CLOSED: Compelling Science Fiction

Payment: 6 cents/word

At Compelling Science Fiction, we have two main goals: to find, publish, and promote the best science fiction stories, and to support and encourage the authors who write them. We currently pay 6 cents/word for accepted stories. We are a brand new publisher, and so do not yet qualify as a SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) market. We will be applying for qualification after one year of publishing, as per SFWA policy.

• Pay rate: 6 cents/word
• Length: 1,000-10,000 words per work
• Rights: We purchase first world electronic print rights and audio rights (for podcasts). Our contract follows the lead of SFWA’s Model Magazine Contract.

 

Fiction Guidelines

 

The stories we accept almost always:

1. illustrate at least one interesting concept,
2. are engaging, and
3. clearly explain the science/technology in the story.

The ‘concept’ referenced in point (1) can be anything from new engineering ideas to abstractions that help illustrate basic properties of reality. Point (2) is far more subjective, although as long as your story consistently moves forward it will probably be engaging. Point (3) is hard to attain without some knowledge of basic science/engineering; we encourage you to learn as much as you can about your subject matter. If your story is very strong in one of the above areas, we will sometimes accept weakness in the other two. Ultimately we are looking for science fiction that is entertaining, scientifically plausible, self-consistent, and technically detailed when appropriate. We have a preference for positive stories, to act as a counterweight to the currently popular post-apocalyptic genre. We certainly won’t dismiss a well-written dystopian future, but we have a bias toward stories that depict technological advancement rather than decay. We do not publish fantasy stories (although we enjoy them!).

 

Submission

Please submit stories via email at ‘[email protected]’ for consideration. We prefer .docx, .rtf, or .txt formats. We have no formatting guidelines/preferences, but please realize that we only publish electronically so use your best judgement regarding what would look good on a web page. Please include any information you feel is relevant in the body of the email. You will receive a confirmation email if your submission is successful. We will update you on the status of your submission in less than 4 weeks. No simultaneous submissions. If you have any specific questions (or need encouragement!) feel free to email us at [email protected].

Via: Compelling Science Fiction.