Submit Work to Teen Ink & Get Published!
Teen Ink has no staff writers; we depend completely on you to send writing, art, and photos. There is no charge to submit or be published. All submissions will be considered for publication in Teen Ink’s print magazine and website.
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Read guidelines & FAQ
Two Options for Submitting Your Work to Teen Ink:
Online via TeenInk.com
(recommended)
- The easiest way to send us your work
- Join an online community of creative teens
- See how many people viewed, rated, and commented on your work
- Share work with friends by creating an online profile and connecting it to Facebook
Offline (by Email)
All materials submitted become the property of Teen Ink. By submitting your work to us, you are giving Teen Ink and its partners, affiliates and licensees the non-exclusive right to publish your work in any format, including all print, electronic and online media. Teen Ink may edit or abridge your work at its sole discretion. Teen Ink is copyrighted by the Young Authors Foundation, Inc. However, all individual contributors to Teen Ink retain the right to submit their work for non-exclusive publication elsewhere, and you have our permission to do so.
Submission Guidelines
General Guidelines
- Any work you submit will be considered for publication in Teen Ink’s monthly print magazine and for our website. We don’t return submissions, so keep a copy.
- Teen Ink has no deadlines. We accept submissions year round. If, however, you are sending work that is holiday-specific, please try to get it in at least two months ahead.
- You must be 13 to 19 years old to be published.
- Requesting anonymity: If, due to the personal nature of a piece, you don’t want your name published, please indicate this when submitting your work online or offline. We will respect your request and not display your name.
- All materials submitted become the property of Teen Ink. By submitting your work to us, you are giving Teen Ink and its partners, affiliates, and licensees the non-exclusive right to publish your work in any format, including all print, electronic, and online media. Teen Ink may edit or abridge your work at its sole discretion. Teen Ink is copyrighted by the Young Authors Foundation, Inc. However, all individual contributors to Teen Ink retain the right to submit their work for non-exclusive publication elsewhere, and you have our permission to do so.
- If you are submitting work by e-mail, click here to see how to send it to us.
Submitting Work by E-mail
Submitting work online through TeenInk.com is the recommended and best way to send us your written articles, art, and photos. However, if you must submit your work “offline” by e-mail:
- Send your work to the following:
Written work to submit@teenink.com
Art/photos to submit@teenink.com
Videos can only be submitted online. - You must include in each emailed submission:
- your name
- year of birth
- home address/city/state/ZIP
- telephone number
- the name of your school and English teacher
- Label all written work fiction or nonfiction. Be sure to include a title.
- Include the following originality statement with each submission to affirm this is your work: “This will certify that the enclosed work is completely original.”
- Requesting anonymity: If you wish to be anonymous, please indicate this clearly on your piece. We will respect your request and not display your name – but you still must include your full name and address with your submission for our records.
- Be sure to also read our general guidelines and how to submit written work, art and photos, and videos.
Submitting Written Work
- Writing may be edited and we reserve the right to publish our edited version without your prior approval. We may not print your name on sensitive personal articles and in rare cases we may change names to protect individuals’ identities.
- Most written pieces contain fewer than 2,500 words. (Novels, however, can be from 2,500 to 100,000 words.)
- The best way to submit your written work is by signing up on TeenInk.com – but you can e-mail us your work if you prefer.
- Be sure to also read our general guidelines before you submit.
If you have any questions about submitting your written work to Teen Ink, e-mail us at editor@teenink.com.
Submitting Art and Photos
- The best way to submit your artwork is by signing up on TeenInk.com – but you can also e-mail us your work.
- If submitting by e-mail, send your art and photography to submit@teenink.com. To send artwork or photographs by e-mail attachment, scan items as a grayscale, line art, or color file of at least 200 dpi and smaller than 10mb when saved. Do not scan as a halftone. Save all items as a TIF (.tif), PICT, or BMP file before sending as an attachment.
- Do not submit a version of someone else’s work, or a drawing of a copyrighted character (like Spiderman, Wolverine, or anime characters).
- Be sure to read our general guidelines before you submit.
If you have any questions about submitting artwork or photos, e-mail us at editor@teenink.com.
Submitting Videos
- Videos should be no longer than six minutes.
- At this time, we are only accepting videos that have already been uploaded to YouTube.
- Videos must be original contributions. No copyrighted material.
- You must be 13 to 19 years old.
If you have any questions about submitting videos to Teen Ink, e-mail us at editor@teenink.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
How will I know if I get published?
If you are published on TeenInk.com, you'll receive an e-mail with a link to your work. If your work is published in our print magazine, we will mail you a copy of the issue.
Who decides what gets published?
Our professional editorial staff reviews thousands of submissions each year. Every submission is read by at least one editor, and we pick the best of the best for each section of Teen Ink’s print magazine.
I submitted something by e-mail a few months ago, but it hasn’t been published in your print magazine. Should I do anything?
Because of the volume of submissions we get each year, we can only print a fraction of them in our magazine. If you haven’t already done so, we suggest that you sign up as a Teen Ink member and submit your work through this site. That way, you can see a list of all of your work, which articles and images have been published online, which have been published in our magazine, and so on. Of course, submitting more of your work increases your chances of getting published in our print magazine, so we encourage you to send us as many articles as you wish!
Are some kinds of submissions more likely to get published in your print magazine?
We look for a variety of work by authors and artists from across the country. Some sections, like Reviews, Environment, Letters to the Editor, and Community Service, have considerably fewer submissions, so there is less competition to get published. Poetry has the most submissions. Most published pieces have fewer than 2,500 words.
What are Teen Ink’s editorial categories? Do I have to pick a category?
Yes. Please take a look at the sections and subsections listed on this site. If you submit your work online, you will be asked to select a category. If you send us your work by e-mail, it you must tell us if it is fiction or nonfiction.
What kind of artwork can I send?
You can send photocopies or high quality photographs of any kind of artwork, including oil and watercolor paintings, sculpture, collage, computer graphics, and much more.
Who will see my work if it is published?
Hundreds of thousands of teens, teachers, and libraries across the country receive Teen Ink’s print magazine. Lots of adults receive the print edition too, including celebrities (see the We're Listening list). And, of course, anyone could see your writing and artwork on this website.