Phoenix Oasis Press exists to help Arizona authors bring their stories to life. We are currently accepting submissions for our third anthology. We seek imaginative, compelling stories from authors who have a strong connection to Arizona.
 

This Year's Theme: Curiosity

The theme “Curiosity” should inspire your submission. The words curious, curiosity, or any variant of do NOT have to appear in your submission.

The Arizona Connection 

The Arizona connection relates ONLY to the author’s connection to Arizona. Your submission doesn't have to include Arizona in any way, unless you want it to. Write about life on other planets, send us a horror story set in Anywhere USA, a poem that hits hard, or creative non-fiction that shows us a new view.  

You will need to note your connection to Arizona on your submission form. This can look like: 

• Past or present Arizona resident 
• Attended an Arizona college, university, or other education program 
• Winter or year-round resident 

Accepted Genres & Word Counts 

• Fiction up to 3,000 words 
• Creative non-fiction up to 3,000 words 
• Poetry and prose poetry up to 40 lines 
• You can submit in up to 2 (two) genres. You cannot submit twice in the same genre. 
• Each submission must be made separately via Submittable 
• Each submission will be charged a separate submission fee

Submission Guidelines 

• We do not accept any AI-generated content 
• You must submit your own original work 
• We do not accept previously published work. This includes work published on your personal social media channels, blog, or website. 
• Simultaneous submissions are accepted. If your submission is accepted elsewhere before POP has made a decision, please notify us so we can remove your entry. 

Content Guidelines 

We do not publish political opinion pieces or explicit content including: 

• Graphic and/or gratuitous violence 
• Hate speech or content that promotes discrimination against another's race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability. 
• Explicit sexual content, depictions of rape or sexual assault 
• Graphic language 

POP’s anthology aims to be PG-13 (ish). Rated R material may be included where it serves the narrative / poem. Decisions related to Rated R content inclusion is at the sole discretion of Phoenix Oasis press.

Trigger Warnings 

Please include relevant trigger warnings per our guidelines. Trigger warnings inform readers that a submission includes sensitive or difficult topics. Common trigger warnings include depictions of abuse, assault, violence, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, alcoholism, animal death and abuse, child-loss, trauma, gore, sex and sexual violence, and mental health and suicide. (triggerwarningdatabase.com.) 

Indicating relevant trigger warnings for your submission: 

• Will not negatively impact your entry or cause it to be disqualified 
• Helps inform our reviewers of possible triggers 
• Helps future readers make informed decisions 

A trigger warning index will be included in POP’s 2025 anthology. POP reserves the right to add relevant trigger warnings to any submission accepted for publication.

Formatting Guidelines: Title Page 

Include a title page with the below information, centered in Title Caps: 

• Line 1 (Bold): The title of your work 
• Line 2: Your genre category. Fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, or prose poetry. 
• Line 3: Your word count or line count 
• Line 4: Any trigger warnings. If none, please put “Trigger Warnings: None.” 

The above are the only four things that should appear on your title page.

Formatting Guidelines: General 

• Use 1” margins with a page size of 8.5 x 11 
• Use 12 pt Times New Roman 
• Use black text on a white background 
• On all pages except the title page, use a right-justified header with title and page number 
• Center the word END in all caps after the last line of your work. This helps our team confirm we have received all pages of your entry.  

For Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction

• Indent the first line of each paragraph half an inch. Use the tab key, not multiple space bar presses. 
• Make text flush left, ragged right, not justified 
• Double-space your submission 
• Only put one space between sentences. This sentence is an example of correct spacing.  This sentence is an example of incorrect spacing. 
• Do not add extra spaces between paragraphs 
• If you choose to add a line between paragraphs to show a change in location, POV, or time, please center a # on that line

For Poetry and Prose Poetry 

• Single-space your submission
• Follow guidelines for fiction and creative non-fiction unless you have stylistically chosen a different approach 

File Upload Guidelines 

Your name should not appear anywhere in your filename.

• Save your submission as a .doc, .docx, or PDF 
• The above are the only file formats accepted by POP’s Submittable form 
• Use this filename format: Category_Title 
• EG: Fiction_Flowers_for_Algernon.pdf
• EG: Poetry_Still_I_Rise.doc.x 
• EG: Creative_NonFiction_The_Face.doc 
• With or without the _ is fine. We find it a helpful separator. 

How to Submit 

• During the submission window, submit your entry via Submittable 
• Submissions will be accepted March 1, 2025, to March 31, 2025 
• Depending on the volume of submissions, our submission window may close early
• If you are submitting more than 1 entry, submit each piece separately 
• Your submission is not final until you have successfully paid the $4 fee per submission 
• Submissions in ‘draft’ mode when the submission window closes will not be accepted 
• Submissions emailed to Phoenix Oasis Press will be deleted without being read

How to Contact Us 

If you have questions about anything relating to the 2025 POP Anthology Guidelines or about the anthology itself, please reach out to us at write_on@phoenixoasispress.com.