Submissions & Guidelines

Submissions & Guidelines

Submit Your Work

Submission Guidelines

Please read all four sections below (Who Can Submit?, What Should I Write About?, What Can I Submit?, and What Happens Next?) before submitting.

Anyone who self identifies as a Jewish girl, woman, or nonbinary person and is between the ages of 13-19 is eligible to submit material. 
 
jGirls+ is committed to the visibility and representation of the different voices, perspectives and experiences that comprise our diverse Jewish community. We actively encourage submissions from participants who are diverse in their Jewish identification, sexual orientation, gender expression, race, ethnicity and abilities. 

  • We have contributors from all walks of Jewish backgrounds, including Conservative, Culturally Jewish, Egalitarian, Humanistic, Interfaith, Just Jewish, Orthodox, Modern Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Reform, Questioning, Secular, Unaffiliated. If you consider yourself to be Jewish, there is a place for you at jGirls+.  
  • We know that people of many genders are impacted by gender oppression, and we’re committed to including a full range of voices and experiences on our team. If you feel comfortable affiliating with jGirls+ magazine, and you think this is a space for you, it is—whether you use the pronouns she/her, they/them, xe/hir, or something else entirely. 

We accept (and strongly encourage!) submissions to our online magazine from anywhere in the world! Our international contributors are a critical dimension of our magazine, and we are always excited to see those submissions. We have contributors from India, Canada, Australia, France, Mexico, Spain, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and more! 

Unfortunately, jGirls+ cannot publish all submissions and cannot accept submissions from people under the age of 13 due to Internet publishing laws. 

Publishing Anonymously

  • You must submit all content under your own name, but you may request to have that content published anonymously. If you wish to do this, mark on the piece itself “PUBLISH ANONYMOUSLY” and also indicate it on the submission form (there is a space for this). 
     
  • We will contact you if we have any concerns about publishing the piece anonymously. 
     
  • We don’t share personal information (email address, etc.) with third parties without your permission. 

jGirls+ accepts two different content streams, with two different deadline guidelines.

1. Submit on any topic of interest to you (no deadline). 

Content does not have to be about being Jewish and/or your gender identity. See our list of suggestions below to help get your ideas flowing. 

Topic suggestions include (but are not limited to): 

  • Body image 
  • Current events 
  • Family 
  • Food 
  • Identity (including including identities related to Judaism, race, gender, sexuality, and disability) 
  • Jewish learning 
  • Mental health 
  • Opinion 
  • Personal experiences 
  • Politics 
  • Pop culture & cultural reviews 
  • Relationships 
  • Social justice  

2. Respond to a theme (soft deadline): 

In addition to regularly publishing works on the variety of topics previously described, we like to provide quarterly themes to inspire you. 

We are currently calling for submissions connected to the theme of DOORS! Open doors, shut doors, the girl next door, knocking on heaven’s door, conversations behind closed doors, a wolf at your door, secret doors, magic doors, the doorposts of your house, or any other door that intrigues you! 

We encourage you to submit writing and artwork in response to this theme by October 31st. However, we will still consider works on this theme that we receive after this soft deadline. 

Unsure what to write about? Not ready to submit your work just yet? Sign up for our newsletter to be the first to hear about new themes and be inspired by new original content. 


Unsure what to write about? Not ready to submit your work just yet? Sign up for our newsletter to be the first to hear about new themes and be inspired by new original content.

Types of Content

  • We accept content in any digital media, including: articles, essays, fiction, poetry, cultural reviews, humor, photographs, music, videos, artwork and other creative materials. 
  • We can only accept submissions that are written primarily in English. However, we will consider pieces that incorporate words from Jewish languages (e.g. Hebrew, Yiddish, and Ladino) and other languages that reflect your culture or the cultures of your characters. 

Unpublished Works

  • We accept both materials you created for other purposes and material created for jGirls+ specifically. If it’s something you want to share, we want to see it. 

Previously Published Works

  • We accept works that have already been published elsewhere. However, the original publisher must permit re-publishing/re-posting. It is your responsibility to check that publisher’s terms or obtain written permission to republish the material.  

File Names and Sizes

The file name must include a shortened version of the title of your piece and your first and last names. For example, EndWorld_MillieStern. Please note that jGirls+ Magazine reserves the right to change the title of your piece. We will always attempt to contact you before doing so to discuss. 

Formats

Written Materials Specifications

Written materials must be submitted in an editable format such as Word or Google Docs (not pdf). Please include at the top of the document:

  • The piece’s title and your name
  • Whether it is fiction, nonfiction, poetry or other (indicate what)
  • If the piece has been published elsewhere, a link, if available
  • Anything else it is crucial for us to know about the piece (such as if you wish it to be published anonymously)
  • Please note: we tend not to accept for publication written work longer than about three pages/about 1500 words. Additionally, we tend not to publish school research papers or similar works. This work will be reviewed by our editors, but it is unlikely it will be accepted for publication. We do not accept culture reviews for performances that can only be seen locally (i.e. for a dance performance in your town) or other work of interest only to a local audience.  

Visual Arts and Music Specifications

  • Photos and Digital Art must be a minimum of 1920×1080 (approximately 2 megapixels) in either JPG or PNG formats.
    • You can find this information on your computer. On a PC, open in a photo viewer such as Photo, right click, and look at File Info under Dimensions. On a Mac, click on the photo in Finder in List view, and look at Dimensions. There are also many online resources to walk you through this process. 
    • Please note that photos and artwork can be published as stand-alone pieces, or to accompany a written submission (with photo credit attached). 
  • Art Scans Non-digital artwork must be scanned at a high resolution or well-photographed with a camera and meet the same resolution requirements.
  • Videos must be high-quality, HD (1920×1080) MP4, and filmed horizontally with good sound and lighting. Submit the original video file, NOT a link to YouTube or similar service.
  • Music must be in MP3 format, at 198kb/s or higher bit-rate. Submit file itself, rather than a link to a hosting platform. If you’re submitting a song, please consider uploading the lyrics to the song as well.
  • Materials up to 100MB can be uploaded directly via the submission form. You may only use SoundCloud, Flickr, Dropbox, etc., if appropriate/necessary to your submission (i.e., a photo portfolio or piece of recorded music).

Please email info@jgirlsmag.movingtraditions.org if you would like to discuss any of this.

All materials will be reviewed by our teen Editorial Board. Everyone who submits will receive a response once a decision has been made.

After our editors have reviewed your piece, you will receive an email indicating one of the following:

  1. The Board has decided to publish your piece. Congratulations!
  2. The Board is requesting changes. If you wish to make the changes, your piece will be reviewed and considered again. This may involve some back-and-forth communication, and the Editorial Board may request additional edits after receiving your second draft. 
  3. The Board is declining to publish this particular piece. There are many reasons your piece might be declined, but none of them are a reflection of your worth or your importance to the jGirls+ community. We encourage you to continue submitting to us! 

Please note that we consider each submission carefully, and that our editorial staff members are high school students with very busy schedules. If your piece is not time sensitive (for instance, if it is not about an upcoming holiday or theme), it can take a long time (sometimes many months) before we review it—and, if accepted, an additional length of time before we publish it. It can sometimes be as long as a year from the time you submit until the time we publish. Please note that this timeline is not unusual for professional literary publications. 

Please be sure to add jgirlsmag@movingtraditions.org to your address book to ensure you receive emails from our Editorial Board and they don’t go to Junk or Spam.

jGirls+ Magazine reserves the right to edit all accepted material for style, clarity, usage, etc.

We also encourage everyone who submits to take advantage of the other opportunities to participate in jGirls+, including reading the site, joining us on social media, and sharing the site with friends.

Have questions? Check our FAQ page for answers!
To discuss any concerns or additional questions, please contact us at jgirlsmag@movingtraditions.org.

Submissions & Guidelines

Submit Your Work Now

We’re excited to review your work! To make the process as easy as possible, please note:

You must read ALL of the information above, including eligibility, topics, how to submit, and what happens next.

Forms cannot be saved without submitting, and forms can be timed out, so have your submission prepared in advance.

Content up to 10MB must be uploaded in an editable (non-PDF) format. Videos and recorded music can be uploaded to Google Drive, YouTube, Vimeo or similar and a viewable link provided in the submission form.

Unsure what to write about? Not ready to submit your work just yet? Sign up for our newsletter to hear about new topics that need your voice!