a year in ink

Our annual publication represents a sampling of the tangible results of our community’s diligent scribbles.

A Year in Ink.

What Is A Year in Ink?

A Year In Ink is an anthology of the creative work of San Diegans published by San Diego Writers, Ink. The annual publication represents a sampling of the tangible results of our community’s diligent scribbles. Submissions can include short stories, novel and memoir excerpts, creative nonfiction, satire, flash fiction/nonfiction, and poetry. Previous anthology authors are a diverse group of students, members, instructors, new writers, aspiring authors, and frequently published veterans.

 

A Year in Ink follows a blind submission process. Submissions are chosen by guest editors that are selected annually. Accepted authors are not identified until the selection process has ended.

Submissions (Now Closed)

To be eligible to submit, you must be at least one of the following:

  1. A legal resident of San Diego County.
  2. A current member of SDWI. (Join today to waive your submission fees!)
  3. SDWI instructors, both current and previous, local and far-flung.

We are accepting submissions in the following categories:

 

POETRY (Includes form poetry, free verse, sestinas, prose poetry, etc.)

  • Maximum: 40 lines per poem.
  • Submit up to three poems.
  • Single-spaced preferred.

PROSE, FICTION (Includes flash fiction, fiction, and fiction novel excerpts)

  • Maximum: 1,750 words per piece. 
  • Pieces under 1,000 words: Submit up to three entries.
  • Pieces between 1,000 – 1,750 words: Submit up to two entries. 
  • Double-spaced preferred.
PROSE, NONFICTION (Includes flash nonfiction, creative nonfiction, nonfiction book excerpts, and memoir)
  • Maximum: 1,750 words per piece. 
  • Pieces under 1,000 words: Submit up to three entries.
  • Pieces between 1,000 – 1,750 words: Submit up to two entries. 
  • Double-spaced preferred.

All file names must follow this format when uploaded:

Title of Piece – Category (Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction) – Word Count
(example: Life is Beautiful – Flash Fiction – 622 Words)

DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR NAME or any identifying information in the file name or body of your submission. Doing so will immediately disqualify you from the blind reading process.

If you choose to submit across all three categories, you will have up to 7 total submissions (up to 9 if submitting poetry, fiction < 1,000 words, & nonfiction < 1,000 words).

 

Entries are FREE for SDWI Members. If you are not a member, there is a reading fee of $5 per submission.

**Deadline: Sunday, September 17 at 11:59 PM**

Questions? Please email us at submissions@sandiegowriters.org

Purchase a Volume!

If you are interested in purchasing A Year in Ink, Volume 16, which was released in June 2023, please fill out this Google Form here to be placed on the waitlist, and we will be in contact with you. For inquiries about our earlier volumes, please email us at info@sandiegowriters.org or send us a message.

The cover of "A Year in Ink" Volume 16 depicting a boy with wings lying facedown with his hand covering his face. Black and white image.

Prior Volumes

Volume 1

2008

Edited by Thomas Larson

Volume 2

2009

Edited by Sandra Alcosser and Arthur Salm

Volume 3

2010

Edited by Roger Aplon and Jennifer Silva Redmond

Volume 4

2011

Edited by Jericho Brown and Laurel Corona

Volume 5

2012

Edited by Brandon Cesmat and T. Greenwood

Volume 6

2013

Edited by Michael Klam and Anthony Bonds

Volume 7

2014

Edited by Shadab Zeest Hashmi and Jim Ruland

Volume 8

2015

Edited by reg e gains and Dean Nelson

Volume 9

2016

Edited by Bonnie ZoBell and Sydney Brown

Volume 10

2017

Edited by Judy Reeves

Volume 11

2018

Edited by Judy Reeves

Volume 12

2019

Edited by Judy Reeves

Volume 13

2020

Edited by Carrie Danielson

Volume 14

2021

Edited by Tia Meredith

Volume 15

2022

Edited by Jill G. Hall and Ted Washington

Volume 16

2023

Edited by Richard Farrell and Ying Wu