The Rumpus publishes original fiction, poetry, literary humor writing, comics, essays, book reviews, and interviews with authors and artists of all kinds. We publish new work five days a week. Our mostly volunteer-run magazine strives to be a platform for risk-taking voices and writing that might not find a home elsewhere. We lift up new voices alongside those of more established writers our readers may already know and love. We want to bring new perspectives into the conversation that will make us look deeper.
Over our 15 year history, the writing we’ve published has been nominated for and won many of the major literary awards and prizes including inclusion in numerous Best American anthologies, Best of the Net best of lists, the PEN Robert J. Dau Prize, the Pushcart Prize, and more. Frequently, work that debuts in the magazine ends up in anthologies and book collections of all sorts or becomes a part of an author’s first book. We are proud to help shape the work of thousands of authors throughout our existence and help them find their audience.
The Rumpus launched in San Francisco in 2009 and now has editors all over the US. In January 2017, The Rumpus was purchased by Marisa Siegel, who had previously served as Managing Editor from 2014–2017. In January 2022, Alyson Sinclair became the new owner and publisher and Marisa Siegel continues at The Rumpus as an editor-at-large.
We believe that literature is community—and if reading The Rumpus makes you want more, we’ve got more! Sign up to participate in the Letters in the Mail from authors and join us as a Rumpus Member—each of these programs helps to keep The Rumpus in existence.
In 2022, we made two big changes in order to work toward financial stability. We launched monthly and yearly Membership programs with exclusive content and perks for Members. And from September 2022 to April 2025, The Rumpus was a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. This sponsorship allowed us to be eligible to apply for some grants for the 1st time and receive reader support through tax-deductible donations.
Writers: contribute to The Rumpus by submitting your writing (check our Writer’s Guidelines) to keep our pages filled with goodness.
You can find our TOS and privacy page here.
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Who Are We
Where did you get the name The Rumpus?
Legend has it that it was Katie Crouch’s idea. Rumpus is the name of the dog in her novel Men and Dogs. After launching The Rumpus, our founders were informed there is also a student humor magazine at Yale called Rumpus Magazine, which is no longer publishing.
Do you run original fiction and poetry?
We do run original fiction and poetry, and you can find our reading periods for both here. Please note that we do not accept unsolicited fiction and poetry outside of those reading periods.
How do I submit my work?
We accept submissions through our submissions manager powered by Submittable. Please read our Writer’s Guidelines before sending us your work.
Does The Rumpus pay for writing?
The Rumpus is a lean, mostly volunteer-run organization. But being able to pay writers is one of our most important goals. In May 2016, we began to pay feature writers and book reviewers. Each month, we set aside $400. From May 2016-July 2024, eligible contributors were able to opt in for payment at the end of the month, and the money was divided between those writers who opted in. Payments averaged $15-30 per writer each month. In the summer of 2024, The Rumpus held a fundraiser to increase our contributor funds and now offers a standard, more transparent rate of $50 per eligible contributor for original writing and comics published between August 2024 and July 2025.
With additional donor support, we hope to continue offering this amount—or more—after July 2025. We know $50 is still not enough, and we are working toward being able to pay a standard industry rate to all feature contributors and book reviewers, as well as to pay our illustrators and volunteer editorial staff. If you’re able to help us get closer to reaching these goals, please consider becoming a Member.
Where do I buy Rumpus merch?
We’ve got your swag right here!
In the summer of 2024, The Rumpus held a fundraiser to increase our contributor funds and now offers a standard, more transparent rate of $50 per eligible contributor for original writing and comics published between August 2024 and July 2025. Prior to Aug. 2024, each month, we set aside $400. From May 2016-July 2024, eligible contributors were able to opt in for payment at the end of the month, and the money was divided between those writers who opted in. Payments averaged $15-30 per writer each month.
Submissions must be directed to our submission manager powered by Submittable. Please submit to the appropriate category. Please note the draft you submit is considered final, excepting suggested changes by our editorial staff. Submittable only displays categories that are open for submission. If you do not see a category, please reference the below reading periods for information on when you can submit.
- All work must be previously unpublished. This includes personal blogs and social media.
- Please only send one submission to a given section at a time; when we’ve responded with a decision, you are welcome to submit to that section again.
- We accept simultaneous submissions to other publications. Please withdraw or alert the editor you’re in touch with, if your work is accepted at another publication.
Response time can vary from a few days to a few months. Please allow three months before sending submission status queries for essays, reviews, and ENOUGH, and eight months before sending queries for fiction, poetry, and our Funny Women column. Your patience is appreciated.
We are often overwhelmed by the breadth and quality of our submissions. To allow our volunteer editorial staff better handle the workload and respond to your work in a more timely fashion, we’ve instituted reading periods and submissions caps for certain sections of The Rumpus.
Agents and publicists: we strongly prefer that writers submit their own work to us. The Rumpus has an exceptional an diverse editorial team; bypassing Submittable results in fewer readers and editors looking at your work.
Essays
Our no-fee open reading periods for essays and creative nonfiction are usually 2-3 times a year with at least one in the Summer and one in Fall. If you want hear from us as soon as we reopen, sign up for our newsletter and/or follow us on Submittable.
Rumpus Original Fiction
Our no-fee open reading periods for fiction are usually once in early Spring and one in early Fall. If you want hear from us as soon as we reopen, sign up for our newsletter and/or follow us on Submittable.
Rumpus Original Poetry
Our no-fee open reading period for poetry is usually in late Summer/early Fall. If you want hear from us as soon as we reopen, sign up for our newsletter and/or follow us on Submittable.
Want to submit your essays, fiction, and poetry all year round? Consider becoming a Rumpus Member. It’s a win-win.
Book Reviews
These are accepted year-round; please note that reviews of poetry collections are categorized separately from prose titles in Submittable.
Interview pitches and finished interview submissions are also accepted year-round and should be sent directly to our Interviews team (interviews@therumpus.net). We are no longer using Submittable for interviews.
The ENOUGH, We Are More, Parallel Practice, Voices on Addiction, and other topic-specific series has 1-2 no-fee open reading periods a year. If you want hear from us as soon as we reopen, sign up for our newsletter and/or follow us on Submittable.
GUIDELINES FOR PUBLISHERS/PUBLICISTS
If you would like The Rumpus to consider a forthcoming or recently published book for possible review or preview list, please see this page for more information on what we’re looking for and submit your titles here.
For customer service issues, please contact Eric at store@therumpus.net.
For advertising inquires, please contact Monica ads@therumpus.net.
For all other inquires, contact hello@therumpus.net.