Taking Submissions: Plott Hound Magazine March 2025 Window
Submission Window: March 1st – 15th, 2025
Payment: Fiction: 8 cents per word, Poetry: $50, Non-fiction: $100
Theme: Stories with anthropomorphized animals as protagonists in any realm of speculative fiction
Submission Periods:
The publishing schedule is quarterly/seasonly. Submission calls open at the start of each season, close in the middle of the first month for reading and responses, and issues aim to be released by the end of the season.
Spring: March 1-March 15, 2025
Summer: June 1-June 15, 2025
Fall: September 1-September 15, 2025
Winter: December 1-December 15, 2025
PROSE Submission Guidelines
-Word limit for original short fiction: 1000 (minimum) – 5000 words (maximum) (sweet spot/preferred: 3000 – 4000 words)
-Maximum word limit for original flash fiction: 999 words
-Reprints: not accepted at this time (unless we meet the Kickstarter stretch goal for 2025!)
-Pay rate: 8 cents/word
-Format: Standard Manuscript Format. 12 point Times New Roman, double spaced, .doc or .docx files. Mailing address and phone number are not required on the header.
-Simultaneous submissions are allowed! Just make sure to give us a howl if your submission has been accepted elsewhere before we make a decision on it.
-Cover letter: please include author name, name of submission, word count, publishing credits (if applicable), any experience pertinent to the story. (For example, if you are a marine biologist and your story features marine animals, do mention that!) Inclusion of content warnings is optional. Do not summarize your story in the cover letter; let the submission speak for itself.
-Translations to English: allowed, welcome, and encouraged! They must be original short fiction or flash within the corresponding word limits. In the cover letter, please state that the work is translated into English from (original language), and include names of the original author and translator.
–Plott Hound Magazine welcomes and encourages submissions from writers of all races, religion (creed), gender expression, sexual orientation, age, ancestry, disability, marital status, and military status.
-Stories should be submitted through Moksha (not available yet; link will be provided here when submissions open). Please do not submit through email or postal service.
POETRY Submission Guidelines
Plott Hound publishes 1-3 poems per issue. We’d love to see animal-centric speculative poems in all forms, from free verse to a sonnet to a canto in terza rima.
-Send 1-5 poems/up to 5 pages in a single document.
-Maximum submission length: please send no more than 5 pages (i.e. if you have a single 5-page poem, please send only one poem).
-Format: 12 pt serif font (Courier, Times), single space. See Shunn’s poetry manuscript format.
-Pay rate: $50
-Reprints, simultaneous submissions, and other logistics: see Prose Submission Guidelines above
What We’re Looking For:
-Stories with anthropomorphized animals as protagonists
-Animal-centric speculative fiction (fantasy, science fiction, horror)
-Underrepresented voices (BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, disabled, neurodivergent) that engage with animal myths, tales, and futures
-Stories with uncommonly written about animals as protagonists
-Stories that dig deep into the senses and experience of animals
-Stories that explore the cultures and societies of animals, not just cultures and societies with animals. Think of rabbit language and warren infrastructure in Watership Down, or the clans and warrior code of feral cats in Warriors.