How do we publish?

Submissions are rolling, and we publish online as soon as we accept a piece. After a certain amount of pieces have been published, we compile an issue out of them and move them into our archive.

What do you accept?

Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, rants, pseudo-manifestos, absurd grocery lists, noise, visually pleasing stuff. Just keep it under 2,000 words.

what are possible responses?

REJECTION The classic. If your piece is rejected, it’s not necessarily bad (except when it is). It just means it doesn’t fit Kinpaurak’s particular brand. Want to know why? Check out Why We Say No for common rejection reasons.

ACCEPTANCE If we accept your piece, we’ll move forward with publication (unless, of course, you secretly signed a blood pact with another publisher—please don’t do that).

DEFERRAL Sometimes we like your piece, but we don’t have space for it in the current issue. In that case, we’ll defer it to the next issue for consideration. Alternatively, if we love the work but need to extend our review process for any reason, we may request an extended time frame before making a final decision. YOU get the final decision on whether or not you want your piece to be deferred. A deferral is effectively a rejection for the current issue.

REVISION REQUEST If your piece is almost what we want but needs some fine-tuning, we may request revisions for a secondary review. However, please note:

–>You only get one shot at revisions. If your piece doesn’t make it through the secondary review, we will reconsider it one final time as is—no more revision requests will be issued. Please allow 1-2 weeks for secondary review. We will likely get back to you much sooner.

What are Transition periods?

A transition period is the time between the finalization of one issue and the opening of the next. During this time, we are simultaneously accepting submissions for both the upcoming and the following issue. This means:

• Our usual 0-48 hour response time temporarily shifts to 0-3 weeks as we focus on designing the issue, crafting the cover, and making everything as unsettlingly beautiful as it should be.
• At Kinpaurak, submissions never close, but depending on timing and capacity, some pieces will be accepted for the current issue, while others will be queued for the next.
• If you submit near the end of an issue cycle, your work may still be considered, but we prioritize certain categories as space fills up. (For example, if poetry and fiction are at capacity, only exceptional pieces will be accepted, while others may be deferred.)
• If your piece was accepted before the transition period, it is locked in for that issue. If your piece is undergoing revisions, its placement will depend on secondary review times—if we can’t finalize it in time, we’ll notify you and ask if you’d like it placed in the next issue.

Transition periods typically end a few weeks after the last issue closes, at which point our 0-48 hour response time resumes. If you don’t mind waiting a little longer for a response, submitting during this time is still encouraged!

Do you pay?

Yes! $5 per accepted piece. We know it’s a small amount, but as our magazine grows, we hope to offer more.

Can I submit if I’ve published elsewhere?

Unfortunately, no. As of now, we are looking for previously unpublished work.

Do you accept simultaneous submissions?

Yes! We just ask that you let us know if your piece gets accepted elsewhere so we don’t get attached and have our hearts broken.

How long does it take to hear back?

0-48 hours.

auditory art? i’m confused.

Kinpaurak isn’t just for the written or visual—we also publish sound. We want auditory art that lingers, distorts, unsettles, and transforms. We accept: noise (harsh, soft, industrial, mechanical, organic, digital), ambient soundscapes (field recordings, layered atmospheres, meditative or eerie tones), spoken word and poetry readings (distorted, layered, manipulated, or raw), monologues and experimental speech (whispers, echoes, fragmented phrases, choral voices), body sounds and organic noise (breathing, heartbeats, mouth sounds, bones cracking, movement-based audio), instrumental and electronic manipulations (synthesizers, prepared instruments, deconstructed melodies), ritualistic and esoteric recordings (chanting, invocations, sonic interpretations of the divine and the uncanny), glitch and fractured signals (radio interference, distorted phone calls, corrupted data transmissions), and more!

Will you give feedback on rejections?

Sometimes! If we have thoughts, we’ll share them, but we can’t promise feedback on every piece. If we liked your work but it wasn’t quite the right fit, we’ll let you know.

How soon can i resubmit once i have received a decision?

We ask that authors who are accepted don’t submit again until the issue they are published in is completed. However, if you’re denied, you can resubmit as many times as you want—relentlessly, obsessively, like a long-forgotten specter rattling the same locked door at the edge of a crumbling dimension. We’ll likely provide feedback, so use it wisely (fortune favors the revisers). We seek the highest quality work, which unfortunately means our selection process is highly competitive—only the most haunting, mesmerizing, or brilliantly unhinged pieces make it through.

Can i submit something deeply cursed?

If by “cursed” you mean unsettling, strange, or otherworldly—yes, absolutely. If by “cursed” you mean something that will get us excommunicated or put on a watchlist…

what will you not accept?

• Anything over 2,000 words (If it’s good we’ll accept it).
• Hate speech, obviously. Be weird, be subversive, but don’t be an asshole.