Submission Guidelines

Please read everything to ensure that you have the best chance of your work being accepted.

Submissions Open: Simlish Magazine is currently accepting submissions. The submission deadline is April 20, 2020, for May publication.

Current Prompt:  Each edition of the magazine will have a prompt: a theme, a downloadable item, etc. You may submit any piece of work regardless of whether or not it matches the prompt, but be aware that pieces that do match the prompt have priority publishing for that edition. 

The current prompt is this set of pictures of a Loch Ness taken by a sim in-game; it’s available on the Sims 4 gallery under the user name queenofmyshuno, or search the tag #SimlishMagazine. This item has no cc, but the Gallery recognizes pictures taken by sims as cc, so you will have to check the cc box to see it. Once you go to your library to place the lot in your game, you will again have to have the cc box checked in order to see it. Place the lot, have a sim put the pictures in their inventory, then hang the pictures in your game wherever you like.

You may change the frames or filter as desired.

Download from: The Official EA Gallery

Check the box: Include Custom Content

Search by name: Loch Ness Picture Set

Search by EA account ID: QueenOfMyshuno

Search by hashtag: SimlishMagazine 

Who Should Submit Their Work: Beginning writers are strongly encouraged to submit their work. Writers whose native language is not English are strongly encouraged to submit their work. Everyone who loves The Sims 4 is encouraged to submit their work. People who have never heard of The Sims before but are willing to check it out are encouraged to submit their work. Veteran writers are encouraged to submit their work.

Requirements: Simlish Magazine accepts all different types of creative writing (this includes but is not limited to comic  strips, lyrics, scripts, collages, concrete poetry, poetry, fiction, and non-fiction memoirs illustrated in The Sims 4). All subjects welcome. All work submitted must fit the following criteria:

Images originally generated by The Sims 4

Minimum Word Count: 10

Maximum Word Count: 1,600

Minimum Images: 1

Maximum Images: 20

Previously published work is accepted. Work currently available on the internet is accepted. Simultaneous submissions to publishers seeking exclusive rights are not accepted.

Sorry, work done in Sims 1, Sims 2, or Sims 3 is not accepted.

Videos are not accepted, but animated images are okay.

Submission should be rated “T for teen” both in text and images. Sensual is okay; graphic/explicit is not.

Submission limit: You may submit up to 2 pieces of work per submission period. The minimum and maximum image and word counts are per piece. Submit each piece in a separate Word document.

Photo editing: Photo editing with photoshop or other software is acceptable and encouraged. Please try not to send extremely dark images without lightening them. GIMP is a free photo editing software and can be used to brighten images through the menu options Color/Brightness-Contrast or Color/Exposure; once finished, export your photo (File/Export). Images with heavy filtering or editing are accepted.

Dark Unedited Images: If your work is accepted but your images are too dark, your images may be lightened prior to publication. This option is only for those not familiar with photo editing who might submit their images unedited and face the possibility of rejection solely on the basis of unusable images.

Navigation and Promotion: Your image may be used for navigation on this website (such as in a Table of Contents) or for promotional purposes on social media or other media apart from this website. Your images may be cropped, filtered, or altered in some other way (such as with an instagram filter) when used for navigation or promotional purposes. Excerpts from your story may be used for promotional purposes.

Grammar: I have a strong interest in publishing pieces from both native and non-native English speakers, and I don’t want grammar to be a deterrent to publication. This section is for native and non-native speakers who struggle with grammar. If you submit a piece with minor grammatical errors, I might suggest changes and invite you to re-submit. If I consider the grammatical errors in your work to be more than minor, I might not make suggestions myself but instead encourage you to work on your piece with a teacher or friend who is well-versed in English and invite you to re-submit. A request for re-submission is not a guarantee of publication, but it does mean your story shows promise and that I’m interested in it.

Payment: None. Simlish Magazine is a nonprofit endeavor, and we are unable to offer authors payment. 

Awards: After each edition has been published, there will be up to 3 awards given out to authors: the Editor’s Choice Award, the Judge’s Choice Award, and the People’s Choice Award. Award recipients have the option of receiving a postcard from California as a memento of their achievement. For more information, go to the Awards page.  

Resubmitting: Please do not resubmit work that has already been submitted and was not accepted unless you were specifically requested to do so by the editor. This includes work that has since been re-written. If you submit 2 pieces that were not accepted for the current submission period, please wait until the next submission period to submit additional pieces.

Manuscript and Image Format: See the Formatting Guidelines page for information on how to format your work, how to send your images, what to put in the title of your email, and what to write in the body of your email. Go to the AuthorBio page for help writing your bio.

Upcoming Prompt: A future edition of Simlish Magazine will include the following prompt: Collaboration featuring work that was created collaboratively by 2 or more people.

The Legal Stuff: By submitting your work, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to the publication terms described on this page. By submitting your work, you agree to grant the publisher the right to make your work available on the web, the right to keep your work in the archives indefinitely, and the right to excerpt portions of your accepted work (text and/or images) in order to promote the magazine. All other rights remain property of the author.

Mail To: Submit a maximum of 2 pieces of work per submission period to QueenOfMyshuno@zohomail.com.