Submission Window: December 1st – 15th, 2024
Payment: 8 cents per word
Theme: Speculative stories about animals where animals are the protagonists
Note: Link to submit for Moksha will be available at the page linked at the bottom during the date range in the submission window above

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
-Maximum word limit for original short fiction: 5000 words (sweet spot/preferred: 3000 – 4000 words)

-Maximum word limit for original flash fiction: 999 words

-Reprints: not accepted at this time

-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: 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; let the story speak for itself.

–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. Please do not submit through email or postal service.

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.

What We Don’t Want:
-Stories with human protagonists

-Stories under or over the word limit

-Stories that contain no speculative element

-Stories with animals reduced to silly cute sidekicks or props

-AI-generated works

-Glorifying violence toward and abuse of women, children, animals

-Glorifying homophobia, transphobia, racism, sexism, ableism

-Gratuitous violence, sex, and erotica

-Positive depictions of pedophilia and bestiality

Nonfiction Essay Submission Guidelines

Plott Hound aims to publish one essay per issue. Animals hold a special place in our hearts and within the communities and cultures we belong to. We would like you to share that significance and impact. Do you have a particular connection to an animal through a scholarly or spiritual background? We invite you to impart that knowledge as well. You can write about one particular animal or many. We will accept pitches through Moksha. Upon acceptance of that pitch, a fully written article may be submitted.

-Pay rate: $100
-Word range: 1000 – 2500 words

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
-Do animal characters have to be from real life?
No, not at all! Show us stories with animals real and imagined. Give us the magical and fantastical creatures from myth and folklore, like dragons, werewolves, and unicorns. You can even have fictional species of your own creation! The animal world is one of staggering diversity. We want stories that acknowledge and celebrate this.

-Can human characters be in the story?
Yes, human characters can be included (as many or as little as you want), but the protagonist and focus of the story must be an animal.

-What about alien characters?
Alien protagonists are allowed as long as they’re recognizably bestial/creature-esque and not too humanoid (think Star Wars Dugs, Ewoks, and Geonosians, not Twi’leks and Togrutis or Vulcans from Star Trek).

-What about shapeshifters?
Shapeshifters constantly, precariously teeter on that liminal boundary between man and beast. With that in mind, if your story has shapeshifters as the focus and protagonist choice, show us that inner beast roiling beneath the human skin. If the shapeshifter character(s) are too human, it’s likely not a good fit for the magazine.

-Do fungi count as animals?
Unfortunately they do not, as fungi occupy a kingdom of life that is neither plant nor animal. Perhaps they can occupy a special issue of their own…But for general submissions and the time being, no fungi stories.

-What if my story has a protagonist that’s a fusion/chimera of plant and animal, or fungi and animal?
Fusions and chimeras are fair game! It would have to be a pass, however, if the protagonist has strictly the characteristics of a plant or fungi.

Examples of Works That Fit Plott Hound’s Vision and Aesthetic:
–Watership Down and Plague Dogs by Richard Adams
–Warriors series by Erin Hunter
–The Sight and Fire Bringer by David Clement-Davies
–Beastars by Paru Itagaki
-“Jackalope Wives” by Ursula Vernon (Apex)
-”The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species” by Ken Liu (Lightspeed)
-“The Starship and the Temple Cat” by Yoon Ha Lee (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
-“Swarm X1048 – Ethological Field Report: Canis Lupus Familiaris, ‘6’” by F.E. Choe (Clarkesworld)
-“The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat” by Brooke Bolander (Uncanny)
-“By The Mother’s Trunk” by Lisa Bradley (Fireside Fiction)

Policy on AI-Generated Submissions:
Plott Hound Magazine will not accept or publish submissions of any kind that were written or assisted by tools such as ChatGPT and Sudowrite. This magazine full of stories on animals wants 100% human effort and creativity.

Contact:
For submission queries and submission-related questions, please direct them to [email protected].

Via: Plott Hound Magazine.