Deadline: July 31, 2022
Payment: $0.11 per word for original and $0.01 a word for reprints. (If the CAD/USD exchange rate dips below that which would match SFWA’s 8¢/word pro rate,)
Theme: Speculative fiction that examines humanity’s possible futures living with anthropogenic climate change. We prefer fiction with a hopeful outlook.
Note: Reprints Welcome

Little Blue Marble is OPEN TO SUBMISSIONS as of January 3, 2022. Submissions will likely close on July 31, 2022.

See below for how to submit.

Please note that while we do pay for original content (see rates below), Little Blue Marble‘s current operating budget supports only one or two paid pieces per month. As we grow, we will be happy to increase that number.

We welcome submissions from writers anywhere. We value inclusivity, no matter your race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, class, and physical or mental ability. No stone should remain unturned when discussing climate solutions, and we want our content to reflect that.

Please note, however, that if you have had a story published in Little Blue Marble in the current calendar year, we ask you to not submit another story until the next calendar year’s submission period. This is so we can keep our limited publishing slots open for diverse voices.

FICTION

What we’re looking for: We publish speculative fiction that examines humanity’s possible futures living with anthropogenic climate change. We prefer fiction with a hopeful outlook, but the occasional dystopia might fit too. While science is an important piece for solving the climate change puzzle, we challenge writers to also examine our existing social, cultural, political, and economic frameworks and envision new ones to help see us through to a better, more sustainable world.

Please see this interview at Six Questions For … if you’d like more details.

What will be a harder sell:

• Yet another apocalyptic desert dystopia.
• Alien/god-like being intervenes and saves the world. We made this bed. We have to fix it.
• Stories in which we abandon the planet.
• Stories without a narrative through line, dramatic tension, or some kind of character arc. We want stories, not vignettes.
• Gratuitous gory violence or themes of suicide.
• Stories that overtly lecture or preach to the reader.

What we want more of:

• Optimistic fiction
• Visions of change for the better
• Stories in which technology improves lives, not oppresses
• Stories that show communities pulling together
• Diverse, own-voices stories

Word count limits:

• Original fiction: 2000 words
• Reprints: 5000 words

NON-FICTION

What we’re looking for: Articles and essays on climate change, and profiles of people on the front lines of climate work in the 1000-2000 word range. If possible, please include links to your published work elsewhere or other writing samples.

Before sending us any non-fiction, please send us fully outlined pitches on specific topics.

Please do not send us Q&A-style interviews, video blogging, Kickstarter projects, promotional/marketing materials, or reviews.

Upon publication, contributors receive a byline, a short bio at the end of each published post, and are listed as a Little Blue Marble contributor.

POETRY

We very occasionally accept poetry with climate or environmental themes, at the same word rate as fiction. Please only submit one poem at a time. Unlike other poetry markets, we do not accept multiple submissions.

HOW TO SUBMIT

All submissions should be sent to submissions (at) littlebluemarble (dot) ca.

If submitting fiction, please put FICTION SUBMISSION – STORY TITLE in the subject line.

If submitting a non-fiction proposal, please put NON-FICTION SUBMISSION – ARTICLE TITLE in the subject line.

If you are submitting content you are willing to donate under a Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives license, please indicate so somewhere in your submission e-mail.

Submission format: All submissions should be in standard manuscript format, double spaced with a legible font. Submissions should be in .RTF or .DOCX format.

Little Blue Marble accepts works that have been previously published elsewhere. Please state in your submission if this work is a reprint.

We do not accept multiple submissions. You may only submit one story at a time. You may submit another once we have responded to your first submission.

Little Blue Marble accepts simultaneous submissions with other venues. If your story, however, is accepted by a different venue, as a courtesy to us please immediately withdraw your submission from Little Blue Marble.

RESPONSE TIMES

Little Blue Marble endeavours to respond to all submissions. We try to keep our response time below 8-12 weeks. We acknowledge this is long for some, hence why we accept simultaneous submissions. We will not respond to queries regarding submissions before the 12-week window, but please feel free to query us if you have been waiting longer than that. Since we have a staff of exactly one, your patience is appreciated.

Other notes: In the last quarter of each year, our response time will be slower, given the higher workload of putting out the year-end anthology. We appreciate your patience.

Special COVID-19 note: Given recent global uncertainties, we are purchasing stories much closer to publication than we normally do, which means we’re holding onto some stories in our queue longer than usual. We completely understand if that means we might lose out on your story to another publication.

WHAT WE PAY

All payment is in Canadian dollars.

We offer $0.11 a word for original works up to 2000 words. If the CAD/USD exchange rate dips below that which would match SFWA’s 8¢/word pro rate, we will amend contracts to offer USD 8¢/word at time of payment. We offer $0.01 a word for reprints.

Payment will be made by Paypal, or alternatively, for Canadians only, via e-mail money transfer.

Via: Little Blue Marble.