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Taking Submissions: Rakehell Magazine May 2022 Window

Submission Window: May 8th-14th, 2022. Payment: $0.01 (one cent) per word Theme: Swashbuckling action in all genres Rakehell buys First Worldwide Serial Rights to swashbuckling tales from 3,000 to 8,000 words long. We currently pay $0.01 (one cent) per word. We know that’s not much, and we hope to increase our rate as soon as possible. Rakehell Accepts All Genres We’re looking for stories of swashbuckling action in all genres. We love fantasy, steampunk, and historical fiction, but we’ll read anything that fits the Rakehell vibe. We’re looking for small-scale conflicts with personal motivations. We’re less interested in epic quests and straight military fiction. Think Robin Hood, Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser, the Three Musketeers, Horatio Hornblower, Felimid mac Fal, Flashman, Khlit the Cossack, the Gentleman Bastards, Captain Blood, the Greatcoats, Inigo Montoya, Indiana Jones, Rudolf Rassendyll, Richard St. Vier… Feel free to draw on other genres, like mystery, comedy, and romance. No erotica. “Swashbuckling” implies a sense of fun and excitement. Don’t sugarcoat the realities of violence, but don’t dwell in the darkness. Readers should come away from your story exhilarated, not depressed. Stories will probably have a pre-modern technology level. Swords stopped being quite so useful once firearms advanced past the black powder stage. (Flintlock-era technology is welcome.) If your story has a reason why guns/grenades/missiles/lasers/phasers/blasters aren’t an option, we’ll consider it. For sci-fi, think Star Wars or Dune. If your story captures the Rakehell attitude, we can be flexible. Put another way: a duel at dawn between two libertines with flintlock pistols is a yes. A showdown at noon between two cowboys with revolvers is a maybe. A shoot-out between a mobster and the cops is a no. Magic is fine, but will probably be low. Worlds where battle magic is common and/or powerful tend to have the same problems as worlds with modern firearms. Rakehell is at...