Sub280~

✶ Maddy Perez Edition: We all know she’s the real reason we’re tuning into this last season of Euphoria. In 280 words or less, write an alternative Maddy Perez scene or storyline.

Non-Fiction~

Seeking the following that center Latine perspectives...

✶ Essays on divorce, tradwives and/or reviews on the books Yesteryear or Strangers 

✶ In honor of the 2026 Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show at Studio 54 featuring Harvey Guillén (as Dr. Scott/Eddie) and Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, personal essays on The Rocky Horror Picture Show and/or the Broadway show.

Submit here.

Guidelines

✶ Sub280 must not exceed 280 words.

✶ Non-fiction submission must not exceed 1,500 words.

✶ Please do not submit work that has been previously published.

✶ We’re cool with simultaneous submissions but please let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere.

✶ No AI generated work (obvi)

Formatting

✶ Standard (12 pt font, double spaced, pdf or word)

✶ Title should include genre (Fiction_This Story is Fire).

Rights

We ask for first serial rights and the right to archive your piece on our website. All rights revert to you upon publication. If your piece is reprinted elsewhere, we’d love an acknowledgment of SubeStack as the original publisher.

As part of SubeStack’s launch, we are excited to announce: PALABRAS: a fiction & essay prize.

Winning submission in each category will receive:

✶ $375 and publication on SubeStack

✶ A consultation with Literary Agent Amanda Orozco from Transatlantic Agency

✶ 1-year subscription

✶ Copies of books from each judge

Second and third runners up for each category will receive:

✶ $100/$75

✶ 1-year subscription

✶ Written feedback from the editorial committee

✶ Copies of books from each judge

✶ All submissions will be considered for publication.

Our Judges

Natalie Guerrero (Fiction)

Natalie Guerrero is a writer from New York. Her debut novel, My Train Leaves at Three (One World, 2025), was named as a finalist for the 2025 California Book Award in First Fiction and is shortlisted for the REFORMA National Book Award in Fiction. Her writing has appeared in Electric Literature, Literary Hub, Byline, and Goop, among other publications.

She writes “Books Are For People” a Substack newsletter about people and the books that built them.

Julissa Arce (Non-fiction)

Julissa Arce is a bestselling author, sought-after speaker, producer, and public thinker whose writing interrogates the myths of the American Dream and the cost of assimilation. Her acclaimed books, including My (Underground) American Dream, Someone Like Me, and You Sound Like a White Girl, blend memoir, social critique, and cultural analysis to reframe conversations around immigration, identity, and what it means to truly belong.

Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, TIME Magazine, CNBC, Vogue, and BuzzFeed News. Julissa’s storytelling and advocacy have earned her recognition as one of People en Español’s 25 Most Powerful Women of 2017 and 2022, and she was honored as the 2019 Woman of the Year by the City of Los Angeles.

She writes the Substack “La Historia Uncovered” that highlights the stories, news, history that’s been overlooked.

How to Submit

To create a model that allows us to both pay writers while keeping all work free to be discovered (and without a paywall), specific submission opportunities (like contests) are exclusive to paying subscribers. We will also offer open calls for non-paying subscribers as well.

This opportunity is open to all including free subscribers. Submit here.

Guidelines

✶ Deadline is May 30

✶ Fiction submissions must not exceed 4,500 words in length.

✶ Non-fiction submission must not exceed 1,500 words.

✶ Please do not submit work that has been previously published.

✶ Multiple submissions in the same category are not allowed. However, you may submit one entry in fiction and another in non-fiction. We invite you to submit again once you’ve heard from us.

✶ We’re cool with simultaneous submissions but please let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere.

✶ No AI generated work (obvi)

Formatting

✶ Standard (12 pt font, double spaced, pdf or word)

✶ Please do not include your name on your submission.

✶ Title should include genre (Fiction_This Story is Fire).

Rights

We ask for first serial rights and the right to archive your piece on our website. All rights revert to you upon publication. If your piece is reprinted elsewhere, we’d love an acknowledgment of SubeStack as the original publisher.

Questions? Hit us up at sube@subemag.com

What We’re Looking For:

✶ Personal essays or cultural critiques that position Latine perspectives in the center of the zeitgeist. Sharp, insightful, and fresh pieces that move between the personal, political and pop cultural, drawing unexpected through lines between seemingly disparate ideas.

✶ Fiction with drippy (or quippy) prose, unforgettable characters, and storylines that A24 would (or should) die for.

We are seeking writing in the vein of…..

A non-exhaustive list of other authors we fan girl over (in addition to our judges): Alejandro Varela, Alejandro Heredia, Edgar Gomez, Erika Sanchez, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Jared Lemus, John Manuel Arias, John Paul Brammer, Justin Torres, Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, Marlowe Granados, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, Naima Coster, Ruben Reyes Jr., Sandra Cisneros, and Xochitl Gonzalez.

You can also revisit more details in our introduction.