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)
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.
Small Robin Press uses an anonymous submission process through Duotrope to reduce bias and let your writing speak for itself. Whether you’re a seasoned submitter or new to the process, we really do want to hear from you. While we won’t be able to say yes to every submission, please don’t count yourself out. Your voice matters to us. We want to read your words.
Check out our very first book, You Are Enough: a small anthology, available now on our website!
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
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.
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.
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.
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!
This is great! Love the project. xo
Love this! I’ll see if I can submit something in time.