Deadline: June 1st, 2023
Prizes: 2 novel winners and 2-3 novella winners: The prize for a novel is $1000 and a novella $250.
Theme: Original fiction that “doesn’t fit anywhere else”

What’s special about the word “ofic” is that it’s short for “original fiction,” but only in contrast to fanfiction. The fanfic/ofic divide dichotomizes fiction into two categories: work that openly acknowledges the canon from which a work was transformed, and everything else.

OFIC Magazine is a quarterly publication with a simple goal: to promote the original work of fanauthors whose aesthetics and interests may not align with the genres of traditional publishing, but whose work still aspires to literary aims—work that may be dark or grotesque, unabashedly joyful, or just too filthy for the general population. We publish work that can’t fit anywhere else.

The OFIC Press Prize will be awarded to up to 2 novels and up to 3-4 novellas, which will be published in 2024. The prize for a novel is $1000 and a novella $250. Novels will be published as standalone books and novellas will be compiled into an anthology.

We’re looking for manuscripts that don’t really fit in a traditional publishing category, maybe because they’re too romance-y for general or literary fiction, and not romance-y enough for romance. Or maybe there’s just a truly tasteless amount of smut. What we value most is an earnest portrayal of character, interesting relationship dynamics, and well-crafted prose that prioritizes clarity and voice.

We can guarantee the winners their prize money, thorough editorial feedback, professional cover design, and digital publication. We plan to run a Kickstarter to fund a physical print and distribution. Should our Kickstarter succeed, you’ll also receive 10 copies of your book/anthology. We’ll do a print of 100 copies to sell in our online store in addition to the number of Kickstarter contributors.

Rules & restrictions

• Novellas can be 12,000 to 50,000 words; novels are over 50,000. While we have no upper limit, know that anything over 150k is going to be a really hard sell. We’re not opposed, though. If it slaps, it slaps.
• Must be written in English.
• Author must be 18 or older to submit.
• Your work cannot be published or posted anywhere else. If you’ve posted a work on any social platform, even if you take it down, for legal reasons, we cannot accept it. This means you can’t delete a work from AO3 and file off the serial numbers to send to us.
• Your work must stand on its own as an original piece, although we of course welcome common fanfiction tropes (or the subversion thereof), and works that feel fanfiction-y but contain original characters and worlds. Again, legal reasons.
• We can’t publish song lyrics (either within the manuscript or in the title) unless they’re public domain.

Manuscript formatting

Please provide the following as front matter of your manuscript:

1. A title page with your contact info. Your AO3 handle/social media can go here if you’re comfortable sharing that, as well as if you’d like to publish under a pseud or pen name.
2. A cover letter with a brief fan history. You can share however much or little you’d like to share, but we’re mostly looking for your relationship to fandom and fanfiction: how long you’ve been in fandom, what fandoms you’ve been in, community events you’ve participated in, things like that. If you don’t know what “in fandom” means, this is not the press for you.
3. A synopsis of the story. This doesn’t have to be fancy or professional-sounding. In fact the closer it sounds to a tumblr shitpost, the better. Pretend your best friend has just asked, “So what’s your book about?” The synopsis would be the long answer/tea spill that follows. It should include all major plot beats (even if that involves major spoilers). No page limit, but it shouldn’t be super long, up to 5ish pages, preferably 1-2.

You can format it however you like as long as the font is readable, preferably 12pt Times New Roman or Garamond. Please provide page numbers in the footer of the document. Double-spaced preferred with one inch indentation at the start of paragraphs.

If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected].

Via: OFIC’s Submittable.