The Gotham Guillotine

UPDATE 5/12/26: SUBMISSIONS FOR ISSUE #2 ARE NOW CLOSED!

THANK YOU TO ALL THE COMRADES WHO SUBMITTED!

DECISIONS WILL BE SENT OUT BY JUNE 8, 2026!

SUBMISSIONS FOR ISSUE #3 WILL OPEN IN FALL 2026!

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM, X, AND BLUESKY FOR MORE UPDATES!

Submission Guidelines

Ask yourself one question before reading any further: Am I a socialist?

We created The Gotham Guillotine because contemporary socialist artists needed a platform to share their work.

So are you a socialist? If so, read on! If not, may I introduce you to the Marxist Internet Archive?

Before submitting anything, check out Issue #1: Comrades to get an idea of what we’re looking for. 

Submission Guidelines

You don’t need to be based in New York to be published in The Gotham Guillotine.

Make sure to follow us on Instagram, Bluesky, and/or X for updates!

Formatting 

For Issue #3, we’re switching over to Shunn Modern Manuscript Format with the caveats that you do not need to list your address and phone number.

The file name of your submission MUST be: [Title of Your Piece]_[Your Last Name]. Ex) The Great French Revolution, 1789-1793_Kropotkin

PDF only!

Bio

In the submission form, you’ll need to submit a 2-4 line bio that will appear with your piece.

We are cool with pen names because, you know, Lenin. But we internally need to know your real name to prove you aren’t a bot or a Nazi or a Nazi bot.

Our Vibe

We love all genres. Our first issue ranges from comedy to tragedy, sci-fi to literary. Just make sure your submission is socialistic, okay? 🙂

If you think your story needs a content warning, please include one. 

Please don’t send us bigoted and sexually violent work.

Short Stories

Up to 5,000 words.

We don’t have a word count sweet spot, but any submission over 3,000 words needs to earn those extra words.

We love flash fiction!

One Act Plays

20 pages MAX.

Comics

15 pages MAX. Submit as a PDF, not JPGs. 

Poetry

Please submit up to 5 poems in one PDF. Your poems collectively should not exceed 10 pages. 

Arts Criticism

Up to 5,000 words.

We don’t have a word count sweet spot, but any submission over 3,000 words needs to earn those extra words.

We want socialist critiques of art, not artistic critiques of socialism.

There are plenty of amazing socialist publications that will publish your economic, philosophical, and historical manuscripts. We are not one of them.

Art

We love art and need some for our magazine. If you’re a graphic artist or a painter or a whatever, send us 1 piece of your socialist art. It may appear in our next issue! JPG/JPEG only! 300dpi too!

If we like what we see, we may ask for more. But for now, please just send us 1 piece.

Editing

Please copyedit your pieces. Variant spellings are fine. Misspellings aren’t.

Payment

The Gotham Guillotine is a labor of love. When we can afford to pay people, we will. 

Republished Work

The work you submit must be your own and must not be published anywhere else. If the source it was published in no longer exists and the piece is no longer available online, please mention this in the comments section of the submission form. 

AI

We will know if you used AI. It’s very, extremely—obvious. Please don’t. If you do, you’ll be banned from submitting for life.

As of May 2026, two writers are now banned from The Gotham Guillotine for AI usage.

Spellchecking software isn’t what we mean by AI. Please use spellcheckers.

Multiple and Simultaneous Submissions

Please submit to one genre per submission cycle. Translation: you can submit one poem, but not a poem and a short story.

Simultaneous submissions are great! Just send us a message using the contact form if your piece has been accepted anywhere else. Congratulations! See you next time!

Response Time

We will be responding to submissions around a month after the final deadline. This is subject to change if we get a ton of submissions.

If you don’t hear back from us a month after the final deadline, please send us a message using the contact form. 

Rights

Your words are yours. We ask that if you publish something in The Gotham Guillotine that you wait six months before republishing it elsewhere.

If you do republish it, please let us know. If your work is anthologized or collected, please credit us and let us know so we can congratulate you!

Publication Schedule

Currently we are an online only publication.

We are assembling the print edition of Issue #1: Comrades right now. Issue #2: The People’s Magazine will appear in print too. Stay tuned!

Ready to Submit?

SUBMISSIONS ARE CLOSED!

SUBMISSIONS WILL REOPEN IN FALL 2026!