by Stuart Conover | Feb 4, 2020 | Ongoing Submissions, Online, Reprints Allowed, Semipro
Payment: .01 cents per word
Theme: Science fiction with a very technical “hard science fiction” angle
Note: Reprints accepted at an unlisted lower rate.
What we are looking for
We are looking for strong science fiction with a very technical “hard science fiction” angle. As with all good science fiction, the science needs to be integral to the story. If you can remove the science from the story and still have a good story, it is likely not what we are looking for.
Part of our criteria for review is how fantastic the scientific advances get. We will rate a story higher if it uses plausible advances in science as plot elements over a story that uses unlikely advances such as faster than light travel or teleportation. That said, we believe “hard” science fiction is a continuum, and an otherwise internally consistent story that uses fantastic elements could be an excellent story right for our magazine.
We also understand that science is not limited to physics, chemistry, and biology. Stories based on scientific advances in psychology, sociology, or even English literature could be great science fiction stories given the right author.
At the end of the day, all stories, regardless of genre, are about the story itself. Good elements of story construction (characters, plot, setting, grammar) are universal and will make or break a story, regardless of the science content.
Short stories are under 20,000 words according to our definition. We accept stories of any length below (or very close to) that threshold, including flash fiction
Payment and Rights
As we are still building and finding an audience, our current pay rates are below industry standard at $.01 per word, with a cap of $25 per piece. As we build an audience of subscribers and readers and advertisers, we will increase this amount. Every dollar spent on Oxygen Leaks goes back into improving the content of the magazine.
We prefer to buy First English language serial rights (as well as other rights, such as archiving, as defined in our contract), but will consider purchasing reprint rights for the right story at a lower pay rate. Mention the rights available in your cover letter.
Submission and Format
Oxygen Leaks uses a submission manager. We do not accept email or physical submissions. We allow simultaneous submission to other markets. We ask that if your story is picked up in another market that you let us know by replying to the email we send you when you submit.
Our submission form prompts you for your name, email address, title of the work you are submitting, and a cover letter. Your cover letter should contain the length of your story, your publishing history, the story’s publishing history if this is a reprint submission, and any relevant biographical information (if you are a physicist researching FTL travel and submit a story featuring FTL travel, mention that.)
Please double-check your email address before you submit. It is the only way we will be able to contact you. Your story will not be published if we cannot contact you.
All stories should be in standard manuscript format and in DOCX, DOC, RTF, or MD formats. When you submit you will receive an automated email that contains a unique submission number. You can use that submission number to check on the status of your submission, or to withdraw your submission if it is published elsewhere.
Via: Oxygen Leaks.
by Stuart Conover | Feb 4, 2020 | Novella, Ongoing Submissions, Royalties, Semipro
Payment: 2¢ CAD per word advance, plus royalties
Currently Seeking
Stelliform Press is open to original novella submissions beginning January 1, 2020. We are also looking for cover artists.
What is a Stelliform story?
We are seeking to publish science fiction, fantasy, quiet horror and literary novellas with speculative elements (17,500–39,999 words), novels (70,000–100,000 words), and short story collections (40,000–60,000 words) which build narratives around climate change and its resultant ecological destruction, and acknowledges the work necessary to live within the problems Western lifestyles have created. All manuscripts submitted must have a science fictional or fantastic element; non-fiction must be speculative. Narratives should be interrelational, demonstrating some ways in which the environment changes us (and others) just as we change it. Please see our About the Press page and our blog for more information.
How much do we pay?
Currently, we pay a 2¢ CAD per word advance, plus royalties. We acknowledge that this is a low rate of pay. As a new press, we are working on securing grants and planning fundraising campaigns in order to pay authors more in the future.
What rights are we buying?
Currently we are buying first world English electronic and print rights. As we grow, we will also consider audiobook rights. Our contract includes clauses for rights reversion in different situations should the author and/or publisher wish to terminate their relationship.
Manuscript Wish List
The following are some approaches we would love to see in our Inbox:
Fiction MSWL
- Stories written by Indigenous authors which bring Indigenous and Western science into conversation (even if the conversation is difficult and unresolved).
- Stories written by BIPOC authors which fuse specific cultures and/or ways of life rooted to a specific community with a means of ameliorating or coping with life in a climate changed world.
- Stories written by trans and queer authors which fuse specific ways of life rooted to a specific community with a means of ameliorating or coping with life in a climate changed world.
- Stories that embrace the incorporation of far-flung technologies as part of an ecologically relational life; technology CAN be bad, but it can’t be ONLY bad.
- Stories of uneasy allies which get into the complexities of that difficult relation.
- Stories which explore nonviolence while acknowledging the privilege inherent in the nonviolent position; stories which explore unusual ways to mitigate violence.
- Stories set in space that are connected to Earth through myths or legends that tangibly affect the lives of the interstellar characters.
- Stories depicting humans learning to relate to the nonhuman in different ways.
- Stories taking place in non-Western settings.
Fiction Do Not Submits
- Epic/Sword and Sorcery Fantasy
- Stories in which the solutions presented are uncritical green consumerism
- Stories depicting monarchies, imperialism, or colonization in an uncritical way
- Gratuitous violence, especially against any marginalized group
- Gore in general is not something we’re excited about, but small doses that are integral to plot/character might be okay
- Porn or erotica; though eroticism in service to the story is definitely okay
Non-Fiction MSWL
- Speculative non-fictions about the future of tech, the environment, global relationships, or social worlds (either collections of linked short pieces or extended meditations).
- Literary journalism on emerging tech, global health issues, climate change and migration, food politics, human-hybrid environments, global and space travel—journalism that hangs on a narrative arc, focusing on limited centered characters.
- Essay collections (single authored) or themed anthologies (editor(s) + multiple authors) approaching questions about technological and environmental futurity, urban life, the non-human, community, and other themes of the press, addressed from primarily personal lenses.
- Creative memoirs or autobiographies drawing from long-term experiential relationships with the natural world, space, tech and agricultural industries, and the non-human, that offer new/unique ways of reflecting on the problems of climate change and/or the future of life—especially by BIPOC, women, trans and queer, and disabled or otherwise underrepresented authors.
- Narrative ‘biographies’ of plants, animals, places/niches/communities, and natural phenomena that connect the past, the rapidly changing present, and the future—particularly works that de-centre humans or think about the human in specifically collaborative ways.
- Human biographies and histories reimagined through non-human protagonists.
- Imaginary, alternative, or potential histories.
Non-fiction Do Not Submits
- Adventure biographies that frame the environment uncritically as a “wilderness” to be “tamed” or “discovered”
- Literary journalism of technology, food, or space industries uncritically structured around the idea of progress
How to Submit
For Novellas
Please send a short cover letter which includes:
- not more than 250 words
- information about your manuscript length and genre
- a brief statement about your story’s main conflict, how your story fits Stelliform’s vision, and any MSWL elements included (if applicable)
- a brief bio including your top three publications (if you have them)
As an attachment, please include the first 15-20 pages of your manuscript. The document should include your name, contact information, and byline. Send query and sample pages to [email protected]. The subject of your email should read: SUBMISSION: [Your manuscript title].
For Novels and Short Story Collections
Please do not submit at this time.
For Non-Fiction Manuscripts
Please do not submit at this time.
For Cover Art
Please submit a link to your online portfolio and a brief introductory letter including information about yourself, your published artworks, your expected rate of compensation for a book cover, and two references (preferably former clients). Letters can be submitted to [email protected] with the email subject: ART SUBMISSION: [Your name].
We are particularly interested in art submissions from Canadians or immigrants to Canada from any marginalized community, or First Nations, Métis, or Inuit residing in territories currently occupied by the Canadian state.
Simultaneous and Multiple Submissions
Simultaneous submissions are allowed; but only send one submission at a time. Please let us know if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
Via: Stelliform Press.
by Stuart Conover | Feb 3, 2020 | Events, Flat Amount, Magazine, Poetry, Semipro
Deadline: February 29th, 2020
Payment: $10 for one thousand words or less. One cent a word for stories 1,000 words to 3,000 words in length., $10 per poem
Theme: Science fiction, Weird Fantasy, Horror with SF aspects, Lovecraftian horror.
Note: Contributors must be Canadian or a resident of Canada.
Note: Reprings accepted
Contributors must be Canadian, or at least resident in Canada.
I prefer Science Fiction over Fantasy, though of course SF can include fantasy elements, so I’m flexible. Weird Fantasy would intrigue me. Also interested in Horror with SF aspects. Have a weakness for Lovecraftian Horror. Nothing obscene or ultra-violent. Idea-driven combined with character-driven would be ideal.
Particularly interested in beginning writers who haven’t made a sale yet. The primary purpose of this zine is to encourage beginning writers. I welcome experienced authors but will judge unpublished writers as a separate category so they won’t have to compete with pros. Ideally at least two to three first-sale stories will be in in every issue. Be sure to mention whether you have been published or not so I’ll be sure to place you in the proper category.
SPECIFICS:
I offer First Publication English Language World Serial Online (PDF) Internet Rights with a post-publication exclusivity period of just one week, after which the author/artist is free to sell as a reprint to anyone anywhere.
The exclusivity period is unusually short because I have no financial stake in holding on to rights and am more than willing to encourage the author to sell again ASAP.
Note that reprints are less desirable to most publishers and are more difficult to place. On the other hand, my payment rates are so low you might even make more money selling your work as a reprint than you did selling it to me as a first publication!
The advantage of selling First Publication to me is that I want to publish at least two or three works per issue which are first sales for previously unpublished authors, so I am more likely to buy than magazines concentrating on known authors with proven sales records.
I am also willing to publish reprints under the same rights as First Publication, but no exclusivity period is involved. You can sell it again even before I publish it.
Please bear in mind:
Short stories must be three thousand words or less. For budget / financial reasons I prefer stories 1,000 words or less, will look at stories 2,000 words or less but will only accept a few, and just one story 3,000 words or less per issue.
Short stories can be Science Fiction, Fantasy, or Horror.
Subgenres can include:
Science Fiction: Alternate History, Apocalyptic/Post-Apocalyptic, Contemporary/Near Future, Cyberpunk, Dystopian, Hard SF, Humorous SF, Mystery cross genre, Space Opera, Steampunk, Time Travel, Weird Tale, Weird Western, etc.
Fantasy: Dark Fantasy, Gothic, Heroic, Mythological, Science Fantasy, Shapeshifter, Steampunk, Supernatural, Sword & Sorcery, Weird Tale, Weird Western, etc.
Horror: Creature Horror, Gothic, Historical, Horror Western, Lovecraftian, Monsters, Noir, SF Horror, Shapeshifter, Steampunk, Supernatural, Weird Tale, Weird Western, etc.
In other words, almost anything goes as long as it is genre-related and imaginative.
Also in February, 2020 I will be open to poems on any of the above themes for Issue #14 & after. Sixty lines or less.
Not currently open to themed interior art for specific stories (hope to be some day), but am currently open to potential Cover Art (for #14 and beyond) and to interior fillo pieces.
Be aware normally contributors are paid after they have signed the contract but before publication. (See “Contract” for a sample contract.)
Everyone submitting should include a short, one or two paragraph bio which confirms Canadian status, publication status, and makes you appear quite the character.
Also, be sure to let me know if the work being submitted has been previously published or not, and whether my acceptance would constitute your first sale ever.
And please include your full mailing address as I will need to put that into the contract.
HOW TO SUBMIT:
E-mail a word doc (not a PDF) to me at < R. Graeme Cameron > and include “PB Sub” in your heading.
The format of your submission should be as follows: A word doc. in either Courier or Times Roman font size 12, black print on white page, double spaced, beginning of paragraphs indented, ragged justification, your name and title on each page in the header, each page numbered, and your name, address and contact info on the title page. In other words, the standard, traditional, classic format.
Note: I do accept both reprints and multiple submissions, though no more than two of the latter.
PAYMENT RATES
Short stories: $10 for one thousand words or less. One cent a word for stories 1,000 words to 3,000 words in length. Not interested in any story over three thousand words. Can fudge a bit, say 3,126 words for example, but the maximum I will pay is $30.
Poem (regardless of length–maximum 60 lines): $10
Cover art (colour or B&W): $40.
Interior art (B&W line illustration) to illustrate a given story: $20.
Interior art (B&W line illustration) fillo: $5.
Via: Polar Borealis.
by Stuart Conover | Jan 30, 2020 | Anthology, Events, Semipro
Deadline: May 1st, 2020
Payment: 1c per word
Theme:
Note: Texas authors only
TEXAS’S 1ST AND ONLY HORROR ANTHOLOGY—Road Kill: Texas Horror by Texas Writers—is currently accepting submissions for Volume 5 (RK5).
THE GUIDELINES REMAIN THE SAME: Texas tales by Texas writers. Stories must take place in Texas and be written by native or naturalized Texans. Be original. Be scary. Be weird, wild, wacky and/or insane. But be scary.
SUBMISSIONS SHOULD BE BETWEEN 2,500 AND 10,000 WORDS IN LENGTH. We’d like to pay more, but for this edition of Road Kill we’ll be shelling out one cent per word. That means a 10,000-word story will receive a check for $100 USD. We are buying first publication rights. Stories must be original, never before published tales designed to haunt, shock and terrify readers in a big way.
Contributors will be free to publish the story as a reprint elsewhere after two years.
RK5 will be compiled and edited by award-winning author and Road Kill co-creator, E. R. Bills, and published by HELLBOUND BOOKS PUBLISHING. Send your best, finely polished yarns to erbillsthinks at gmail.com. Include ‘RK5 Submission’ in the subject line. Include your current address and phone number. Submission deadline is May 1, 2020 But submitting sooner rather later, earns you brownie points.
PLEASE read and adhere to our submission guidelines.
* Word format saved in .doc, or .docx
* 12 pt times new roman
* single-spaced
* 2.5K-10K word count
* Write ‘RK5 Submission’ along with your name and story title in the header of your submission
*The body of your submission email will be considered the cover letter. Attach your story to email.
*Make sure that you check your manuscript for grammar and punctuation.
NO REPRINTS—ORIGINAL UNPUBLISHED WORKS ONLY.
Payment—1c per word for first rights
by Stuart Conover | Jan 29, 2020 | Events, Flat Amount, Magazine, Semipro
Deadline: March 1st, 2020
Payment: Short story: $10/printed page (up to a maximum of $100), Flash: $25 per piece
Theme: fiction and poetry that shocks, surprises, moves, and tickles – not genre work
Funicular Magazine publishes quality fiction and poetry that shocks, surprises, moves, and tickles us. Maybe all of those things in a single piece. We are a Canadian magazine and we want to publish Canadian voices, but don’t be shy if you aren’t Canadian. We love sharing international writers with our readers too.
General Guidelines
✅ Font: We don’t care, just make sure we can read it or, y’know, we won’t
✅ File Type: PDF, Word, Text file
✅ Simultaneous Submissions (please withdraw your piece if it is being published elsewhere)
✅ Multiple Submissions (see specific submission limits below)
❌ No previously published stories (in print or online). Self-published is fine.
❌ No genre fiction. There are places for genre fiction. One of those places is not here.
❌ Do not put your name anywhere in the document or filename. We read submissions blind.
What We Want
If we like your work, we will ask for online and/or serial publication rights.
Short Fiction
Julio Cortazar said that the novel wins by points, the short story by knockout. Think about that when sending us your work.
A short story can normally be read in one sitting, and if your sciatica is acting up you usually won’t be sitting for very long. 3000 words max. You can go a little over the limit. Don’t stress. Everything is going to be fine.
Submissions Allowed Per Entry: 1
Poetry
William Carlos Williams, Ford Maddox Ford, Elizabeth Barret Browning, Henry David Thoreau, William Butler Yeats, Edward Estlin Cummings. These are the names of some poets we know with three names. If you are a poet with three names you should definitely send us some poetry. Only have one or two names? Send some anyway. Poetry will be the glue that keeps this whole magazine together.
We have no idea what we’re looking for when it comes to poetry but we will know it when we see it.
Submissions Allowed Per Entry: 3
Flash Fiction
What is Flash? Nobody knows for sure. Flash is brilliant. Flash is short. Flash doesn’t have time to mess around. Flash can surprise. Flash can pulverize. Do whatever you want but make sure you make it count and make it short.
Short fiction under 1000 words is the general rule for flash fiction.
Submissions Allowed Per Entry: 3
What You Get
We are committed to paying the writers we publish in print.
- Short story: $10/printed page (up to a maximum of $100)
- Flash: $25 per piece
- Poetry: $25 per piece
- We’ll also throw in a contributor’s copy so you can place it conspicuously on your coffee table to help convince your parents you are not wasting your life on this writing thing.
We do not currently pay for pieces accepted for online publication only.
Via: Funicular Magazine’s Submittable.
by Stuart Conover | Jan 24, 2020 | Anthology, Contributor's Copy, Events, Semipro
Deadline: November 15th, 2020
Payment: $.03 per word, capped at $150 usd, and 2 free contributor copies.
Theme: Truly terrifying stories that deal with futuristic themes, set in the near future or far.
Corpus Press is now accepting submissions to Volume 3 of the successful In Darkness, Delight anthology series (publication target 2021) to be edited by Evans Light and Andrew Lennon. Submissions should be story-driven and appeal to a wide adult audience.
We seek truly terrifying stories that deal with futuristic themes, set in the near future or far. Tales can be Earth-based or extraterrestrial, perhaps featuring technological or social upheavals that have frightful implications for individuals or society at large; as examples, the ongoing erosion of privacy and enduring nature of online activity, artificial human enhancement via DNA manipulation or implants, impact of emerging technologies on developing children, and so on. (Think bigger than stories about an interesting app, even though that might be where thoughts go first. The few slots allocated for app stories will be filled very quickly.)
Post-apocalyptic stories will not be accepted. Rather, we desire fiction that occurs during periods preceding any total collapse, be they stable or unstable times. The horrors that await us in utopian futures may be far more chilling and fascinating than those endemic to dystopias, and therein lies our primary interest.
We’re more interested in “fiction” than “science”; this is a horror anthology first and foremost, not a science fiction anthology. To that end, your math doesn’t have to work out to five decimal points for every forward-thinking concept you present. Merely plausible is good enough.
If you’re looking for popular culture references to give you a general feel, here are a few: Annihilation, Alien, Pandorum, Under the Skin, Cube, Slither, The Thing, They Live, Mimic, Black Mirror, Outer Limits, The Fly, Event Horizon, and other horror/sci-fi hybrids. Again, we’re not really seeking stories about apps (hint, hint).
What we ARE looking for:
• Short stories of 2,500-4,500 words that can be characterized as being within the broad category of “horror” fiction and having a futuristic theme as described above. No reprints.
• Successful submissions will be highly original, well written and cleanly edited.
• Stories must hook the reader in opening paragraphs and remain engaging throughout.
• Stories that imagine fresh new horrific futures different from anything we’ve seen or read about before.
What we ARE NOT looking for:
• We are not seeking “extreme horror” or “Splatterpunk” material. We discourage submissions that have a singular purpose of shocking readers with explicit language, sexuality and/or violence. Explicit language, sexuality and violence are acceptable, however, if handled in a tasteful manner and in service to a well-plotted, engaging story.
• We are not seeking abstract mood pieces, vignettes, and highly experimental approaches to literature are discouraged. We are not accepting poems.
• We are not seeking: Stories with an overly humorous tone; Retro sci-fi/steampunk; Trunk stories; Stories hastily retrofitted with superficial futuristic references. Stories must not include actual individuals or living public figures.
• We are not seeking stories that primarily deal with the emotions of sadness or loss.
• We are not seeking stories featuring exaggerated dialects, colloquialisms or excessive references to pop culture or current fads are discouraged.
• We are not seeking post-apocalyptic or zombie stories.
• Epistolary fiction will not be accepted (stories told in the form of a journal, letters, etc).
Document Requirements:
Submissions must be in an editable format sent via the publisher’s submission portal. No PDFs or scanned documents sent as image files will be accepted. Preference is for title, author name, email address and word count information to be placed at the beginning of the document.
Please Note: Do not utilize underlining in place of italics. Do not insert extra lines between paragraphs. Utilize a single space only between sentences. Do not insert tab indents at the beginning of paragraphs.
Submission window: January 4, 2020 until midnight EST November 15, 2020.
Notifications of acceptance / rejection will be sent no later than November 30, 2020, with publication target of 2021. We will do our best to send out acceptances / rejections as promptly as possible so that you may have the chance to submit the work elsewhere if it does not meet our needs.
PLEASE NOTE THAT SUBMISSION DOES NOT GUARANTEE ACCEPTANCE.
Pay Rate: $.03 per word.
Payment will be capped at $150 USD for accepted submissions (we prefer stories between 2,500-4,500 words; longer stories may be submitted, but will only be paid at the cap rate. 7,500 is a firm maximum word count. You are welcome to submit stories with a word count of less than 2,500 words, but they are not likely to be accepted).
Two (2) free contributor copies (paperback) will be provided upon publication, with contributors having the option to buy additional quantities at cost post-publication. Payment on publication.
Anthology target length: Approximately 250-300 pages.
PLEASE READ AND ACKNOWLEDGE THE FOLLOWING:
Submitting work through this portal constitutes your formal agreement to the following terms:
No multiple or simultaneous submissions. Stories may not be withdrawn from consideration prior to review by Corpus Press without the express written consent of the editors. Corpus Press reserves first right to publication of all submissions.
Via: Corpus Press.
