Jewish Book Council is pleased to announce this year's open call for submissions for fiction and poetry. The submission period opens January 16, 2026 and closes at midnight ET on February 16, 2026.
We encourage authors to familiarize themselves with work previously published by JBC before submitting. Submissions will be considered for both Paper Brigade Shorts and JBC's digital arm, PB Daily. All authors will be paid for published work.
We read all submissions carefully, which means it can take six months or sometimes more for us to respond. We understand and accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify us immediately if a piece is accepted for publication elsewhere. There is a reading fee of $3.00.
About Jewish Book Council
We are committed to giving voice to Jewish-interest authors of all backgrounds, including those from marginalized communities and writers in translation whose work may not otherwise be available in English. Jewish Book Council also seeks to expand the commonly held idea of what constitutes the “Jewish experience.” We are committed to helping authors connect with as broad a readership as possible by striking a balance between scholarship and content that will be accessible to readers, Jewish and non-Jewish, lay and academic.
The Paper Brigade Shorts series is named in honor of the group of writers and intellectuals in the Vilna Ghetto who rescued thousands of Jewish books and documents from destruction by the Nazis.
The editors are committed to amplifying the voices of Jewish-interest authors of all backgrounds, including those from marginalized communities and writers in translation whose work may not otherwise be available in English. We seek to expand commonly held ideas of what constitutes the Jewish experience, and to emphasize ties between Jewish books and the wider literary world.
Stories should be between 1,500 and 7,000 words. We encourage authors to familiarize themselves with work previously published by JBC before submitting.
Submissions must be previously unpublished. Please send only one story, together with a $3 reading fee. Additional submissions will not be read. Stories will be considered for both Paper Brigade Shorts and JBC's digital arm, PB Daily. All authors will be paid for published work.
Work created with the help of machine-generated text/AI text outputs is not eligible. Excerpts of longer works-in-progress will be considered only if they read as stand-alone stories. We do not consider translations of work that has already been published in any language.
We read all submissions carefully, which means it can take up to six months or more for us to respond. We understand and accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify us immediately if a story is accepted for publication elsewhere.
Paper Brigade considers original, unpublished poetry. Please submit a maximum of two poems, along with a $3 submission fee. Poems will be considered for both Paper Brigade and JBC’s online poetry series, Berru. We encourage authors to familiarize themselves with work previously published by JBC before submitting. The submission period for poetry closes February 16, 2026.
Work created with the help of machine-generated text/AI text outputs is not eligible. We do not consider translations of work that have already been published in any language.
We read all submissions carefully, which means it can take up to six months or more for us to respond. We understand and accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify us immediately if a poem is accepted for publication elsewhere.