The Binnacle

Submission Guidelines

The Binnacle accepts submissions from the students, faculty, and staff of the University of Maine at Machias and from writers and artists anywhere in the world. Please submit original poetry, short fiction, short short fiction, creative non-fiction, as well as photography and other works of visual art, both color and black and white. Please limit submissions to 2500 words.

All submissions of prose, poetry, and creative non-fiction should be submitted via email to ummbinnacle@maine.edu. If attachments are included, they should be in a simple text format (.txt), rich text format (.rtf), Open Office document (.odt), or as a Microsoft Word document (.doc).  Paper submissions will no longer be accepted or returned.

Digital images should be submitted via postal mail on a CD or posted on a web site for our viewing. Please do not send these in attachments. Please include SASE if you would like the media returned. Files in jpg, gif, or psd are preferable; bmp or tif are normally fine.

Prose submissions should be typed and double spaced, with 1.5 inch margins in a 12 point standard font such as Times New Roman. Poetry submissions should be formatted as the poet desires them to be formatted in print, should they be accepted. Please include your full name, phone, email, title of submission, and word count (for prose pieces).

Non-electronic works submitted to The Binnacle can be retrieved on campus by appointment for a year following submission. Those not retrieving work directly from the office should please be sure to include a proper envelope or case with sufficient return postage when submitting work.

The Binnacle holds one-time print rights one-time audio rights, and one-time web-site rights for all accepted submissions. We also maintain the right to re-print accepted pieces on promotional materials. Denied submissions will not be used at a later date. All web-based and e-book printings will be equally protected by the same copyright as paper publications.

We accept submissions for the Fall Edition from March 1 to October 15 and report to writers between October 15 and November 15. We accept submissions for the Spring Edition from September 15 to March 1 and report to writers between March 1 and April 15. We accept submissions for our Ultra-Short Competition between December 1 and February 15 and report to writers between May 15 and June 15.

We pay a minimum of $300 in prize money (total) for the Ultra-Short Competition, and hope to begin a limited program of payment for the Fall and Spring editions.

If you have any questions (and there are always questions), please do not hesitate to contact us at ummbinnacle@maine.edu or 207-255-1247.