Sage Cigarettes Magazine is a hybrid literary & arts magazine that produces quarterly literary issues & publishes a series of columns, stand-alone articles, & pop culture reviews.

We exist to support & platform independent artists & creatives in various genres —writers, podcasters, readers, artists, & musicians.

We are a volunteer-run independent press. We are not currently a paying market but nominate for awards annually & can include kofi or other tip jar links in the writer’s bio.

Submissions are always free. Simultaneous submissions are encouraged but please have the courtesy to let us know immediately if you get picked up elsewhere.

General submission guidelines

  • Authors published with Sage Cigarettes retain all rights to their work.
  • Every submission must include a short contributor bio & preferred method of contact.
  • Simultaneous submissions are encouraged but please let us know ASAP if your work was accepted elsewhere.
  • Previously published pieces will be considered but please be sure that that you are in the clear with any agreement made with your previous publisher & let us know who previously published the work & when.
  • Please include a list of trigger warnings in the body of your email if applicable.
  • Any work submitted which is found to be racist, bigoted, hateful and/or work which promotes gratuitous or sexual violence will not be published and may result in the writer being banned from submitting and from our socials.
  • We will remove or reject work by any submitter or contributor we find to have plagiarized or been racist, misogynistic, homophobic, ableist or hateful in the literary community.

Current open calls

Book reviews

Our book reviews editor, Nicole Yurcaba, is reading for book reviews on a rolling basis through spring & summer 2025 for publication on our blog.

We consider reviews of works, old and new, but we specifically appreciate reviews of books that address current social issues and current events conversations. Personal reflections and academic approaches are welcome. Show us who you are and what you care about!

  • Size 12 Type
  • Times New Roman Font
  • Reviews should be between 750 and 1000 words
  • Single-spaced

Email all submissions to nicoleyurcaba@sagecigarettes.com. Please put the word SUBMISSION at the beginning of the subject.

Blog submissions

We will read for third quarter blog content from July 1-30.

We are looking for work focused on current events, pop culture, creative craft, & media reviews.

We are open to the format & have published everything from articles/essays to photojournalism to poetry to visual art. However, all successful submissions will address one of the our four core topics.

Writers/artists can submit up to 2 pieces per submission period. We have a soft maximum of 2k words per piece & a hard maximum of 4k words per submission. We will consider longer work as a single submission, but it must remain under 4k words.

Submissions will remain open from July 1-30th, we often do not start reviewing submissions until submissions close & typically respond to all submissions by the end of the following month (in this case, Aug. 2025).

Send submissions in .doc, .pdf, .jpg, or .png format to submissions@sagecigarettes.com.

2025 magazine calendar