Submission
Cover art submissions
Clarkesworld Magazine
At a glance
- Deadline
- Open. No closing date published.
- Fee
- No fee to apply
- Who may apply
- science fiction or fantasy illustration you can show
- Where
- submitted online from anywhere
Not a contest: a magazine pays you if it buys your image. 600 US dollars for one cover image, plus two copies of the print edition. The rights they buy are limited to that issue's cover and its marketing, so the picture stays yours to sell again. This is one of the few named, paid illustration commissions on this index that anyone anywhere can put work in for.
The facts
- What you get
- 600 US dollars and two copies of the print edition
- Where
- submitted online from anywhere
- Share of the prize or equity they take
- You keep the image. Rights bought are 'restricted to those covers and marketing materials for that specific issue'.
Where you stand
This one is free. There is no fee to apply, and nobody should ask you for money at any point.
What they ask for
- science fiction or fantasy illustration you can show
Get ready to apply
Built only from what this listing states. Tick as you go; the ticks stay on your phone and are not sent anywhere.
A short application, by our reading.
1. What to get ready
In their words: “illustration portfolio, submitted through their online system”
2. Dates
- No closing date is stated.
- Openings with no closing date can close once they have enough people, so sooner is safer. Our advice
- On the date, the listing says: open on 8 September 2026.
Download checklist (.txt) Send to WhatsApp
The download is a small text file. You can read it later without data. It also lists each condition they set, so you can tick yourself against them. WhatsApp sends the same list to you, or to somebody helping you.
No CV yet? Make a plain one from your answers. Nothing you type is kept.
Tips for applying for a submission
General advice from us, the same for every submission. It is not what this organisation says; that is above.
- Read the guidelines first: length, format, language and theme.
- Check who owns your work after you send it. The rules usually say.
- Send it a day early. Upload pages are often slow near a deadline.
All our tips and messages to copy. Practise answering, with nothing kept. Received an offer? Check whether it is real, then read before you say yes.
How to apply
Several listings link to this page. Look for "Cover art submissions" from Clarkesworld Magazine.
You apply on Clarkesworld Magazine's own website, not here. We never send an application for anybody and we never ask you for anything to pass on. Check their page for anything not shown here.
More like this, open now
How we checked this
This was opened and verified at Clarkesworld Magazine's own website on 18 October 2026: it was real, still open, and open to people from African countries. If anything here is wrong, tell us.