This is it—the call is open, and we are ready to hear from you.

Whether you’ve been counting down the days (like we have), or if you haven’t even heard of us before, we’re really happy to have you here!

This post is split into two main sections—First, I’ll give you all the details about how, what, and when to submit to our open call. Second, I’ll fill you in on how YOU can help support this upcoming book, our authors, and Small Robin Press, your favorite independent publisher. (wink)

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Small Robin Press, a re-cap of who we are

Small Robin Press is a tiny, independent publisher of books written by those who struggle to be seen elsewhere. We encourage writers from marginalized communities to submit their work and let their voices shine. Whether you’re BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, neurodiverse, disabled, an immigrant, or at the intersection of several communities, Small Robin Press would love to read your submission.

To find out more about our submission requirements, or to submit your essay for the current anthology, please visit the Small Robin Press website. Submissions are always free.

Check out our very first book, You Are Enough: a small anthology, available now on our website!

Buy our Book!

Spring 2026 Anthology Submission Prompt and Guidelines

Theme: Walls—real, imagined, perceived, constructed, demolished, and rebuilt

Genre: Creative Nonfiction

Fee: always free

Pay: No submission fee, $50 payment per author

Submission timeframe: October 1 through November 30, 2025

Response: 60 days from the close of the submission period

Submission Guidelines

Walls: A Writing Prompt to Get You Started

Whether breaking through a wall, scaling it to freedom on the other side, or sitting at the top as you take in the view, walls are structures where great stories happen. Walls are not neutral; they divide and imprison, they enclose, they exclude, they liberate.

Walls welcome weary travelers and define sacred spaces. Walls guard wounded hearts. And let’s not forget, walls don’t just have one side to them. In fact, some walls, like hedgerows, can become their own ecosystems and communities from within.

We want your stories about walls: real, imagined, perceived, constructed, demolished, and rebuilt. Tell us of walls you’ve left behind and walls you dared to exist on the wrong side of. Tell us, too, of walls you’ve scaled, broken, or broken yourself upon. The wall might actually be a glass ceiling, a broken/unbroken fourth wall, or it might be a literal barrier keeping someone in or out. What social, cultural, and institutional walls have you encountered, fought, or even found yourself building?

While we have boundaries in our submission requirements, your writing on this theme should be boundless. The essays we select are ones that break our hearts, delight and open our minds, and push us into new—possibly even uncomfortable—places. Works must be creative nonfiction, and we look for the craft of storytelling to shine through.

Small Robin Press champions intersectional voices. If you find yourself at the crossroads of disability, neurodiversity, queerness, poverty, ethnicity, or race, your voice belongs here.

We highly encourage writers who have not previously had publishing experience to submit their work. We recognize the very real barriers in the publishing world. Our press exists to confront those barriers by extending a hand to small writers with big voices. Publishing with Small Robin Press showcases your voice to a community of over 5000 readers looking for precisely the kind of thing you create.

Submit your work!

How can YOU make a difference?

Starting a publishing company at a time in global history when stories are suppressed, grants have dried up, and generative AI runs rampant means that the barriers we face are huge. Paid subscriptions help us compensate our contributing authors and artists. Your choice to fund this work also helps us build and maintain all of the infrastructure to communicate, grow, and make space for this vibrant community. We appreciate every dollar you send our way.

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Donate to Small Robin Press

What else can you do?

• Buy our book! Our first anthology, You Are Enough, is a gorgeous collection of small voices in praise of connection and community.

• Say something about us on Substack, BlueSky, or other social media to help spread the word about what we do and why others might want to join us. (@smallrobinpress.bsky.social)

• Partner with us to promote our open submissions and the publishing of each book. Reach out to us at info@SmallRobinPress.com.

• Share this post with your friends, fellow writers and artists, and readers who will love the books we print.

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Small Robin Press is proud to be 100% reader-powered and reader-funded.

You make these books happen. Thanks for being in our corner.

Many thanks from the Small Robin Press Team!

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What a summer we've had! We published an anthology. We officially launched Small Robin Press. We pulled a few late nights, had some laughs, and maybe even shed a happy tear when we held that first book in our hands. We're just getting started. Today, we're excited to announce that submissions for our next anthology are opening on October 1.

This post has everything you need to know to submit, and you’ve got just enough time between now and the start of October to write something really outstanding.

Wait, What’s Small Robin Press Again?

Small Robin Press is a tiny, independent publisher of books filled with the voices of writers who struggle to be seen elsewhere. We encourage writers from marginalized communities to submit their work and let their voices shine. Whether you’re BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, neurodivergent, disabled, an immigrant, or at the intersection of several communities, Small Robin Press would love to read your submission.

To find out more about our submission requirements, or to submit your essay for the current anthology, please visit the Small Robin Press website. Submissions are always free.

Check out our very first book, You Are Enough: a small anthology, available now on our website!

Buy Our Book

Spring 2026 Anthology Submission Prompt and Guidelines

Theme: Walls – real, imagined, perceived, constructed, demolished, and rebuilt

Genre: Creative Nonfiction

Fee: always free

Pay: No submission fee, $50 payment per author

Submission timeframe: October 1 through November 30

Response: 60 days

Submission Guidelines

Walls: A Writing Prompt to Get You Started

Whether breaking through a wall, scaling it to freedom on the other side, or sitting at the top as you take in the view, walls are structures where great stories happen. Walls are not neutral; they divide and imprison, they enclose, they exclude, they liberate.

Walls welcome weary travelers and define sacred spaces. Walls guard wounded hearts. And let’s not forget, walls don’t just have one side to them. In fact, some walls, like hedgerows, can become their own ecosystems and communities from within.

We want your stories about walls: real, imagined, perceived, constructed, demolished, and rebuilt. Tell us of walls you've left behind and walls you dared to exist on the wrong side of. Tell us, too, of walls you've scaled, broken, or broken yourself upon. The wall might actually be a glass ceiling, a broken/unbroken fourth wall, or it might be a literal barrier keeping someone in or out. What social, cultural, and institutional walls have you encountered, fought, or even found yourself building?

While we have boundaries in our submission requirements, your writing on this theme should be boundless. The essays we select are ones that break our hearts, delight and open our minds, and push us into new—possibly even uncomfortable—places. Works must be creative nonfiction, and we look for the craft of storytelling to shine through.

Small Robin Press champions intersectional voices. If you find yourself at the crossroads of disability, neurodiversity, queerness, poverty, ethnicity, or race, your voice belongs here.

We highly encourage writers who have not previously had publishing experience to submit their work. We recognize the very real barriers in the publishing world. Our press exists to confront those barriers by extending a hand to small writers with big voices. Publishing with Small Robin Press showcases your voice to a community of over 5000 readers looking for precisely the kind of thing you create.

Submit your essay

Help us keep making books and supporting small artists

If you are interested in supporting this anthology please consider donating to Small Robin Press. It takes many hours of intense labor to write and edit beautiful essays, to craft them into book form, and to build all of the supporting spaces where readers can find this vital work.

Small Robin Press believes that artists deserve to be paid fairly for their time, their dedication, and their skill. Your donation keeps the books printing, the writers writing, and the Small Robin Press Team livin’ the dream.

Donate and Support Small Artists