Payment: Five cents ($.05) a word. Maximum payment for all submissions is $250 regardless of word count.

GUIDELINES

 

Here are the current guidelines for Dark Discoveries. We accept submissions from Oct. 1 to June 1, annually.

FICTION SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN

FICTION

Improperly formatted manuscripts will be immediately rejected. Electronic submissions only please.*

Stories from 500 to 6500 words, firm (you may query for longer, but don’t expect to get anywhere). Must be in the Horror/Dark Fantasy/Dark Sci-Fi and Dark Mystery veins (no straight Science Fiction, Mystery, Fan Fiction, or Sword & Sorcery). Open to Mythos stories, but they have to be very good.

Looking for well-written, powerful, original ideas and new twists on old horror conventions. Vampire, zombie and werewolf stories are a tough sell, but we are open to those with an original twist. Especially looking for stories that examine the darker side of the human condition, but we are also interested in supernatural tales. New writers are welcome to submit. Please consider purchasing a sample copy to see what type of stories we are publishing.

*Electronic submissions are now required and should be sent to [email protected]. Include FICTION SUBMISSION in the Subject of the e-mail, and attach as a .doc or .rtf file. Please also include your e-mail and address on the attachment and in the body of e-mail. All stories, interviews, reviews, etc. need to be written in Times New Roman or Courier 12-point font, double-spaced, 1″ margins all around, contact info and word count on the front page at the top, every page after the title page should have author’s last name, story title and page number. Submissions with improper formatting will go unread and be immediately rejected, no exceptions.

Refer to http://www.shunn.net/format/format.pdf.

In our continuing effort to be as Green as possible (our new printer uses wind power, vegetable-based inks, and recycled paper), we now are asking you to please submit electronically. Do your part to save the Earth.

 

PAYMENT

Five cents ($.05) a word. Maximum payment for all submissions is $250 regardless of word count. Payment within 90 days of publication. Rights revert to Author upon publication. No simultaneous submissions (to other publications). No multiple submissions (please wait to send another story until your current one has received a response). Response times vary. However, you may query after four months as to the status of your story.

INTERVIEWS/NON-FICTION

Looking for interviews with established & newer personalities in the Horror/Dark Fantasy and related fields. Payment for interviews in copies only. Query first. If permission is granted to send in an interview, include INTERVIEW SUBMISSION in the Subject of the e-mail, and attach as a .doc or .rtf file. Please also include your e-mail and address on the attachment and in the body of e-mail.

Also looking for relevant non-fiction articles by new & established writers. Query first, please. If permission is granted to send in an article, include NON-FICTION SUBMISSION in the Subject of the e-mail, and attach as a .doc or .rtf file. Please also include your e-mail and address on the attachment and in the body of e-mail. Payment and submission guidelines are the same as short fiction – see above.

 

ARTWORK

Looking for original art (drawings, paintings, photos, collages, digital art all are OK) with a Science Fiction and/or Dark Fantasy edge, B&W or Color: PLEASE, NO CLICHE HORROR ELEMENTS – such as vampires, werewolves, zombies, ghoulish cemeteries, creepy clowns, scary children/dolls, cartoonish art/manga. THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX (for example: J. K. Potter, Kris Kuksi, H. R. Giger, artists from Beinart International Surreal Art Collective). Sexy images are acceptable if done tastefully.

Final format for publication: 300DPI minimum, TIFF preferred. B&W illustrations should be formatted for Grayscale. For queries, it is best to send multiple JPGs in e-mail as attachments. Send here: [email protected] and include ART SUBMISSION in the Subject line. Please include your address/e-mail in the body of your query letter.

Payment is $25 (quarter page) or $50 (half page) each for small interior art plus two copies and up to $150 plus two copies for a cover piece. Payment within 90 days of publication. Simultaneous submissions OK – let us know immediately if an image under consideration is accepted by another publication, however. Rights revert to Artist upon publication.

Response times vary: query only if it has been longer than 4 months.

[via: Dark Discoveries.]