{Who We Are}
BULL is dedicated to rewriting modern masculinity from the voices that most often get drowned out amongst the shouting and posturing—voices that often struggle in silence and shame.
Our mission is to make BULL be a place where non-asshole-dickheads can come to the table and share their complicated stories about masculinity and not be shamed or shouted at.
That does not mean that every story is going to appeal to every reader; to be able to bring everybody (who’s not a complete dick) to the table means that we have to be a place for trigger-warning stories that challenge readers and make some readers uncomfortable with uncomfortable truths about the realities of modern masculinity.
Because the expectations of masculinity must inherently come with a trigger warning. BULL is not for the faint of heart. BULL is not for glorifying, peacocking, posturing, or nostalgizing of masculinity, but BULL is for stories that explore the nuances and contradictions of masculinity’s expectations to glorify, peacock, posturize, and nostalgize every other shitty thing our culture associates with being “manly.”
Note that just because our mission is to explore masculinity does not mean we’re down for stuff that glorifies misogyny and homophobia to sound tough and cool. There’s a difference between writing that explores the complicated appeal of toxic masculinity for men (and women) versus coming up with characters who just like to use sexist/homophobic slurs so their characters seem like they’re edgy and want to put their middle fingers to “woke”/”cancel” culture.
Our politics is complicated stories about complicated characters exploring complicated truths about “good” people doing “bad” things and “bad” people doing “good” things and everything in between. No heroes. No villains. No preaching. No patting of backs. No propaganda.
Note that we are no longer “Bull: Men’s Fiction” because we eventually concluded that the insinuation that our fiction “belongs to men only” was never our true intent. Our original intention was that we would be a magazine to get more men to read fiction, and our goal is still to get more men to read fiction (not just write it).
We also want more men to read fiction about masculinity that is from not just by men. Really we just want anybody we can possibly get to read stuff about masculinity written by any non-asshole, non-dickheads we can possibly publish).
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{Who We Publish}
To repeat: Anybody with a story to tell.
Whoever you are, whatever you identify as, and wherever you come from, we want to hear from you. If you’re hurting, if you’ve got things you need to let go of, things you need to let out, if you don’t quite know how you fit into all this we’ve been told we should fit into, if you think you’re the only one with such a weird, ugly, messed up, complicated story, we’re here to help you be heard.
For us, masculinity does not require your characters to have a dick and balls. Masculinity, for us, is to act and/or present as “masculine” in some way (or to intentionally act and/or present feminine or androgynous in response to “masculine” expectations of everybody else).
Trans, cis, hetero, gay, lesbian, bi, ace, poly, nonbinary, gender-queer, post-op, pre-op, masc, fem, bear, otter, intersex, question mark, exclamation point, plus symbol, et al, we’re here for it all.
White, Black, Hispanic, Native American, Indian, Asian, Middle Eastern, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Mormon, Atheist, Wiccan, Satanist, Pastafarian, et al, we’re here for it.
Honestly, we believe that the whole idea of what it is to be considered “masculine” these days is a silly, absurd, farcical, weird, fucked-up, lunk-headed, ugly, heart-breaking, traumatizing, morally-fubar, existentially depressing, confusing, complicated, nonbinary, paradoxical, hypocritical, and nonsensical endeavor.
And we want stories that convey this.
Oh, and also sentences. Not “pretty” sentences. We love weird fucked up sentences. Loopy ADHD sentences. Rough and ready sentences, backasswards sentences. Grammatically incorrect sentences…. We just love sentences and we want authors who share our love of sentences. We really don’t care what kind of genre you’re writing as long as it has weird fucked up, loopy, no-bullshit, ugly, backassward, grammatically incorrect sentences.
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{What We Publish}
Longer prose up to 3500 words per piece.
Flash prose up to 3 pieces or 999 words per submission.
Sorry, poets, we do not publish poems, but we do like poetry in our prose, especially with lyric essays and microfiction (and sometimes you can trick us into thinking your prose poem is actually lyric microfiction).
Please, only one submission at a time (in any category, i.e. no doubling in up in fiction and cnf, etc.) and wait at least 3 months to submit after you have been accepted or rejected.
We will look at reprints, but if they’re still available online, we’re gonna be a bit more picky.
Hopefully, for most people this should go without saying, but NO FUCKING AI (unless you’re just fucking AI and in that case, go nuts).
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{When We Publish}
We publish daily online and usually publish one print issue a year, usually in the winter/early spring.
Most stories published in the print issue were originally published online (unless we solicit work or have a specific call for submissions).
Print issue is usually based on a theme, not necessarily the “best of” or anything.
Generally, your work will be read within a month.
Accepted work is usually published within 4’ish months.
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{Who You’re Talking To}
The drevlow is editor-in-chief of all BULL shit, big & small.
Note that all submissions get at least some personalized feedback. There are no “tiered rejections.” If you’re close the drevlow will say you’re close. If the drevlow wants to see a revision, he’ll say, I’d be interested in seeing a revision. If he loves it, he’ll say he fuckin’ loves it. If you make him laugh he’ll say he fucking laughed. If you make him cry, he’ll say you made him fucking cry.
The drevlow does not purport to have any expertise as an editor other than the shit he likes versus the shit that doesn’t quite do it for him.
Contact the drevlow at bullitmag[at]gmail.com.
Note that we DO NOT SUBMIT FOR “BEST OF” CONTESTS (though we do usually have at least a handful of writers picked for Wigleaf’s Top Fifty and Longlist.
This may sound like kumbaya bullshit, but we honestly view all our stories like our puppies (not children, fuck children) and refuse to pick favorites. If that affects whether you want to submit your shit to us, we’ll completely understand if you’d rather shoot for Best Speculative Nonfiction Sports Writing About Pickleball 2033 nom at some other mag.
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{Who’s Editing Your Stuff to Make it Look Nice and Grammarly and Shit}
zachary mayo, editor
You may submit up to 3 pieces of flash fiction (with no more than 999 words for each piece).
Please only submit in 1 category at a time and wait at least 3 months after getting rejected to submit again in any category (i.e. no double-dipping with flash and non-flash, fiction and nonfiction, etc.)
We tend to publish nonfiction up to 3500 words, but will on occasion consider submissions outside those limits if it rocks our eyes off.
Please only submit in 1 category at a time (i.e. no double-dipping) and wait at least 3 months after getting rejected to submit again in any category.
We tend to publish fiction up to 3500 words, but will on occasion consider submissions outside those limits if it blows our socks off from start to finish (we love long stories as much as anyone, but for an ADHD online smartphone audience, perfectly good long stories just don't cut it).
Please only one submission in one category at a time (no double-dipping) and wait at least 3 months after getting rejected to submit again in any category.
Please only submit in 1 category at a time (i.e. no double-dipping in fiction and nonfiction or flash fiction, etc.) & wait at least 3 months after getting rejected to submit again in any category.
We tend to publish creative nonfiction up to 3500 words, but will on occasion consider submissions outside those limits if it blows our socks off from start to finish (we love long stories as much as anyone, but for an ADHD online smartphone audience, perfectly good long stories just don't cut it).
Note that we mostly publish narrative or lyrical creative nonfiction, not so much stuff that's argumentive or lit crit.
While we are committed to keeping submissions free, we like many other lit mags do struggle to stay afloat financially. This is a labor of love for us and will always be labor of love. All funding for submissions goes strictly into building and maintaining the BULL brand.
If you like what we do, have a few bucks to spare, and want to help us insure that we can continue to do what we do, we'd be supremely grateful for your generosity.
Specifics:
- We will consider up to 3 pieces of flash creative nonfiction 999 words or fewer compiled in one document (please do not submit multiple flash pieces as separate submissions).
- If your work is not accepted, please wait at least 3 months before trying us again.
While we are committed to keeping submissions free, we like many other lit mags do struggle to stay afloat financially. This is a labor of love for us and will always be labor of love. All funding for submissions goes strictly into building and maintaining the BULL brand.
If you like what we do, have a few bucks to spare, and want to help us insure that we can continue to do what we do, we'd be supremely grateful for your generosity.
Specifics:
- We will consider up to 3 pieces of flash fiction 999 words or fewer compiled in one document (please do not submit multiple flash pieces as separate submissions).
- If your work is not accepted, please wait at least 3 months before trying us again.
While we are committed to keeping submissions free, we like many other lit mags do struggle to stay afloat financially paying for web fees, print costs, etc.. This is a labor of love for us and will always be labor of love. All funding for submissions goes strictly into building and maintaining the BULL brand. If you like what we do, have a fiver to spare, and want to help us ensure that we can continue to do what we do, we'd be supremely grateful for your generosity.
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For this we guarantee 24-hour responses or we'll give your money back.
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For the expedited reading responses:
- We will consider fiction or nonfiction 3500 words or fewer.
- We will consider up to 3 pieces flash, fiction or non, 999 words or fewer compiled in one document (please do not submit multiple flash pieces as separate submissions).
- If your work is not accepted, please wait at least 3 months before trying us again.
We're looking for some fiction or cnf about shit jobs for our next print issue.
Anywhere from micros up to 4K. No fucking AI.
We'll consider reprints, but would rather look at your new stuff.
Generally we prefer grittier blue-collar types of stuff, but more satirical stuff about mind-numbing office jobs is cool, too. And of course, like weirdo jobs too. As long as it's a shit weirdo job like a fluffer or the person who has to clean up after the fluffer.
As always, there has to be some element of masculinity we're exploring, but that doesn't mean it has to be a male protagonist or anything and the masculinity stuff doesn't have to be in your face--no thesis statements or morals to the story please.
And as always, we're looking for stuff with goodass sentences and some "horns" to it. A beating heart but not sentimental. Deadpan, wry, dark humor--not ha-ha in-your-face look at how funny I am humor, especially nothing without anything underneath it.
And anyway, just read our shit--or at least look at the pull quotes we put on social media and on the main page to get a sense of what we like.
We're talking Bud Smith, Frank Reardon, Larry Brown, William Gay, Dorothy Allison, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Meagan Lucas, for starters.
DEADLINE: MARCH 1, 2027
TENTATIVE PUBLICATION DATE: MARCH 17, 2027