BIJLI

A Journal for Speculative Fiction

Submissions Portal

About

Welcome to Bijli! We are honoured to have you here and super excited to read your work.

Bijli publishes ONLY speculative fiction. What does that encompass? Good question!
Generally speaking, your story should focus on a “What If” scenario. It can fall under the umbrella of fantasy, science fiction, magical realism, alternate history, or any other genre where you depart from reality. We will also accept, for example, a romance story that is set in a dystopian future. As long as there is any element, big or small, in your prose that imagines a different world, we want to read it!

Please do not submit literary fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or anything other than speculative fiction. Even if it’s extremely well written, we will not be deviating from our focus.

We accept submissions via email. Please send your work in a PDF or .docx format to bijli.journal@gmail.com with the subject line “SUBMISSION: Title_Writer Name.” We might miss submissions without this subject line, so please remember to include it.

Before you submit, please read the following guidelines carefully:

Send us your original unpublished work of speculative fiction. Simultaneous submissions are okay, but please let us know if your piece has been accepted elsewhere. Multiple submissions are also accepted, but no more than two stories per writer.
We will accept only English language submissions. We hope to begin including other Indian languages and translated works soon, but this will take some time. Still, keep checking in to see if this has changed!

Please include a short cover letter in the body of your email along with a bio in third person (~50 words) that will be published along with your piece, if selected.
Who can submit?
One of the main objectives for us is to platform Indian/Indian-origin writers and diverse stories set in India. As such, that will be our priority. We can only accept work from writers above 18 years of age.
Word limit:
Minimum: 1,500 words

Maximum: 5,000 words

Formatting:
- Please ensure that your document is double spaced, left aligned with the first line of a paragraph indented, and the font is 12-point Times New Roman.
- Include your name and contact information on the top left corner.
- Add the word count on the top right.
- Remember to include the title of your piece!

Selected pieces will be copyedited. However, we urge you to carefully proofread your document. While a couple of mistakes will not matter to us, it will be hard to overlook pieces riddled with errors.
And finally, please DO NOT use AI. This journal is meant to give writers a platform, and we are not interested in stories that have not been wholly written by humans. Please do not submit if even a part of your piece was generated through AI. If we determine that you have submitted AI-generated content, we will not accept any future submissions by you.

Please go through each point carefully before submitting! Incorrectly formatted pieces will hurt your chances.

If you have any questions, you can email us at bijli.journal@gmail.com.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN UNTIL SEPTEMBER 15TH!