Broken Ink

Broken Ink welcomes a variety of creative work. For the wizards of words: poetry, prose, short stories (around 2,500 words), creative nonfiction, lyrics, and short play scripts are all acceptable. For the artisans of the eyes: photography, comics, paintings, digital art, 3D sculpture, fashion sketches, and drawings are acceptable. Finally, for the conjurers of sound: we accept original music and spoken word. If you have any creative work that you are unsure about submitting, feel free to ask a staff member about it! They will be happy to check it out as long as it is 100% original.

Submitting early is highly recommended! The early and final submission deadlines vary each year. However, early submissions are usually accepted in early fall, while final submissions are generally accepted in early spring.

When submitting pieces for the final deadline, they are taken as is. Therefore, no changes can be made to improve their chances of making it into the magazine. You can avoid this by submitting your work early. This gives you (and the Broken Ink crew) time to work out any kinks in your files in case they have been submitted improperly or if further clarification is needed. 

Surprisingly, you are not the only one who thinks this about their work. Remember that you are your harshest critic, and we would love to see your pieces! Don’t forget that we are a student literary and visual arts magazine made by students to feature student work. We don’t want experts! If you are unsure about anything, don’t forget that you can submit early for our feedback.

All submissions are reviewed blindly and rated on a scale of one to five (with five being the highest) by volunteers and Broken Ink staff. To supply an accurate and objective representation of USCA's artistic community, we ask all panelists to refrain from rating their own submissions, whether they have any, and any works they recognize. 

Accepted works are determined according to the highest rating. Due to space constraints, the Broken Ink staff occasionally must choose between two or more equally deserving works by average rating and artistic merit. Ties are resolved on the current publication’s concept or "voice” as well as Broken Ink’s mission to represent a wide variety of student work. 

Since the magazine has a limited number of pages every year, we simply cannot accept every submission. Broken Ink aims to showcase students’ work and be the best publication possible. 

Absolutely! The Broken Ink staff represents a wide range of majors, so why not include them in the magazine as well? English and Fine Art majors, please submit. There are no excuses for you!

Aside from the overwhelming sense of pride and accomplishment you gain from being a published author/artist, the Washington Group provides some incentives for the highest-ranked pieces. These cash prizes are provided to the winners. Being published in Broken Ink is also a huge resume booster. Writers and artists alike can benefit from publishing their pieces before they apply for grad school or begin a full-time career.

Yes, we do ask that the pieces you submit have not been published elsewhere.