Ongoing Submissions: Plasma Frequency

Payment: 1 cent per word

What We Want
In order to save your time and ours, we thought it best to share with our potential fiction contributors exactly what we want and don’t want. This will give you the best chance to see if our magazine is the right fit for you and your story.

WE DO want stories that range from 100 words to 7,500 words. We prefer stories under 5,000 words.

WE DO publish all aspects of Speculative Fiction including Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror.

WE DO NOT publish erotica. Sexual content in your story is acceptable, but if your story is classified as erotica we will not publish it.

WE DO find story the most important aspect of a book. We don’t care much for the typical cliché plots and characters with little depth. We want a story the engages us from start to finish.

WE DO accept stories with profanity and other adult acts. However, we don’t want anything over the top. We understand real characters, but within reasonable levels. Our Magazine is geared for 16 years of age and older.

WE DO NOT accept simultaneous submissions. If your story has been submitted elsewhere, or you already have a story submitted with us, please wait until you hear back to submit it to us.

WE DO NOT accept unsolicited reprints. On occasion, Plasma Frequency Magazine may solicit a story for reprint at our own discretion. Do not submit those to us unless we ask. Please note if you have published any part of your story yourself (even on your own website or another electronic means), we consider it to be a reprint.

WE DO want exclusive print and electronic rights for one year. We will stop print at one year (unless your story is accepted by our annual anthology). We will still like non-exclusive electronic rights after one year.

WE DO expect your manuscript to be well edited. Does that mean we expect it to be perfect? No.

WE DO stick to our submission guidelines to the letter.

WE DO look forward to reading your work.

Pay Rates
How many of you skipped to this page first? That’s okay. We accept that authors want to know what they will be paid before they invest a lot of time into reading all the fine print. That is why we have given this its own page, so we can all cheat and look ahead.

We accept stories from authors worldwide, but stories must be in English. Author will receive payment in U.S. Funds by company check.

Fiction Pay rates:

Fiction is published at one (1) U.S. cent per word. A word is based on our word processor’s word count and excludes title, author information, etc.

If Plasma Frequency solicits a reprint story, it is published at one (1) U.S. cent per word. A word is based on our word processor’s word count and excludes title, author information, etc.

Payment is usually made on the day of publication or earlier. However, payment will be made no later then fifteen (15) calendar days after publication.

Note: It is our hope that as we grow our pay rates per word will go up. We will update this page as that happens.

Art Pay Rates:

Cover Art is paid at a flat rate of one hundred (100) U.S. Dollars plus one print issue.

Interior Art is generally half paged and paid at a flat rate of forty (40) U.S. Dollars plus one print issue.

Payment is usually made on the day of publication and sent with the artist’s print issue. Other arrangement can be made on a case by case basis.

Other Pay Rates:

Pay rates for works that do not fall under the above categories will be negotiated as the need arises.

Fiction Submission Guidelines
These submission guidelines are to be followed for all fiction submissions. If these guidelines are not followed, your story can be rejected. We accept stories from authors worldwide, but stories must be in English. Author will receive payment in U.S. Funds by company check.

Accepted Story Length: We prefer stories 5,000 words or less. However we will accept stories as long at 7,500 words. Anything more (yes 7,501 is more) will be rejected. We like flash stories as well (1,000 words or less).

Important Information: We do not accept simultaneous submissions. If you have a submission out at another market, wait for a response from them before submitting it to us. If you have a submission with us, do not send it to anyone else until you get a response from us.

We do not accept multiple submissions. However, there is no time limit between submissions. Once we have responded to your current submission feel free to send us another one.

Accepted File Format: .doc, .docx, or .rtf

Manuscript Format: All manuscripts must be double spaced, with 1 inch margins all around. They must be in 12 point Courier or Courier New font. The top left corner of the first page must have the authors legal name, address, and email. The top right corner of the first page must have the approximate word count. Halfway down the first page, put the story title (centered) with the byline underneath. The byline is exactly how we will print your name in the publication. In the header on the second page (and all pages after), put your name, the stories title, and the page number. Use # to indicate scene breaks and ### to indicate the end of your manuscript.

For an example of a proper manuscript (and the format we want) visit the SFWA page (here is a direct LINK).

Email Format:
Email you submission to: submit@plasmafrequencymagazine.com

Subject: Submission (insert story name here)

In the email body include:
Legal Name:
Mailing Address:
Pen Name (if you use one):
Story Title:
Story Word Count:

Feel free to include any publishing credits you have. If you are accepted, we will ask for a brief author bio.

Received Response:
If you used the correct subject for the email, our system will send you an auto responder message. When you get that message consider your story received by our editorial staff. If you do not get a reply within 24 hours, we did not receive your submission.

Anticipated Response Time:
We are now Listed on Duotrope. A free writers resource that allows you see the response times different markets as well as track your own submissions. The more people that report the more accurate the listing will be. So please take a moment to report your submissions to them.

Our target response time is 30 days or less. However, stories can take as long as 60 days to get a response. If you have not heard back from us after 60 days, query us at query@plasmafrequencymagazine.com. Use “Story Status” as the subject. In the email, tell us when you submitted and the title of your story (don’t forget your name). Query with the same email you submitted your story with.

SPAM Folder:
The SPAM folder has ate many an editor’s response. Please make sure you at Plasma Frequency to your trusted list. Editors do not respond with the same email you used to submit. So please check your SPAM Folders before contacting us.

Tags: Plasma Frequency

Category: Ongoing Submissions