The Lit Nerds

Uplifting, enjoyable fiction in any genre, including contemporary, historical, or fantastical settings; happy endings and hopeful stories are encouraged. There is no word-count limit, but the sweet spot is 700–3,000 words.

Creative nonfiction is limited to the specific forms below; essays should be positive, hopeful, uplifting, and encouraging.

Five-Star Reviews should combine personal experience, informational facts, and cultural relevance, focusing on hope, humor, heart, or a combination. These are not ordinary reviews. There is no word-count limit, but the sweet spot is 700–2,000 words.

Love Letters are wholesome, well-crafted poetic-prose essays addressed to a person, place, pet, object, or anything else the writer loves; no smutty fantasies or forlorn desperation. Ideal length is 300–500 words.

Culture, Craft & Criticism seeks well-thought-out, well-researched essays on writing craft and the interplay of literature or other media with culture and humanity; criticism should be positive rather than scathing.

Positive, beautiful, hopeful, humorous, or uplifting poetry in varied forms and styles; poems over two pages are unlikely unless phenomenal, and wildly complicated formatting is not suitable.