Looking to publish something?

Here at The Pearl, we love discovering new talent and we only publish the good stuff.

Aren’t you sick of today’s media junk? We are too. Here at The Pearl, we aim to put out good, kingdom-honoring content that isn’t corny or watered down.

Compensation & Rights

You maintain the rights to your work at all times. If your work is selected for publication, we’ll have you sign an agreement licensing your content to The Pearl to be published, but you still own the piece. You can publish it somewhere else later on if you so wish.

When you submit, you’re not obligated to publish with us. If we like your piece, we’ll send you an agreement and we can negotiate from there.

At this time, we are not paying for work.

Steps to Submit

Submitting is really simple! Email your submission to submissions@pearlmag.co.

Here’s what to include in your email: 

Step 1: Give us your name and contact information 

Step 2: Write the title and genre of your piece

Step 3: Convert your work into a PDF and attach it to the email

Step 4: Tell us a little about your story, and how many words it is

Step 5: Click send!

We do not accept any content that has been written with AI. 

We’ll review your work and contact you. The amount of work we receive fluctuates, so it may be a few days or a few weeks before you hear back.

If you don’t hear from us in four weeks, please feel free to follow-up. Please do not follow-up before four weeks has elapsed.

Questions? Email us at info@pearlmag.co.

Short Stories

Work should be 500-5,000 words. The sweet spot is 1,500 words. However, as long as it’s a good story, the work can be as long as it needs to be.

All genres are acceptable. Literary fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, crime, romance, suspense, supernatural…you name it, we’re interested in it. We are not presently interested in work intended for children.

Your story does not need to be about Jesus and does not need to be “clean,” but it should have a Kingdom worldview. We can look at dark stuff, but your exploration should be good and profitable to healthy discourse.

Here are the kinds of short stories we’re looking for…

• Conflict-heavy stories. We’re looking for stories that are chock-full of conflict. Stories that are driven by characters who make hard choices, for better or for worse. These stories could be action-packed sci-fi or moody literary fiction–whatever the genre, the plot should be soaking in clear conflict.
• Comedic fiction. Do you have stories that will make people laugh? That will shine brightly in this time of darkness? We’re looking for stories that folks can relax to–that they can giggle at and smile over. Whether it’s a silly adventure full of quirk, or a full-on farce, we would love to take a look at it. 

Essays

The maximum word count on essays is 2,000 words. Again, if the content is good, all rules can be broken. The sweet spot is 1,000 words. There is no minimum word count.

We are specifically looking for comedy essays. What’s something you’re passionate about? Write about it! Will it be a how-to on doomscrolling? Or perhaps an editorial on why Die Hard is a Christmas movie. The ball is in your court!

Your work does not need to be “Christian.” Christians, after all, need to be thinking about all kinds of things.

Satire

Are you familiar with The Onion? The Babylon Bee? We’re looking for fake news articles like those.

The sweet spot for satire is 100-300 words. 

We are looking for satire specifically in regard to these three cultures: writing, reading, and church.

Want to point out the top 5 most awkward positions to read in? What about the secret guide on singing along to a church song you’ve never heard before? Send it our way!

Poetry

Poetry must be less than 500 words. We’re looking for poetry that engages the mind and the heart. We want poems with rich metaphors and developed imagery. Rhyme is acceptable, but if it sounds like a nursery rhyme and doesn’t bring any depth, it’s not for us.

Anything else

Have something that doesn’t fit into one of these categories? No problem. Send it in. Maybe it fits, maybe it doesn’t. Won’t know until you try!