Deadline: October 31st, 2020
Payment: $0.10/word up to 3,000 words for fiction. $300 flat rate above that. $5/poem flat rate for poetry.
Theme: Speculative fiction that astute readers should be able to see how your story addresses the world we live in right now.
What we Publish: Original fiction and poetry, all of which must be broadly “speculative fiction” (science fiction, fantasy, alt-history, magical realism, slipstream, or in some other way altered reality).
Length: 12,000 words or less preferred, but you may submit stories up to 20,000 words. 30 lines or fewer for poetry.
Rights Purchased: First worldwide English-language rights.
Payment: $0.10/word up to 3,000 words for fiction. $300 flat rate above that. $5/poem flat rate for poetry.
Simultaneous Submissions: Accepted. Please let us know immediately if your work sells elsewhere.
Multiple Submissions: Accepted on a trial basis. Please do not dump your entire trunk on us or this will change. For fiction, we recommend not sending us multiple submissions unless there is a compelling reason to do so (in case we send feedback). Please submit each story separately. For poetry, please submit up to 10 poems in a single file.
Reprints:By solicitation only. Query if your work was previously published but obscurely enough that you think it should not count.
Translations: Accepted for first worldwide English publication.
Response Time:We strive to respond to all submissions in less than 90 days.
Query address: departuremirror [at] gmail
Departure Mirror Quarterly stories are:
Current. Astute readers should be able to see how your story addresses the world we live in right now.
Well written.
Accessible to a mainstream American audience.
Diverse. We mean this not only in terms of the types of stories we publish, but also in terms of the types of authors we publish. Writers from historically underrepresented and oppressed groups are especially encouraged to submit.
Anti-violence. We do not publish anything that promotes or glorifies violence, including threats of violence and coercion. (Minimum necessary force in self-defense can be acceptable if it is portrayed as regrettable rather than triumphant.) Stories certainly can contain violence (it is a fact of life), but violence should not be shown as the correct solution to the problem. Government-sanctioned violence is violence, so resolution through military action, police use-of-force, capital punishment, etc. is included in this policy. In societies in which laws are enforced through coercion and violence (such as ours), passing a law would also be included in this policy. We accept stories that highlight the inappropriateness violence. We particularly like stories that show us a better way.
Unexpected. Speak truth to power. Invent something new. Advance a conversation. Subvert a trope. Bring us an unheard voice. Surprise us.
Departure Mirror Quarterly poems are:
Readable by someone with no formal training in poetry.
Reflowable. Poems that depend on typography for their meaning do not fare well in two of our three formats. Visual poetry does not work at all.
Evocative.
Speculative. Make sure there is a clear SF/F element, please.
We will be closing for submissions on Oct. 31, 2020. We will re-open January 2, 2021 and remain open for the month of January.
If the link above does not work, we are temporary closed for submissions. In that event, we will post a note here of when we will be reopening. Do not send e-mail submissions to the query address while we are closed for submissions.
Deadline: March 1st, 2021
Payment: $.02 a word and royalties
Theme: A fun filled romp into the concept and nature of Death.
B Cubed Press is pleased to announce an open call for Alternative Deathiness. A fun filled romp into the concept and nature of Death.
Seriously what the hell is death, big guy with bones and a sickle? An ominous Tarot Card? Or is it simply the passing of one thing for another. A change in phase. Or, it is the ending of you, and just you, a personal FU from the universe that say oopsie, you’re out of here?
So be prepared to look hard at this topic, its rituals, its layers. Have fun. May as well, considering the end comes for us all.
This book will be edited by Bob Brown and Irene Radford, the team that brought you the best selling Alternative Truths.
If you wonder what perspective the editors bring just remember, we’re old. Our friends are old, our families are old. Death is beginning to feel more like a roommate than a concept. So? Let the stories rip, show no deference to religion, ritual, or sensitivities. For god’s sake, we’re talking death here!
And don’t try sneaking zombies and ghosts and vampires in to get around death. Oh we might buy one or two REALLY GOOD Ones, but that isn’t the focus.
Does this mean we will not accept sensitive looks at this from a more popular perspective? No, but it means that it will be tested against the criteria that the writing be good, and carry an explanation of the nature of death. In terms of what we are looking for, think openly about the concept of death and life, can’t have one without the other. The setting is open anywhere in time and space.
This book will be part of the best-selling Alternatives series. We will be accepting stories, poetry, and essays from now through March 1, 2021.
Story length for our books average about 2200 words but have ranged from 100 to 7500 words. However, we only use one or two stories over 5,000 words and our advice is to keep it under 5K, unless we communicate in advance. Reprints are accepted, but we hold them to a higher standard and limit them in number.
Pays $.02 a word upon publication, plus a share of the profits. As always a share will go to charity, usually ACLU, but that can be changed to something else by agreement with all the contributors. Collaborations will earn 1 share to be split between contributors.
Deadline: November 1st, 2020
Payment: 4 cents per word
Theme: The Bonds That Unite Us / Los lazos que nos unen
The Themes for Year 1 are:
#1: The Bonds That Unite Us / Los lazos que nos unen
#2. Myths and Monsters / Mitos y monstruos
#3: Beyond the Stars / Más allá de las estrellas
#4: Love Needs No Translation / El amor no necesita traducción
The Bonds that Unite Us
Constellations are the product of human imagination, giving meaning to the patterns we see in the sky. From these scintillating dots lighting up the night, we’ve created stories about heroes, legends, and mythological creatures. We created those bonds, and we give them meaning.
Each culture that has looked up at the sky with wonder has its own interpretation of these connections, and now we want to hear yours.
What are the bonds that unite our cultures and languages around the world? How are these bonds formed, and what upholds them? How can they be broken and forged again? What unites an alien civilization to humankind? What ties the dragon to the unicorn and prevents it from making a meal out of her?
Sometimes these bonds are ones of blood. (Vampire tastes may vary.) Sometimes they’re shaped by shows of courage and strength, and the common struggles we face. These bonds can topple walls and bring down civilizations, and sometimes they’re the foundation for something new.
The theme is open to interpretation, as long as the stories fit under the speculative fiction umbrella.
Myths and Monsters
Since the dawn of time, humans have stared into the abyss and wondered what hid in the darkness. Tell us about the myths and monsters that have shaped your perception of the unknown.
Do your monsters hide in broad daylight or lurk in the shadows? Are they under the bed or are they ancient demons you can invoke when the moon is full? Have you heard a beating heart beneath the floorboards or the deathly song of a mermaid? Did the alien-like creature speak, or did you just imagine it?
Sometimes monsters wear suits and ties, sometimes they can’t be seen, only felt. When they told you the witch would come to eat you if you didn’t sleep during siesta, was it true? What is your version of the chupacabra, the Kraken, or la Llorona? Take us to the darkest corners of your mind and tell us a story meant to be read by candlelight.
The theme is open to interpretation, as long as the stories fit under the speculative fiction umbrella.
Guidelines for Submitting Stories
Stories can be submitted in English or Spanish.
Please remember that each language has its own punctuation rules.
—Presta atención al uso correcto de las rayas o guiones largos —dijo la editora.
“I will,” said the writer.
If you submit your story in Spanish, it will be translated and also published in English.
If you submit your story in English, it will be translated and also published in Spanish.
All stories in the magazine will be published in both languages.
Simultaneous submissions and multiple submissions are not allowed.
We pay 8 cents per word, up to 6400 words. We ask for six month world first exclusive rights and translation rights for all original stories accepted.
If your story is accepted, you are agreeing to be contacted by the person doing the translation for your work in case they have any questions. Translating is a collaborative process, and we want to make sure we get all the nuances correct.
What We’re Looking For
The theme of each edition will vary, but the general consensus for all stories is as follows:
– Well-written original stories that fall under the speculative fiction umbrella, up to 6,400 words long. No exceptions.
– Authors are free to interpret the themes creatively, and we encourage you to twist and bend the themes to your will, as long as they fit into any of the speculative fiction genres. However, if you have to explain to us how your story fits in with the theme, it probably isn’t a good fit for us.
What We Don’t Want
– Racism, homophobia, bigotry, discrimination, or misogyny.
– Stories that include gratuitous violence against humans, robots, animals, or any sentient beings, whether it’s rape, torture, or murder.
– Stories that glorify any cultures above others.
Submissions will be open from October 15, 2020 until November 1, 2020 for the first issue:
#1: The Bonds That Unite Us / Los lazos que nos unen
Please make sure to send your submission to the correct category and language.
Translators
We’re looking for people who can do literary translations from Spanish to English and English to Spanish. Please contact us at [email protected]. We pay $0.04 per word.
We commission art months in advance based on the issue’s theme. You can send us a link to your portfolio to [email protected] with the subject as follows: ART PORTFOLIO and your name.
As of now, we’re only looking for art by BIPOC creators from anywhere in the world.
We will pay $1000 and ask for rights to use the art as our cover for the digital and print versions of the magazine and online promotional material. We may ask for other rights, and they will be clearly stipulated in the contract beforehand.
If you are an author or artist from the Caribbean, Latin America, or their diaspora and you have a project coming out soon please contact us. We’d love to feature and promote your work in Constelación Magazine.
Deadline: October 31st, 2020
Payment: 3 (Euro) cents per word for original fiction and 1 (Euro) cent per word for translations of fiction into English
Theme: Campbellian hard SF
There are plenty of amazing print and online journals out there for ‘character-driven’ fiction, and we encourage you to read them.
SPJ is not one of them, though.
Hence, we are not interested in stories predominantly about the sentiments and subjective experiences of fictional people. We want hard SF that zooms out of the personal and lifts off into the structural, the systemic, the epic. We yearn for carefully crafted philosophical speculation that puzzles over the questions of the future and alternate pasts. And we have a soft spot for stories created as ‘artefacts’ (fictional, ‘in-universe’ non-fiction).
So here are SPJ‘s quests:
– Campbellian hard SF. Reaching back to the roots of classic sci-fi, these rigorous tales take themselves seriously and push the boundaries of our scientific imagination, scaling from the nano to the meta. The cast, if any, is functional and disposable. It’s the sociological, technological and indeed cosmic developments that sweep the reader up in an expanding sense of wonder. (For a contemporary long-form example that received mainstream attention, see the latter two books of Cixin Liu’s Three-Body Problem trilogy.)
– Fictional non-fiction. The purest, most intimate form of world-building. A transcript of the last UN Security Council meeting before an extinction-level event. The dental bills of a cybernetic vampire. Interviews with eyewitnesses of a battle between Martians and archangels. Think ‘World War Z’, not ‘Walking Dead’.
– Speculative philosophy. Extrapolating abstract ideas to examine the implications if they were to manifest. (See for instance The End of History, the Beginning of Hers in Vol. V. Issue 1. for a theological example of just what we mean.)
(The first author to have a story published in each of the three categories gets to choose any one member of the extended editorial team and marry them. You’ve been warned.)
Length and formatting
Brevity tends to correlate positively with idea-density. Thus we are looking for stories no longer than 2000 words (but preferably shorter). Due to the volume of submissions, we cannot promise to read stories that are over the word limit.
.doc, .docx, .odt, .rtf, .txt, anything is fine as long as it’s editable. No PDFs, TIFFs or coffee mug-stained scans, please. Preferably size 12, in easy-to-read font.
Please only submit one story at a time – don’t send in a second piece until you’ve heard from us. Simultaneous submissions are okay, but if you place your story elsewhere in the meantime, do kindly let us know.
In your email, please include a short bio to accompany your work (quirky or serious are both fine) and indicate the sub-genre your story falls into (this helps our internal workflow).
By submitting your story to us, you agree to grant SPJ exclusive first publishing rights in case of acceptance. We only take previously unpublished works of fiction, for obvious copyright reasons.
Translations
In addition to original fiction, we would like to unearth buried and forgotten treasures written in languages other than English. We are therefore open to receiving translations of short stories that fit within the sub-domains outlined above, provided they haven’t previously been translated into English, or you can give us a very good reason why they should be re-translated.
Where applicable, it is the responsibility of translators to secure permission from the author or copyright-holder. By submitting a translation to us, you imply that you have done so.
We would love to be able to read Sanskrit, Kalaallisut and Bidayuh. Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten around to learning them yet. For that reason, translators are solely responsible for the accuracy of their work. We can only assess the literary qualities of the final English text, which will be judged by the same criteria that apply to original fiction.
Payment
For accepted works, at present we are able to offer the standard semi-pro rate of 3 (Euro) cents per word for original fiction and 1 (Euro) cent per word for translations of fiction into English. At this point, we regret that we are unable to provide payment for non-fiction.
Payment is made through PayPal. For this to work, authors need a (free) PayPal account.
Deadline: November 2nd, 2020
Payment: 6 cents per word for original, 2 cents for reprints
Theme: Well written original work in science fiction, fantasy, myth, legend, fairy tales, and eldritch, in written, podcast, video, and/or graphic story form, and from around the world.
Note: Reprints welcome
Submissions Schedule
We have a new submissions schedule as of June 1, 2020: The first and second day of every month, 12 am of the 1st to 12 am of the 3rd, E.S.T. Only one submission per person.
For reading impaired individuals, our submissions manager and ‘forget password’ have a captcha compatible with screen readers.
We pay 6¢ per word for new fiction, 2¢ per word for fiction reprints, 2 – 6¢ per word for new fact-based work, 1- 4¢ per word for reprinted fact articles. For new poetry, we pay $1 a line, reprints would be 50¢ a line, up to 40 lines. We’ll look at longer poems but that would be a hard sell, and words over 40 lines would be paid at 6¢ per word.
We beganThe Kepler Award to recognize and encourage writers of excellent science fiction and fantasy stories that creatively extrapolate on known science in constructive and exciting ways. You can learn about The Kepler Award here.
You can read a copy of our standard contract here. It can be varied as needed to include the rights of translators, voice actors, etc.
Writers Guidelines
We accept new work as well as reprints, prose and poetry, anywhere from 1000 word flash fiction on up, but all else being equal, shorter pieces will be favored. We have tough standards but only care about the quality of the writing, storytelling ability, characters, plot, and ideas, not whether you’re new or established. Submit only work you are proud of — if you don’t love it, neither will our readers! If in doubt, edit it down further. And further. No simultaneous submissions. No multiple submissions. Reprints must not have been published elsewhere within the past year or be available for sale online except as part of an anthology.
For the many writers who valued our feedback on their stories: 1. We have brought back a modified version of the feedback system which will not be time intensive for the editors: — Writers who would like feedback on their stories should request it at the end of their submissions comments. — You will receive feedback only if you request it. — Writers requesting feedback must understand that this is Unedited Feedback Not Intended as Diplomatic Critique; it is the honest and considered opinions of our first readers and assistant editors, designed to help the editors in their assessment of stories. — There may be repetition and contradictory opinions. — Readers can opt in or out of having their feedback passed on, so there may be few or no opinions to send you. — Comments will be passed on without reader names. 2. We have started an Open Mic section, which will include: — The Critiqued Story Place for writers who’d like to see and ask questions about extended critiques from our staff on a story they submitted. When submitting a story please state you’d be interested in this, and we will occasionally choose one of these stories for the Open Mic Critique. This section is only for interested writers. The stories critiqued there are not published, they are for writers’ benefit only, not available to general readers. Sign-in to read and write required. — The Meeting Place, where readers, writers, and staff can meet, ask questions, and make suggestions.
Fiction
We are looking for: well written original work in science fiction, fantasy, myth, legend, fairy tales, and eldritch, in written, podcast, video, and/or graphic story form, and from around the world. We care about character, plot, ideas, and storytelling ability.We accept both serious and humorous work. We like science fiction in all its states of matter, from solid to gaseous to plasma, i.e., from hard as steel to as insubstantial as interstellar space. If you use real existing science, please get it right. You can also read the About Us page for more information.
Hard Sells: Vampires, werewolves, zombies, monsters in general, super-heroes, Lovecraftian stories, anthro, robots with feelings, gritty and despairing post-apocalyptic worlds.
We don’t accept: horror, hate, blood & guts, explicit language, excessive violence, angst-ridden romance, fan fiction*, sex, axe-grinding, or stories that leave readers feeling they’ve had the energy and joy sucked out of them. Also, seems we have to say it, we don’t take work that makes fun of grief, suffering, and death, whether of real, imaginary, or religious characters.
Fact
We are looking for fact-based articles, interesting information, reviews, and humor in any discipline that relates to the type of stories we publish or that might provide inspiration and information for writers and artists.
Artwork and Other Imagery
We’re looking for storytelling through images. We want to see skillful composition, use of color, rendering of form, character, and emotions.For photomanipulations or photography using models, etc., all stock and resources used must be credited and used according to the stock provider’s rules.
We are not presently commissioning any work. We are looking only for already existing work for use on site pages or for illustrating stories. We pay $10 for the non-exclusive right to use each image, for as long as the site is online. If we publish a print collection we will pay a pro-rata share for each image used.
For video, if possible send links, and have it available in both MP4 and WEBM formats for compatibility across all browsers.
Just as for written works, we’re not looking for romance, fan art*, hate, horror, blood & guts, excessive violence, sex, nudity, copies of photographs, propaganda, or work that leave readers feeling they’ve had the energy and joy sucked out of them. We do not accept work using materials that required the death or mistreatment of animals.
*If the original work is still in copyright and was not commissioned or sanctioned by the creator or owner we will not accept it. Some fan art is accepted or encouraged by the copyright owners — e.g., cosplay, and these works we welcome. An illustration of a fairy tale, myth, legend, old classic, or any work no longer in copyright would not be counted as fan art.
Please Read Before Submitting:
In the submissions comments, tell us: — your name, — story title, — genre — word count — whether your story is new or would be a reprint, and if a reprint, where and when it was first published. If a reprint, it must not have been published within the preceding twelve months and must not be currently available to read for free or for sale as an individual story. — Do not include a resume; we will judge the story solely on its own merits.
We may ask for revisions on a story we are interested in, whether it is new or a reprint, but a request for revision is not a guarantee of acceptance.
No simultaneous submissions. No multiple submissions.
We prefer text in .docx Times New Roman and images as a jpg or through a link. If you write a document in .doc and then just add an x to the end of the file extension, the document may not open for us.
Use letters and numbers only for filenames or else your file may not load.
For video, if possible send links, and have it available in both MP4 and WEBM formats for compatibility across all browsers.
On the submissions page, check that you agree with the terms of our guidelines before you submit.
A small percentage of people may find that the spam filters on their email host don’t allow them to register. Adding donotreply at cosmicrootsandeldritchshores dot com and submissions at cosmicrootsandeldritchshores dot com
to your address list may solve this problem. If it doesn’t, you can email submissions at cosmicrootsandeldritchshores dot com and we will manually input you into the system.
Addresses to note and add to address books:
cosmicrootsandeldritchshores dot com/portal — login for subscribers to the magazine.
submissions at cosmicrootsandeldritchshores dot com — for questions about submissions.
editor at cosmicrootsandeldritchshores dot com Fran Eisemann, editor-in-chief
fantasyeditor at cosmicrootsandeldritchshores dot com Casey Honebrink
eldritcheditor at cosmicrootsandeldritchshores.com Aaron Gudmunson
We get a large number of submissions, so please be patient. Turn-around times are generally between one and twelve weeks. If you haven’t heard back after twelve weeks, feel free to query.
Interstellar submitters please use standard Earth formats or query in advance for other arrangements. We’d love to be the first to publish your work here on Earth! 🙂
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When creating passwords for the submissions manager we suggest 12 characters or more with a combination of numbers and both upper case and lower case letters. Please avoid using the ampersand &, percent sign %, plus sign +, quotation marks “, less than <, or greater than > After reading our guidelines, you can login to the submissions manager and submit stories here:
For reading impaired individuals, our submissions manager and ‘forget password’ have a captcha compatible with screen readers. Our thanks go to Glenn Lyvers at Prolific Press for creating this feature for us.
Good luck, and we look forward to reading you!
For people interested in becoming readers for Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores, you can read about the process here:
Deadline: November 30th, 2020
Payment: 1-cent-per-word
Theme: Pulpy dark fiction in the weird fiction and horror genres
Welcome to the new pulp! Weird Horror magazine is a new venue for fiction, articles, reviews, and commentary.
The best way to determine what we want is to pick up our inaugural issue, in print or eBook.
FICTION GUIDELINES
OPENS: October 1
CLOSES: November 30
Weird Horror Magazine is open to submissions of fiction only from October 1 through November 30. The submission period covers 2 issues – March and October. Fiction must be original and previously unpublished anywhere, in any format, on any platform. Please do not query about reprints.
As we’ll be reading for 2 issues, it may take the full submission period to respond. Simultaneous submissions are welcome. Please inform us if your story is accepted elsewhere. No multiple submissions. Please send 1 story. We anticipate buying 12 – 18 stories only for our 2021 issues, but they will all come from the slush pile.
We are actively seeking new and underrepresented voices. We accept submissions from anyone, regardless of race, gender, or sexuality.
As our title suggests, we are seeking pulpy dark fiction in the weird fiction and horror genres of 500 to 5,000 words. Monsters, ghosts, creatures, fiends, demons, etc. Dark crime. Suspense. Mutants. Killers. Ghouls. Golems. Witches. Pulpy goodness! We are hoping to bring some fun (and terror) to our readers.
Payment is 1-cent-per-word (paid via PayPal) for first worldwide English-language rights, for use in the print and eBook editions. We ask for a 6-month exclusivity. Copyright remains with the author, and a contract will be provided.
Submit stories in Standard Manuscript Format as a Word document or PDF, and e-mail as an attachment to: WeirdHorrorMag [at] gmail [dot] com
Please format the subject line of your e-mail thusly: Submission – Story Title – Author Name
Please keep your cover letter short.
Submissions sent outside the submission period will not be read.
Deadline: December 1st, 2020
Payment: 0.06CAD per word
Theme: Multi-genre allowed by Blind and visually impaired writers
Note: Will consider reprints
Artificial Divide is an own voices anthology by Blind and visually impaired writers. It’s a multi genre anthology with visually impaired protagonists. It will feature a diverse array of short stories with protagonists that are visually impaired.
For this anthology, edited by Robert Kingett and Randy Lacey, we’re looking for short stories between 500 and 8,000 words.
We are looking for own-voice stories featuring blind or visually impaired protagonists, written by authors who are blind or visually impaired. The story need not be about being visually impaired or blind, and can be any genre of fiction.
Stories must be in English, though we invite diversity and dialects, including AAVE.
We will reject any story with racist, ableist, or homophobic, or otherwise bigoted themes. We don’t want to see those kinds of stories. Period.
One of the editors will be using a screen reader to review submissions, so make sure your document does not contain any tables or graphs or charts. Layout tables are acceptable but highly discouraged because your submission will be converted to Proper Manuscript Format. If you already have your story in Proper Manuscript format, send it along in that format.
If you’re visually impaired and need a screen reader friendly template, this page is a bit dated, but it has templates that work in all versions of Microsoft Word <https://www.shunn.net/format/templates.html>.
Submit your manuscript in either docx or doc format.
We’re especially looking for writers of color, LGBT+ writers, and other marginalized identities. Please note that priority will be given to Canadian writers from diverse backgrounds, though we are open to authors from around the world.
In your cover letter, provide your name, your primary email address, and a cover letter outlining the main plot of the story and the word count. In your cover letter, detail in two sentences or more, how being visually impaired has hindered you in the publishing industry.
Stories can be submitted to [email protected] please write in SUBMISSION and the title of your story as the subject header.
Deadline for submissions is December 1st, 2020.
Payment is 0.06CAD per word.
Previously published work – we strongly prefer original work but will consider work previously published in publications with small readership. Please indicate on your cover letter if the work was previously published and include a link to the publication.
Simultaneous submissions – we will consider simultaneous submissions. Please indicate on your cover letter if your work is submitted somewhere else simultaneously, and please notify us right away should the work be accepted elsewhere.
Please submit only one story. Should we turn down your story before the submission deadline, please do feel free to send us another story. Otherwise, please only send one story.
Deadline: January 1st, 2021
Payment: One cent U.S. per word ($2 minimum)
Theme: Fantastic Fiction You really NEED to read the description below.
The Cafe Irreal is a quarterly webzine that presents a kind of fantastic fiction infrequently published in English. This fiction, which we would describe as irreal, resembles the work of writers such as Franz Kafka, Kobo Abe, Clarice Lispector and Jorge Luis Borges. As a type of fiction it rejects the tendency to portray people and places realistically and the need for a full resolution to the story; instead, it shows us a reality constantly being undermined. Therefore, we’re interested in stories by writers who write about what they don’t know, take us places we couldn’t possibly go, and don’t try to make us care about the characters. We would also suggest you take a look at the current issue, archives, and theory (especially the essay, “What is irrealism?”) pages on this web site.
We accept unsolicited fiction up to 2,000 words in length. Translations are welcome. There is no minimum length. We accept only electronic submissions via e-mail at [email protected] We cannot, due to the various computer viruses and worms, accept attachments anymore, so please paste your story into the body of the e-mail. Also include your name, address, e-mail address, and a short bio in the text of the submission; please put the word “submission” in the subject heading of the e-mail to ensure that your submission doesn’t get lost among all the spam. We pay an honorarium of one cent U.S. per word ($2 minimum) to buy first-time internet rights (the story will then be archived). Payment is made upon publication. PLEASE NOTE THAT WE DON’T ACCEPT SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS and are only interested in reprints in unusual cases (e.g., the story has appeared in print but not on the internet). Therefore, if the story or translation has been published before, please specify where and when. Regarding submission of more than one story at a time, we will consider up to 2,000 words submitted by a single author at a given time, either one story or a number of short shorts. Please note, however, that if you submit several short shorts, they must be enclosed within a single e-mail. We do not publish the same author in consecutive issues, except when we have specifically solicited the material. We accept submissions year-round and usually respond in two months, though it can take as long as four months.
The Cafe Irreal is a quarterly publication, publishing on February 1, May 1, August 1, and November 1 of each year. The deadline for submissions for each issue will be one month before the date of publication. The deadline for the next issue (Fall 2020) will be October 1, 2020.
