Kill Your Darlings publishes commentary, essays, memoir, reviews and interviews online, with a particular interest in writing on culture, politics and society with a personal, accessible approach.
If you’d like to pitch to KYD we strongly recommend that you read our content first to familiarise yourself with our tone and style.
Kill Your Darlings is proud to publish writers at varying stages of their careers, from new and emerging voices to established and well-known writers. We encourage writers from diverse backgrounds and at all levels of experience to pitch and submit to us. We’ve put together a list of tips on pitching to help you put your best pitch forward.
Kill Your Darlings pays all contributors. Our minimum standard pay rate is $400 for an article of approx. 1500 words, and $100 for a book review of approx. 400 words.
Active submission portals will appear below. For upcoming projects and submission dates, visit our Write For KYD page.
Please note that Submittable, where we accept pitches and submissions, is a separate platform to the KYD website, so you’ll need to create a new account here and cannot use your KYD login details.
Kill Your Darlings is now accepting unsolicited submissions to our sixth anthology of new short fiction, due to be published in September 2024. All genres will be considered. We strongly recommend all prospective KYD contributors acquaint themselves with the 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 editions of New Australian Fiction to attain familiarity with the tone and style of fiction we publish. We encourage writers from diverse backgrounds and all levels of experience to submit to this collection. Please follow these guidelines on submission:
- Submissions should be in PDF format, size 12, double spaced, Times New Roman font.
- Do not include your name on the PDF. We will be conducting anonymous submission readings.
- Stories must be between 2000–6000 words.
- Stories, or substantial portions of these stories, must be previously unpublished.
- Only one submitted story per person will be considered.
- Include a short cover letter with relevant biography (no more than 50 words).
- You must be a KYD member to be considered. Memberships start from $49.95. (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers are invited to submit without the need for a KYD Membership.)
Kill Your Darlings pays all of its contributors. All writers will be notified of the outcome of their submission in May 2024. Successful writers will be expected to undergo editing with KYD staff. Due to the expected volume of submissions, we will not be able to provide feedback on unsuccessful works.
Submissions close at 11:59pm (AEST) on 7 April 2024.
Please note that Submittable is a separate platform to the KYD website, so you’ll need to create a new account to submit and cannot use your KYD login details. For more information, please contact info@killyourdarlings.com.au.