Lost Balloon
There are presently no open calls for submissions.
Lost Balloon publishes flash fiction, flash nonfiction, and prose poetry (all 1,000 words or less). We publish one new piece every Wednesday. There are no theme or genre restrictions, but we want your best. Give us work that entertains and challenges, that pushes boundaries and breaks hearts. The best way to understand what work will garner an acceptance is to read the magazine.
The site’s name was inspired by those small and sad but whimsical moments in life: the birthday balloon that slips from your fingers and floats into the horizon, or the dropped ice cream cone.
Please submit only one piece (and only in one genre) at a time and wait to hear back before sending another submission.
Work must be original and unpublished.
If your submission is rejected, please wait at least 1-2 month(s) after hearing back before you submit again. We will specifically ask for more work if we would like to see something else from you right away.
If we accept and publish your piece, please wait one year from your publication date before submitting again.
Simultaneous submissions are great—please withdraw your piece right away if it’s accepted elsewhere. We cannot currently pay our authors, but you will receive our undying gratitude, plus a lot of promotion on social media.
Tip Jar Submissions are totally optional, and those who submit using the tip jar category will not receive special consideration. Money received through the tip jar will go directly toward the magazine's operating costs, specifically for paying for our submittable subscription and to maintenance fees for the website. We are grateful to those of you who choose this option! Thank you!
Response time: you can usually expect to hear back in about 60-90 days. If it has been at least 120 days, and you have not received a response, feel free to send a query about your submission status.
Lost Balloon acquires First Electronic Rights and Non-exclusive Archival Rights. All other rights remain with the author. If you reprint your piece, please mention us.
We are a small organization with a commitment to fostering a productive and welcoming creative space. We support the VIDA campaign for #saferLIT and will not tolerate abuse or harassment. We therefore reserve the right to reject submissions or remove previously published material from the site at our discretion.