Submission Guidelines   

Please make sure you read the following guidelines closely. If you’re unsure about any of the guidelines, please contact Voiceworks editor Selina Moir-Wilson at editor@expressmedia.org.au.    

We are only able to publish work by writers and artists who are under twenty-five at the time of submission. Please also keep in mind that because of our funding arrangements, we are only able to publish writers living in Australia or Australian writers living overseas.

Voiceworks only considers previously unpublished work (which includes personal websites and blogs). We accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know if your work is accepted for publication elsewhere.    

If your submission is unsuccessful, we will notify you as soon as we can and then provide you with detailed feedback a little later. Feedback is written by a small group of volunteers and we receive a lot of submissions, so we appreciate your patience. If you think something’s gone wrong, or you haven’t heard from us three months after the submission deadline, please get in touch.   

Poetry Guidelines  

Poetry: send no more than three poems, each no more than 100 lines. We recommend reading our poetry guide here before sending us your work.   

We encourage you to submit across genres, but please send us no more than four submissions in total (excluding visual art).  


Deadline: Sunday 22 October, 11:59 AEST 

Theme: Strike

You fantasise about swift action; an arm slicing through water, utter refusal. A sharp, unmistakable call. Brood in the non-place between thinking and doing. The run before the leap. The leap before the landing. Prepare yourself for the thwack wallop of realisation. Check your periphery. Wear your shin pads. 

It’s a hushed judgement, a snarky email, a roll of the eyes in the staff kitchen. “No big deal.” Push it away, brush it off, back to business as usual. But each microaggression is a strike on the scoreboard, building to action. Will it be a warning or a final blow? How many strikes until you’re they’re out?

Outside, you hear rumbling. Voices from the underbrush, smoke in the distance, strength in numbers. A match has been struck. They can try and blow it out, diminishing the flame, but a burnt scorched match doesn’t go back in the box. Throw it away, try to erase it,  but a charred tip won’t go back to its original red. A tit for tat.

When all action is reaction, how do you strike a balance? Caught between blunt force and desire, can you strike a deal?


—Thanks to EdCommers Tiia Kelly and Helen Karakulak for the blurb.


Remember, you don't have to stick to the theme. Most of all, we want good writing!   


Rates of Pay 

$100 per published piece.   


Terms of Publication 

Express Media publishes work in Voiceworks on a non-exclusive, irrevocable and royalty-free basis. We require writers who will be published in Voiceworks to sign a licence deed granting us permission to publish work in the printed Voiceworks magazine, on the Express Media and Voiceworks websites, and for use in promoting our magazine. Writers retain copyright of their work and are free to use in whatever way they’d like in the future. Please only submit your work if you are satisfied with these terms. For more information about this, please contact us.   


Subscribe    

To get a better idea of what kind of work we publish in the magazine, and to help us continue to support young writers, you can subscribe* to Voiceworks here.      

*Choosing not to subscribe will not impact your submission.

Submission Guidelines 

Please make sure you read the following guidelines closely. If you’re unsure about any of the guidelines, please contact Voiceworks editor Selina Moir-Wilson at editor@expressmedia.org.au.    

We are only able to publish work by writers and artists who are under twenty-five at the time of submission. Please also keep in mind that because of our funding arrangements, we are only able to publish writers living in Australia or Australian writers living overseas.

Voiceworks only considers previously unpublished work (which includes personal websites and blogs). We accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know if your work is accepted for publication elsewhere.    

If your submission is unsuccessful, we will notify you as soon as we can and then provide you with detailed feedback a little later. Feedback is written by a small group of volunteers and we receive a lot of submissions, so we appreciate your patience. If you think something’s gone wrong, or you haven’t heard from us three months after the submission deadline, please get in touch.   


Fiction Guidelines  

Send no more than two fiction pieces, each no more than 3000 words. If you are submitting two stories, please upload them both in this submission (as two separate documents), rather than creating a second fiction submission. 

We encourage you to submit across genres, but please send us no more than four submissions in total (excluding visual art).   

Those seeking to submit nonfiction, poetry or visual art, please see the separate submission categories.

Deadline: Sunday 22 October, 11:59 AEST 

Theme: Strike

You fantasise about swift action; an arm slicing through water, utter refusal. A sharp, unmistakable call. Brood in the non-place between thinking and doing. The run before the leap. The leap before the landing. Prepare yourself for the thwack wallop of realisation. Check your periphery. Wear your shin pads.
 

It’s a hushed judgement, a snarky email, a roll of the eyes in the staff kitchen. “No big deal.” Push it away, brush it off, back to business as usual. But each microaggression is a strike on the scoreboard, building to action. Will it be a warning or a final blow? How many strikes until you’re they’re out?
 

Outside, you hear rumbling. Voices from the underbrush, smoke in the distance, strength in numbers. A match has been struck. They can try and blow it out, diminishing the flame, but a burnt scorched match doesn’t go back in the box. Throw it away, try to erase it,  but a charred tip won’t go back to its original red. A tit for tat.
 

When all action is reaction, how do you strike a balance? Caught between blunt force and desire, can you strike a deal?


—Thanks to EdCommers Tiia Kelly and Helen Karakulak for the blurb.


Remember, you don't have to stick to the theme. Most of all, we want good writing!   


Rates of Pay 

$100 per published piece.   


Terms of Publication 

Express Media publishes work in Voiceworks on a non-exclusive, irrevocable and royalty-free basis. We require writers who will be published in Voiceworks to sign a licence deed granting us permission to publish work in the printed Voiceworks magazine, on the Express Media and Voiceworks websites, and for use in promoting our magazine. Writers retain copyright of their work and are free to use in whatever way they’d like in the future. Please only submit your work if you are satisfied with these terms. For more information about this, please contact us.   


Subscribe 

To get a better idea of what kind of work we publish in the magazine, and to help us continue to support young writers, you can subscribe* to Voiceworks here.      

*Choosing not to subscribe will not impact your submission.

Submission Guidelines 

Please make sure you read the following guidelines closely. If you’re unsure about any of the guidelines, please contact Voiceworks editor Selina Moir-Wilson at editor@expressmedia.org.au.    

We are only able to publish work by writers and artists who are under twenty-five at the time of submission. Please also keep in mind that because of our funding arrangements, we are only able to publish writers living in Australia or Australian writers living overseas.

Voiceworks only considers previously unpublished work (which includes personal websites and blogs). We accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know if your work is accepted for publication elsewhere.    

If your submission is unsuccessful, we will notify you as soon as we can and then provide you with detailed feedback a little later. Feedback is written by a small group of volunteers and we receive a lot of submissions, so we appreciate your patience. If you think something’s gone wrong, or you haven’t heard from us three months after the submission deadline, please get in touch.   


Nonfiction Guidelines  

For completed work, send no more than two pieces, each no more than 3,000 words.  

We encourage you to submit across genres, but please send us no more than four submissions in total (excluding visual art).
 

Deadline: Sunday 22 October, 11:59 AEST 

Theme: Strike

You fantasise about swift action; an arm slicing through water, utter refusal. A sharp, unmistakable call. Brood in the non-place between thinking and doing. The run before the leap. The leap before the landing. Prepare yourself for the thwack wallop of realisation. Check your periphery. Wear your shin pads.
 

It’s a hushed judgement, a snarky email, a roll of the eyes in the staff kitchen. “No big deal.” Push it away, brush it off, back to business as usual. But each microaggression is a strike on the scoreboard, building to action. Will it be a warning or a final blow? How many strikes until you’re they’re out?
 

Outside, you hear rumbling. Voices from the underbrush, smoke in the distance, strength in numbers. A match has been struck. They can try and blow it out, diminishing the flame, but a burnt scorched match doesn’t go back in the box. Throw it away, try to erase it,  but a charred tip won’t go back to its original red. A tit for tat.
 

When all action is reaction, how do you strike a balance? Caught between blunt force and desire, can you strike a deal?


 

—Thanks to EdCommers Tiia Kelly and Helen Karakulak for the blurb.


 

Remember, you don't have to stick to the theme. Most of all, we want good writing!   


 

Rates of Pay 

$100 per published piece.   


 

Terms of Publication 

Express Media publishes work in Voiceworks on a non-exclusive, irrevocable and royalty-free basis. We require writers who will be published in Voiceworks to sign a licence deed granting us permission to publish work in the printed Voiceworks magazine, on the Express Media and Voiceworks websites, and for use in promoting our magazine. Writers retain copyright of their work and are free to use in whatever way they’d like in the future. Please only submit your work if you are satisfied with these terms. For more information about this, please contact us.   


 

Subscribe 

To get a better idea of what kind of work we publish in the magazine, and to help us continue to support young writers, you can subscribe* to Voiceworks here.      

*Choosing not to subscribe will not impact your submission.

Submission Guidelines 

Please make sure you read the following guidelines closely. If you’re unsure about any of the guidelines, please contact Voiceworks editor Selina Moir-Wilson at editor@expressmedia.org.au.    

We are only able to publish work by writers and artists who are under twenty-five at the time of submission. Please also keep in mind that because of our funding arrangements, we are only able to publish writers living in Australia or Australian writers living overseas.

Voiceworks only considers previously unpublished work (which includes personal websites and blogs). We accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know if your work is accepted for publication elsewhere.    

If your submission is unsuccessful, we will notify you as soon as we can and then provide you with detailed feedback a little later. Feedback is written by a small group of volunteers and we receive a lot of submissions, so we appreciate your patience. If you think something’s gone wrong, or you haven’t heard from us three months after the submission deadline, please get in touch.   


Pitching Guidelines 

How to pitch to Voiceworks 

The best pitches include detail! Clearly lay out your angle and argument, and provide specific examples of the research and anecdotes you’ll draw upon. Submit a document addressing the questions below, along with a 300-word sample from the start of the piece if you have one. 

Things to ask yourself either way: 

- What is your key point or argument? 

- What is your particular angle to take? 

- What is the logical and structural progression of your piece? 

- Why are you the person to write this piece? Personal experience, willingness to research, etc. 

- If you need evidence, where did you get it from? What research have you conducted? 

- Why Voiceworks? 

- How long is the piece going to be? 

You don’t have to know all these answers, but it should get you thinking about your piece thoroughly. None of this is a totally prescriptive guide—we want to give you direction and encouragement, not to close off the possibility of writing nonfiction for us.  


What happens if your pitch is selected 

If we think the work you pitched would be a good fit for Voiceworks, we will (ideally) get in touch around two weeks after the pitch deadline. We’ll provide advice and direction on how to approach the piece, and request a full draft to be submitted around three weeks later. This isn’t very much time! Because of the tight turnaround, we prefer pitches that demonstrate some prior research, preparation and thought, so that you’re not scrambling to research and write an entire piece from scratch in a matter of weeks. Just to be clear, the full drafts we request are not guaranteed publication, but responding to our suggestions early on gives your piece the best possible chance.

Deadline: Sunday 15 October, 11:59 AEST 

Theme: Strike

You fantasise about swift action; an arm slicing through water, utter refusal. A sharp, unmistakable call. Brood in the non-place between thinking and doing. The run before the leap. The leap before the landing. Prepare yourself for the thwack wallop of realisation. Check your periphery. Wear your shin pads.
 

It’s a hushed judgement, a snarky email, a roll of the eyes in the staff kitchen. “No big deal.” Push it away, brush it off, back to business as usual. But each microaggression is a strike on the scoreboard, building to action. Will it be a warning or a final blow? How many strikes until you’re they’re out?
 

Outside, you hear rumbling. Voices from the underbrush, smoke in the distance, strength in numbers. A match has been struck. They can try and blow it out, diminishing the flame, but a burnt scorched match doesn’t go back in the box. Throw it away, try to erase it,  but a charred tip won’t go back to its original red. A tit for tat.
 

When all action is reaction, how do you strike a balance? Caught between blunt force and desire, can you strike a deal?


—Thanks to EdCommers Tiia Kelly and Helen Karakulak for the blurb.


Remember, you don't have to stick to the theme. Most of all, we want good writing!   


Rates of Pay 

$100 per published piece.   


Terms of Publication 

Express Media publishes work in Voiceworks on a non-exclusive, irrevocable and royalty-free basis. We require writers who will be published in Voiceworks to sign a licence deed granting us permission to publish work in the printed Voiceworks magazine, on the Express Media and Voiceworks websites, and for use in promoting our magazine. Writers retain copyright of their work and are free to use in whatever way they’d like in the future. Please only submit your work if you are satisfied with these terms. For more information about this, please contact us.   


Subscribe 

To get a better idea of what kind of work we publish in the magazine, and to help us continue to support young writers, you can subscribe* to Voiceworks here.      

*Choosing not to subscribe will not impact your submission.

Submission Guidelines 

Please make sure you read the following guidelines closely. If you’re unsure about any of the guidelines, please contact Voiceworks editor Selina Moir-Wilson at editor@expressmedia.org.au.    

We are only able to publish work by writers and artists who are under twenty-five at the time of submission. Please also keep in mind that because of our funding arrangements, we are only able to publish writers living in Australia or Australian writers living overseas.

Voiceworks only considers previously unpublished work (which includes personal websites and blogs). We accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know if your work is accepted for publication elsewhere.    

If your submission is unsuccessful, we will notify you as soon as we can and then provide you with detailed feedback a little later. Feedback is written by a small group of volunteers and we receive a lot of submissions, so we appreciate your patience. If you think something’s gone wrong, or you haven’t heard from us three months after the submission deadline, please get in touch.   

Visual Art and Comics Guidelines 

Visual art submissions include comics, illustrations, drawings, graphics, etc. We recommend that you pitch your comics before sending them to us. For advice on how to construct your pitch, check out our handy guide here.  We print in duotone (two colours) and our page dimensions are 170 x 245 mm. Please supply your images in greyscale, at actual size and 300dpi. Please name your files—strings of numbers and letters are easily confused with other submissions.


Deadline: Sunday 5 November, 11:59 AEST 

Theme: Strike

You fantasise about swift action; an arm slicing through water, utter refusal. A sharp, unmistakable call. Brood in the non-place between thinking and doing. The run before the leap. The leap before the landing. Prepare yourself for the thwack wallop of realisation. Check your periphery. Wear your shin pads.
 

It’s a hushed judgement, a snarky email, a roll of the eyes in the staff kitchen. “No big deal.” Push it away, brush it off, back to business as usual. But each microaggression is a strike on the scoreboard, building to action. Will it be a warning or a final blow? How many strikes until you’re they’re out?
 

Outside, you hear rumbling. Voices from the underbrush, smoke in the distance, strength in numbers. A match has been struck. They can try and blow it out, diminishing the flame, but a burnt scorched match doesn’t go back in the box. Throw it away, try to erase it,  but a charred tip won’t go back to its original red. A tit for tat.
 

When all action is reaction, how do you strike a balance? Caught between blunt force and desire, can you strike a deal?


—Thanks to EdCommers Tiia Kelly and Helen Karakulak for the blurb.


Remember, you don't have to stick to the theme. Most of all, we want good writing!   


Rates of Pay 

$100 for single-page art and comics 

$150 for multi-page comics or suites of art  


Terms of Publication 

Express Media publishes work in Voiceworks on a non-exclusive, irrevocable and royalty-free basis. We require writers who will be published in Voiceworks to sign a licence deed granting us permission to publish work in the printed Voiceworks magazine, on the Express Media and Voiceworks websites, and for use in promoting our magazine. Writers retain copyright of their work and are free to use in whatever way they’d like in the future. Please only submit your work if you are satisfied with these terms. For more information about this, please contact us.   


Subscribe 

To get a better idea of what kind of work we publish in the magazine, and to help us continue to support young writers, you can subscribe* to Voiceworks here.      

*Choosing not to subscribe will not impact your submission.

Express Media