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Taking Submissions: Cosmic Roots And Eldritch Shores April 2024 (Early Listing)
April 2
Submission Window: April 2nd, 2024
Payment: 8 cents per word for original, 2 cents for reprints, For artwork: $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.
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 8¢ 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 began The 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.
Please follow standard manuscript format
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:
Via: Cosmic Roots And Eldritch Shores.
- About the Author
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Stuart Conover is a father, husband, published author, blogger, geek, entrepreneur, horror fanatic, and runs a few websites including Horror Tree!