Debut Prize

Our Next Debut Prize Project in Art & Poetry will be open October 17, 2025 - October 31, 2025. There is no theme to adhere to. We simply want to see your best work! The Debut Prize Project is for never-before-published artists. The first place winner will receive a cash prize of $25 and the runner up will receive a cash prize of $15. The winners will also be featured on Touchstone’s website.

Pop-Up Projects

The Pop-Ups for Fiction & Nonfiction will have submissions open October 24, 2025. Submissions will close on October 31, 2025 (a one-week window for submissions).

Send Touchstone your best work in Fiction fulfilling the theme of Cycles and in Nonfiction fulfilling the theme of Movement. Show us your creativity! This project has a one-week submission window, and the selected poem & art piece for this project will enjoy digital publication on Touchstone's website. Please make sure to follow the guidelines below for your submission.

Submit

Submission portals can be found here, and all submissions must follow our General Guidelines listed below. Make sure to follow us on Instagram @touchstone_mag to stay up to date on submissions, publications, and developments from Touchstone.

Touchstone accepts all submissions on our Submittable portal.

Submit Here
 

General Guidelines

  • Your work may be in any style, format, or subject, unless unless it's a themed submission. We simply want to see your best work. Surprise us. Move us. Expand our understanding of art & literature. Remind us what great art can do

  • Each new piece should start on a new page. The author's name and personal information should not appear on the submission itself

  • For prose & poetry: Please use easy-to-read, standard fonts such as Times New Roman and Garamond. 12 point font. Please include page numbers. Attach your file as a Word document on the submissions page. We only recommend PDF if the piece has special formatting

  • For art submissions: We will accept all mediums: painting, digital art, photography, experimental, sculpture, multimedia, etc. One art piece should appear on a single page with the following information at the bottom right: title, media, dimension, & date of completion.

  • Include a cover letter with your submission. Journals and contests frequently ask for a short cover letter along with the submission, so it’d be helpful to have a cover letter template ready and modify it slightly for all your submissions.

    • Don’t sweat the cover letter too much--it’s simply a short letter that gives us more context about you and your work before we review the submission. Please fill out the cover letter section on your submission with the following information:

      • For prose (fiction & nonfiction) submissions, please include the word count in the letter

      • Indicate if this is a simultaneous submission (meaning if the pieces are--or will soon be--under consideration with other magazines)

      • A 25-100 author bio in third person. It can be about anything. Commonly, the bio contains such things as pronouns, education/publication history, state of residence, current occupation (if applicable), hobbies/interests, etc

  • We accept simultaneous submissions. However, if your pieces are accepted elsewhere, please notify us through the “Messages“ tab in your submission on Submittable right away

  • If your work contains violence, sexual or mental abuse, sexual assault, etc., please put a content warning or trigger warning above that specific piece--we would just like a little warning. Abusive pieces written from an obviously positive perspective will be rejected.

  • We do not accept any AI generated content in any genre. Should we find that AI generated content is submitted, it will be rejected/disqualified.

Frequently Asked Questions

AWARDS

DEBUT PRIZE IN FICTION, NONFICTION, OR POETRY (genre subject to editor discretion)

A cash prize of $50 for one story/essay/poem and an original broadside art designed by our artist will be awarded to a new writer making their grand debut! $30 prize for the runner up writer..

TOUCHSTONE UNDERGRADUATE CREATIVE WRITING AWARD

Touchstone Undergraduate Creative Writing Awards are an annual award series open to current undergraduate students at Kansas State University. In each of the following genres: poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction, two submissions are chosen by the editors at Touchstone. Winner in every genre receives a cash prize of $75, and the runner up receives $50.

PERMISSION TO PUBLISH

Submission to Touchstone implies permission to publish unless otherwise revoked by the writer during the submission stage. Writers retain all later publication rights. Touchstone accepts simultaneous submissions.