be able to read during every reading period?
Nope! Before the start of each reading period, we'll reach out to the current reader pool to confirm who is available during that reading period. If you need to take a reading period off, just let us know and we'll reach out again when the next one's set to start (or if you want to stop reading entirely, you can just let us know that, too, and we'll take you off the list with no hard feelings!).
Do I need to have prior editorial experience, publications, a writing degree, or other credentials?
Nope! We are looking for people who are familiar with literary publishing to some degree, enough so to be able to make informed decisions about the quality of submissions and whether they fit with our aesthetic. But if your only experience with literary journals is enjoying the finished issues, that's completely fine! Your main job will be helping us choose stories, essays, and poems that people want to read, and you don't need to have a bunch of publications or an MFA to do that.
Do I need to have a Submittable account?
Also nope! There's a universal "Reader" account that you'll get the log-in credentials for, and the voting happens on a Google Sheet that will be shared with you.
Are there other ways for readers to participate in the journal?
If you want to, absolutely! Although not right away--readers will be brought on just to read during their first reading period, to give them time to settle in and get to know our process. After that, there are lots of other things that you could do if you want to, like:
- Writing feedback on the Feedback for Donations submissions
- Contributing book reviews or other posts for the After Happy Hour blog or social media
- Writing issue forewords
- Taking shifts at the After Happy Hour table during conferences like AWP
Will readers be compensated?
Unfortunately, no. Currently, all of the editors are volunteers, and that's unlikely to change anytime soon. Readers will get two free copies of each year's print issue as a gesture of thanks. Mostly, though, you'll be compensated in gratitude and kudos. Reader bios will be listed on our website alongside the editors and you'll be in the masthead for every issue you read for (if that's helpful on your resume or for building up some literary cred). We also plan to amplify readers' publications, readings, awards, and other literary accomplishments on our blog and social media.