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Ursa is dedicated to celebrating outstanding short fiction, with an emphasis on spotlighting underrepresented voices. 

We are a podcasting company and production studio, so we are always looking to work with writers, artists, voice actors, musicians, and audio producers — as well as other book and literary magazine publishers. 

We are always looking for emerging talent, so it’s just as important to us what you want to do as it is what you’ve already done.

First, Do This.

Listen to our new anthology podcast, Ursa Short Fiction, to get a taste for the kind of stories we feature.

Submission Guidelines

It is absolutely free to submit your work to Ursa. We use Submittable for all submissions. 

Because we are a small team, we are unable to respond individually to story submissions unless we are able to move forward with producing or publishing them. 

Because of this fact — and because we currently produce a very small number of stories each year — we highly recommend that you submit your work simultaneously to other publications. A great service for finding other publications is ChillSubs.com

For all submissions, please use the appropriate subject line, and tell us a little bit about yourself, with links to any relevant information about you and your work. Multiple story submissions are okay.

What Makes an Ursa Story? 

Because we produce stories to be read and heard, we love stories that will work well in both formats. (Our audio stories will be produced with a single narrator — this person can be a proxy for the main character, or not.) 

We are currently focused on literary fiction and satire, but we will happily make exceptions if you have a character-driven genre story. We are looking for stories that take risks, that are provocative and demonstrate a unique voice. We like stories that thrill.

Our Story Rates & Agreements

Ursa currently pays 8 cents per word for short fiction, in line with the professional rate for the Science Fiction Writers of America

We will offer a premium bonus on stories if you are interested in partnering with us on other adaptations together, but in all cases, these partnerships are limited in scope.

If Your Story Is Selected 

We will work collaboratively with you on all aspects of the story — from art to voice acting.

Here’s a brief guide to our open submissions. Submit your story at ursa.submittable.com/submit

Original and Previously Published Stories (Accepting Submissions June 6-July 15) 

We are seeking original short fiction between 3,500 and 12,000 words for potential inclusion in Season Two of Ursa Short Fiction and other audio projects. All original stories must be uploaded via Submittable as a PDF or Word attached document.

Your submissions should be double-spaced in a 12-point readable font, with pages numbered. On the first page please include the title of your story, your name, and contact details (phone number and email address). 

We will also consider previously published short fiction (also between 3,500 and 12,000 words). For these submissions, please also include the name of the previous publisher and date of original publication.  

Voice Actors (Ongoing) 

We are seeking voice actors who can help bring our stories to life. Submit a sample of an audiobook reading (simple voice memos are great, too) to hello@ursastory.com (subject line: “Voice Actor”). 

If you use a home studio for your recordings, feel free to share details about your setup (but a home studio is not required). 

Musicians, Composers, Sound Designers (Ongoing) 

We are always on the lookout for sound designers and musicians to add beautiful scores and song design to our short fiction. Submit samples to hello@ursastory.com (subject line: “Musician / Composer / Sound Designer”).

We are also looking for sound designers who are familiar with Descript (or are open to learning it).