Closed: 200 CCs

Website not updated since 2017

Payment: $0.01/word or $2 flat (whichever is more)
Reprints Allowed at $1 flat per story.
Note: Special holiday editions do have deadline.

What To Submit

In order to get more 200 CCs stories onto the site, I’m opening them up for general submissions.

200 CCs are short stories of around 200 words. If you need hard guidelines, you can err about 15 words on either side. Too short and they are a different sort of microfiction. Too long and they are closer to flash fiction.

There are no genre restrictions to 200 CCs, but stories should be punchy, memorable, and complete if possible rather than vignettes (although I will make exceptions for particularly beautiful writing). Experimental formats are welcome as long as it’s something that can be reproduced without too much tricky typography and text formatting, particularly that which might not translate during any future site redesigns. Creative non-fiction is okay, but definitely a harder sell. I like poetic writing but straight poetry is very unlikely to win me over as I don’t think of 200 CCs as a poetry format. If in doubt, go ahead and submit.

How To Submit

Send your story in plain text to [email protected]. No attachments, please, just copy and paste it into the body of the email.

Use the subject line “Submission: Story Title (XXX words)” (replace your story title and word count) and be aware if you forget this step your email may end up in the trash, unread. If your story is a reprint, please make sure you have sorted all original publication rights and include in a cover letter that your submission is a reprint. Posting to your blog or other site accessible to the general public counts as publication and payment will be at the reprint rate.

Multiple submissions are okay, up to three at a time, but please send each one separately. Please do not send serialized or interconnected 200 CC stories, though, unless specifically requested for a special call. Simultaneous submissions are okay, provided you mention somewhere in the cover letter that the story is submitted elsewhere.

Do not re-submit rejected stories unless a rewrite is specifically requested.

Special Call: Holidays

I’m currently looking to fill out a few holiday-themed 200 CCs. If you want to be specially considered for one of these, please adjust your email’s subject line to “Holiday Submission: [Holiday] Story Title (XXX words)” (replace holiday with the designator below; story title and word count as appropriate). Note that I will not respond to any of these submissions until after the holiday deadline listed below. Submissions received for the holiday designator after the deadline will be auto-rejected.

Unlike regular submissions, I will not accept simultaneous submissions for holiday stories. Since all submissions for these compete for the same slot, I don’t want to have to chase down the list to find one that’s actually available.

• Valentine’s Day (publishing February 12th): Deadline is February 1st.
• Good Friday/Easter (publishing March 25th): Deadline is March 11th.
• Mother’s Day (publishing May 6th): Deadline is April 22nd.
• Canada Day/U.S. Independence Day (publishing July 1st): Deadline is June 24th.
• Halloween (publishing October 28th): Deadline is October 14th.
• Veteran’s Day/Remembrance Day (publishing November 11th): Deadline is October 28th.
• Christmas (publishing December 23rd): Deadline is December 2nd.

Note that these can be thematic (horror for Halloween, for example) or they can be a play on the name of the holiday, or set on the holiday in question and otherwise unrelated, however you wish to use the theme. Be creative.

Rights And Rates

I will pay for 200 CCs at semi-pro rates, $0.01/word or $2 flat (whichever is more) for first worldwide electronic serial rights, exclusive for one month from publication and non-exclusive for six months. In addition to the serial rights, I also request indefinite archive rights and, optionally, one year of non-exclusive North American print rights for a possible anthology. I’ll also consider reprints at the token rate of a flat $1 per story, provided there are no other rights conflicts.

What The Rights Mean

For original pieces (that is, any story that has not previously appeared in a publication or publicly-accessible online site), granting me first electronic rights makes 200 CCs the debut publication for your story. Be aware that granting these rights to 200 CCs (or anyone) means the piece can only be submitted to other markets as a reprint (in the case of 200 CCs, after the one month exclusivity period), which limits potential markets and payment rates.

Because the stories appear first on the site (this is the first serial), then in a monthly ezine after the month is over, then again in a collected digital volume of the past six month’s of stories, I also request non-exclusive serial rights for six months to cover the ezine and digital volumes. You may submit your story to other markets as a reprint during this period, but be aware other markets may be even less inclined to compete with my continued publication schedule. Make sure you read other markets’ guidelines carefully.

Archive rights mean I get to continue to host the story on my site, in the ezine, and in the digital volumes as long as the site is active. I’m not interested in removing content from any of these venues so if you aren’t willing to grant this right to me, please do not submit.

How You Get Paid

Payment will be via PayPal. For authors in countries where PayPal is not available, I can also arrange to send an Amazon gift card. I cannot send checks via postal mail, execute a wire transfer, or drive to your house and pay cash. If we happen to be in the same physical location, I might be persuaded to buy you a beer.

Word Counting

I use a word counting utility provided by the excellent folks at Empire & Great Jones Press. I recommend using the utility yourself before submitting.

Reading Periods

The submissions email will accept subs year-round, but initially this will be a weekly feature which means I’ll only need (at absolute maximum) 52 unsolicited submissions for the whole year.

VIa: Iron Soap.