Deadline: March 31st, 2016
Payment: $10 for Flash fiction, $20 for short fiction, $20 for serial installments up to $100. Reprints are half of the above amounts.
Reprints Allowed.

This e-zine primarily publishes “scientific papers” by mad scientists. Or, at least, fiction that could be loosely considered such. They must be written in a first person perspective of some sort.

It should also have something to do with “mad science.” We are willing to be flexible on the mad science part, but not the first person part. This can be an essay or newspaper article, but the presumed narrator is someone in the fictional world.

We are willing to take almost any genre for this: humor, SF, fantasy, horror, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, pulp adventure. All we ask is that it be well written and fit within the needs of this e-zine. Gratuitous anything that doesn’t add to the story is discouraged. Reprints will be considered. We accept multiple submissions, but not simultaneous submissions.

If your story is accepted, we ask that you provide a fictional identity as the source of the article, with bio. Authors will still be credited under their own name. We just want to maintain the atmosphere of “scientific journal.” So, for example, your story might be “An Examination into the Giant Albino Fire Moles” by Professor Higglepiggle, as provided by Joe M. Author.

We currently are publishing a new short story every week on the site. We collect them on a quarterly basis into a book (print and digital) with exclusive content in the book.

Flash Fiction

These stories should be 500-2000 words and stand alone. They must be written in a first person perspective of some sort. If you have a recurring character you’d like to use in future submissions, that would be wonderful.

Short Fiction

These stories should be 2,000-8,000 words and stand alone. They must be written in a first person perspective of some sort. If you have a recurring character you’d like to use in future submissions, that would be wonderful.

Serial Fiction

We are also in the market for serial stories or recurring characters. They must be written in a first person perspective of some sort. Installments should be 2,000 – 8,000 words each.

How We Want It

Submissions for short fiction should be 2,000-8,000 words in length and use Standard Manuscript Format. Flash fiction should be 500-2000 words and also in Standard Manuscript Format.  There are many variations to this on the Internet. We prefer this one: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html.

Submissions for serial fiction should include the first installment plus an outline of the remaining installments in the serial. It should otherwise follow the Standard Manuscript Format above. Responses to special calls for submissions should similarly be in Standard Manuscript Format.

Please also put “Sparkle Pony” underneath your contact information in order to prove you’ve read this.

Special Call for Submissions!

We are looking for stories 500-8000 words in length about supernatural entities who feel like outsiders. These stories will be published in our anthology, Fitting In: Historical Accounts of Paranormal Subcultures. We will accept submissions from February 19th through March 31st. The stories must include the following elements:

• There must be a supernatural entity who feels like an outsider: The best speculative fiction often says something about humanity. Urban fantasy provides a wonderful metaphor for stories about immigrants and marginalized cultures. Some stories we suggested on the Kickstarter include:
  • An undead teenager seeking acceptance from her parents.
  • Ancestor spirits in an unfamiliar afterlife.
  • Werewolves moving to the city to find work.
  • Undead (such as a ghul, a brahmaparusha, or an aswang) with unusual dietary needs that doesn’t mesh well with the local vampire population.
  • Mermaids, selkies, or bunyips forced to find new homes due to pollution.
  • A fae and a mortal marrying, with neither of their families approving.
• It must be first person: There must be a narrator that is telling the story as though they have experienced it.

It does not need to have mad science in it at all.

Though we are not requiring it, we would also love stories that feature protagonists or settings that are outside of what we typically see in mainstream fiction. We love vampires and werewolves, but there are so many other monsters out in the world. We would also like to collect stories from a wide range of authors, including authors with little to no publishing history and authors from traditionally underrepresented groups.

All our other submission guidelines still apply, particularly the request for Standard Manuscript Format. We will not be accepting reprints. Payment will be 1-cent a word.

How It Will Appear

We are currently running one new story every Monday on the site. These will be collected into quarterly anthologies.

What We Pay

For flash fiction, we offer $10 for exclusive first worldwide electronic and print rights and for nonexclusive reprinting rights. For short fiction, we offer $20 for the same rights. For serial fiction, we offer $20 per installment to a maximum of $100 for the same rights as other original fiction.For reprints we offer half what we would pay for new fiction and ask for nonexclusive reprint rights.

Please Be Aware

Most publications will not reprint fiction that has appeared in online or print format elsewhere. By selling to a token paying market, you are limiting your ability to make more money off of your fiction. It is up to you, the author, to decide whether you want to give up First Publishing Right for token payment.

How To Send It

You will want to send it through our submission form on Submishmash: http://madscientistjournal.submishmash.com/submit

Questions? Queries can be sent to [email protected].

Via: Mad Scientist Journal.