Ditch Life Magazine

Dear Writers,

After the launch of the nostalgia issue, I received an overwhelming amount of love from so many of you. Direct messages admiring the magazine's art, emails about which pieces truly stayed in your heart, and pictures of the issue living a new life in your home.

The positive response this issue received made me sad to think about leaving it behind, but even more, I felt immense excitement for what we could create together next. As I began dreaming up different concepts, your kind notes were all I could think about. I had never felt so much pride in Ditch Life as I did when you showed me how much it meant to you.

For the third issue of Ditch Life Magazine, I’d like for you to think about the many ways we put love into words (and the many ways we don’t). I’m interested in love in all its forms: romantic, lost, found familial, platonic, and the fleeting, enduring, complicated feelings that accompany it.

Maybe your piece is a letter, or a story that unfolds through one. Maybe it’s a poem about someone you could never bring yourself to write to, or a reflection of a person who changed you. Write to a person, a place, a memory, a past or future self, a stranger, or something you can't quite name.

However you may interpret this theme, we are so grateful you’re choosing Ditch Life. We can’t wait to read your writing!

Submissions now open until November 1st, 2026.

Sincerely,

Mia

Can I submit my work?

Submissions are currently OPEN for our second issue and will close on November 1st, 2026.

What should my submission look like?

Poets may submit up to 3 poems in a single submission.

Submissions of fiction and nonfiction can be up to 2,000 words in length.

Please submit your work in 12pt. font in a Word Document or PDF.

All submissions should run through Submittable.

Additional Info

While we cannot offer payment just yet (we’re still a bit too new), we believe that all of our writers deserve to be compensated and hope to do so with future issues of our magazine! For now, all writers will receive 1 free copy of the literary magazine. :)