Dear Readers,

January is winding down, and our ninth year is off and running! Today’s note is short so we’ll get right to it.

Thank you to everyone who donated in December to help match our end-of-year $500 gift to the journal; we more than met the match and we are deeply grateful for the support. As you may know, all tax-deductible donations go directly to pay artists whose work we publish, a commitment we made a long time ago and feel strongly about. (More details on our Support page.)

We closed in mid-January to fiction and poetry submissions sooner than expected due to heavy volume upon reopening on Jan. 6. We will announce another reading period for those genres soon. We continue to review nonfiction, Artists on Craft essays, book reviews, and photography. And on the topic of photography: if your work was accepted during last year’s photography contest or as a regular submission, we will publish as soon as possible. Last year we accepted more photography than usual and are working hard to get it scheduled. Thanks for your patience.

We were excited to learn earlier this month that The Sunlight Press is now listed (as of January 2025) in the top 100 of the chlllsubs.com FISH list (Finest Independent Story Houses— “the ultimate ranking of the world’s liveliest indie magazines,” curated by author and editor Charlie Fish.) Check out the list. You can learn more about our response time, acceptance rates, and updated payment information. We are grateful to be a part of this list. 

We are actively recruiting volunteer readers for nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. If you’re interested in reading for us, please contact us via email at thesunlightpress@gmail.com.

A final word on submissions: Please read the guidelines on our Submit page before hitting send on your work. Every week, we receive submissions that do not follow the guidelines which takes time away from those that do. If you do not receive an acknowledgement that we received your work, this is the reason. We’re a small staff juggling and reviewing a lot of work. Thank you.

Stay tuned to an announcement late winter or early spring about this year’s writing contest!

Warmly,
Beth Burrell & Rudri Bhatt Patel
Editors
The Sunlight Press