Closed: Under the Bed
Payment: Lifetime royalty on individual issues sales. The participating writers for each issue split 50% of individual issue sales revenue (10% of individual sales revenue to each author). One month from the release date, until the end of time, our system will track sales and will pay out automatically as soon as the total amount is $25.
Our goal is to give readers horror stories that are fresh, tightly written, and most of all, scary. Reading with your back to the wall, occasionally getting up to check all the locks, hiding under the blankets scary. If you have a wonderful story that isn’t scary, there are plenty of eFiction imprints who might love it. Do check them out.
In addition to being very, very scary, your submission should be ready for publication. This means no typos, no misspellings, no forgetting the shift key or basic punctuation rules. Stories will be edited, but it will behoove you to use beta readers, have a helpful friend look it over, and read it out loud to catch any lingering errors. Editors can be surly, and easily correctable errors only enrage us further.
Rights
We want one month exclusivity for your story, as well as first publishing rights. After that one month exclusive period, you can republish the story elsewhere to publications that accept previously published work.
Story Selection
Stories are voted on by a peer committee of volunteer writers and readers known as curators. Editors make the final call using feedback from curators. If you’d like feedback as to why your story was rejected, feel free to inquire…politely! Warning: hilariously overwrought complaints may find their way into the “Letters to the Editor” section of the mag.
Compensation
Fiction contributors are entitled to a lifetime royalty on individual issues sales. The participating writers for each issue split 50% of individual issue sales revenue (10% of individual sales revenue to each author). One month from the release date, until the end of time, our system will track sales and will pay out automatically as soon as the total amount is $25. Submitting to us is an indication that you agree to and accept these terms.
Please follow all submission guidelines or risk being rejected, unread.
Guidelines for Submission:
–We accept short stories of up to 9,999 words.
–Novel excerpts are acceptable, but must be a self-contained story.
–Micro and Flash Fiction are acceptable. Accompanying art is welcome.
–Poetry is welcome, but must pass the scare test. Accompanying art is welcome here too.
–Reprints are acceptable under certain circumstances, provided the rights have reverted back to you. Please query for details. In your cover letter, please provide the publishing history of the piece and whether or not the piece is currently in print elsewhere.
–Simultaneous submissions are strongly discouraged.
–Book reviews are acceptable for self-published books (not your own book, silly!) as are reviews for novels, audiobooks, indie films, or anthologies from small press publishing houses. Query for anything not on this list. Indie publishing houses are those which do not pay a standard advance and/or are not an imprint of a larger house.
–We also publish interviews with purveyors of horror past and present. While we prefer writers and visual artists, we also accept interviews with actors, directors, and fx artists. Feel free to query if you have something you think we’d like that’s not on this list.
–Single-spaced documents will incur my wrath. So will non-standard margins, changing text color, adding page breaks, and right-justifying text.
–For ease of tracking changes, doc or docx files are STRONGLY preferred.
Art
–We are looking for Cover Art from visual artists of any media. Send us a scan of a drawing, painting, or a photograph. At this time, artists will be given a free issue, full credit in the publication, and an interview featured in the issue in which your work appears. We hope to be able to pay our artists in the future. 11″ x 8.5″ 300dpi scan. Because eReaders vary, art should look awesome in both color and grayscale.
–We are also seeking gruesome and parodic art based on vintage comic book ads, or ads for breakfast cereals, toys, and miscellany from the 50’s-80’s. Art must not feature any copyrighted brand names or character names. Looking to contribute art regularly but can’t afford to work for free? Query with your digital portfolio.
–We offer free advertising to independent authors and small publishing houses, horror-themed artists, and small filmmakers. You may create your own ad and submit via submittable, or use our ad creation service. Full page ad dimensions are 11″ x 8.5″ Ads should be in 300 dpi and should be visually appealing in color as well as grayscale.
All submissions
Please include a biography (in 3rd person) and a two-sentence synopsis of your story or art in your cover letter. If there’s a twist ending, make sure we know about it. Bios should be roughly 200 words and include a list of publishing credits. You may also include one link to share with readers. Your professional website or blog is best, but social media profiles will also be permitted. An author photo is welcome but not required.
We are a small staff and are always accepting submissions. Please allow up to 16 weeks for a response. You may track your submission on Submittable. If your piece is rejected, we offer you the option to consult beta readers and seek help with revisions in our online workshops, which are free to eFiction and FictionMagazine.com members.
We do not accept submissions as email attachments, nor will we go to a website to view or read your work. If you are having difficulties with our submissions form, please contact us for alternative submission methods. In fact, feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.
We’re looking forward to your scariest submissions!
–Wednesday Lee Friday
Managing Editor, Under the Bed
[via: Fiction Magazines.]
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Stuart Conover is a father, husband, published author, blogger, geek, entrepreneur, horror fanatic, and runs a few websites including Horror Tree!