Rolling Submissions: Oxygen Leaks

Payment: .01 cents per word

Theme: Science fiction with a very technical “hard science fiction” angle

Note: Reprints accepted at an unlisted lower rate.

What we are looking for

We are looking for strong science fiction with a very technical “hard science fiction” angle. As with all good science fiction, the science needs to be integral to the story. If you can remove the science from the story and still have a good story, it is likely not what we are looking for.

Part of our criteria for review is how fantastic the scientific advances get. We will rate a story higher if it uses plausible advances in science as plot elements over a story that uses unlikely advances such as faster than light travel or teleportation. That said, we believe “hard” science fiction is a continuum, and an otherwise internally consistent story that uses fantastic elements could be an excellent story right for our magazine.

We also understand that science is not limited to physics, chemistry, and biology. Stories based on scientific advances in psychology, sociology, or even English literature could be great science fiction stories given the right author.

At the end of the day, all stories, regardless of genre, are about the story itself. Good elements of story construction (characters, plot, setting, grammar) are universal and will make or break a story, regardless of the science content.

Short stories are under 20,000 words according to our definition. We accept stories of any length below (or very close to) that threshold, including flash fiction

Payment and Rights

As we are still building and finding an audience, our current pay rates are below industry standard at $.01 per word, with a cap of $25 per piece. As we build an audience of subscribers and readers and advertisers, we will increase this amount. Every dollar spent on Oxygen Leaks goes back into improving the content of the magazine.

We prefer to buy First English language serial rights (as well as other rights, such as archiving, as defined in our contract), but will consider purchasing reprint rights for the right story at a lower pay rate. Mention the rights available in your cover letter.

Submission and Format

Oxygen Leaks uses a submission manager. We do not accept email or physical submissions. We allow simultaneous submission to other markets. We ask that if your story is picked up in another market that you let us know by replying to the email we send you when you submit.

Our submission form prompts you for your name, email address, title of the work you are submitting, and a cover letter. Your cover letter should contain the length of your story, your publishing history, the story’s publishing history if this is a reprint submission, and any relevant biographical information (if you are a physicist researching FTL travel and submit a story featuring FTL travel, mention that.)

Please double-check your email address before you submit. It is the only way we will be able to contact you. Your story will not be published if we cannot contact you.

All stories should be in standard manuscript format and in DOCX, DOC, RTF, or MD formats. When you submit you will receive an automated email that contains a unique submission number. You can use that submission number to check on the status of your submission, or to withdraw your submission if it is published elsewhere.

Via: Oxygen Leaks.