** SUBMISSIONS WILL BE CLOSED UNtil FURTHER NOTICE. Sorry for any inconvenience.
Please check out our STORY ARCHIVES here. **
CHEAP POP is an online literary journal focusing on stories, 500 words or less, that pop—stories that, regardless of their short nature, stick with you. Stories that are unforgettable.
The name CHEAP POP is inspired by the regional word Michiganders use for soda—pop—and you can, to this day, see signs all over the state advertising “Cheap pop for sale.” The idea of this online journal is much in the same—to quench your literary thirst with quick sips of awesome writing.
While we started looking only for fiction, we soon realized that the line between fiction and nonfiction often blurs; we no longer differentiate between Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and anything in-between. (Please note, however, that we DO NOT ACCEPT POETRY.) There are no regional or theme restrictions of any kind. Basically: Wow us with your work. Devastate us. Make us fall in love. Send us finished pieces you’re proud of.
Check out our SUBMISSIONS page for a full list of dos and don'ts, including exactly what we're looking for.
Stories are posted Tuesdays and Thursdays. We also keep an online archive of all previously-published work:
We encourage you to read through some stories to get a true sense of our aesthetic.
Please note: Our header image, and all other images used on this site and in our marketing (unless otherwise noted), were acquired and modified (text added, cropped) from the Biodiversity Heritage Library Flickr stream, within the rights of the Creative Commons license.
Robert James Russell – Founding Editor-in-Chief
Robert James Russell (he/him) is the author of the novellas Mesilla (Dock Street Press) and Sea of Trees (Winter Goose Publishing), and the chapbook Don't Ask Me to Spell It Out (WhiskeyPaper Press). He is the co-founder and Managing Editor of the literary journal Midwestern Gothic. He lives in Lincoln, Nebraska. You can find him at robertjamesrussell.com, or on Twitter/Instagram at @robhollywood.
Hannah Gordon – Managing Editor
Hannah Gordon (she/her) is a writer, editor, and middle school English teacher. Her short stories, poetry, and essays can be found in various places online and in print, including Hypertrophic Literary, Jellyfish Review, Longleaf Review, Michigan’s Emerging Writers Series, and more. She lives in Chicago.
Pascale Potvin – Assistant Editor
Pascale Potvin (she/her) is currently Prose Editor at Walled Women Magazine and Assistant at One Lit Place, occasionally writing articles/reviews for both publications. She’s also placed work in Eclectica Magazine, Maudlin House, BlazeVOX, Quail Bell Magazine, and many others. She has a BAH from Queen’s University, and she is working on a budding book series. You can read more about her at pascalepotvin.com or @pascalepalaces on Twitter.
Maddy Rane – Assistant Editor
Maddy Rane (she/her) is a graduate student of literature at the University of Toledo and a Scorpio. A few of her poems can be found in The Mill Literary Magazine, and even more can be found on napkins and the back of receipts. Follow her on Twitter @madison_rane.
aureleo sans – Assistant Editor
aureleo sans (she/her) is a Colombian-American, non-binary, queer, formerly unhoused writer with a disability who resides in San Antonio, Texas. She is also a 2022 Tin House Scholar, a Macondista, a VONA alumnus, and a Periplus fellow. She was named the second-place winner of Fractured Lit's 2021 Micro Fiction Contest and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best Microfiction. Her work has been published in The Offing, Shenandoah, and Electric Literature and is forthcoming in X-R-A-Y, Passages North, Salamander, and elsewhere.
Elizabeth Schmuhl – Editor Emeritus
Elizabeth Schmuhl (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist and the author of Premonitions (Wayne State University Press) and Presto Agitato: A Dictionary of Modern Movement (Zoo Cake Press & Dancing Girl Press). Her book of paintings created with natural ink from her farm, The Four Seasons, is out from Greying Ghost. She illustrates essays for The Rumpus, has taught writing at the University of Michigan, and worked in digital development at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. Her work appears in Michigan Quarterly Review, PANK, Hobart, Dance Magazine, and elsewhere.
