Taking Submissions: The Quarterly Journal – In The Dark

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Deadline: January 31st, 2024
Payment: $5
Theme: What happens in the dark? What lurks there? Show me those intimate moments—or the ones that will freak me the fuck out. Or any combination therein.

A Literary Journal with Some Art, Comics, and Analysis Thrown in for Good Measure
As Quarter Press continues to grow, we’re adding another coin to our pocketful of change. We want to offer a space for shorter works to mingle with art and other bits of nonsense, so we bring you The Quarter(ly): It just makes cents.

Issues are themed; however, we consider all interpretations.
Please Note: All submission windows may be closed early if “full.”

2024’s Themes and Deadlines:

In the Dark (Jan. 31)

What’ve you got to show us?

  • Stories and / or Poems

    For Stories: We’re open to micro works all the way up to 10,000 words. Just keep two things in mind: We want to be engaged and the submission must be completed (no pitches, please!)

    For Poems: We’d love to see up to five poems from you, but you can always just send one, too.

  • Art

    As long as it has some tie to the current issue’s theme, we’re open to see any art created in any medium at any time. Just know that it will need to “work in print” and—might—be presented in black and white.

    We WILL NOT Accept any AI-Generated art.

    For ART ONLY, you may choose to submit via email by sending jpgs, PDFs, or PNGs to chrisatquarterpress(at)gmail(dot)com

  • Graphic Stories

    Show us your comic strips or complete short works; we’d love to see them all! Please try to keep submissions to 20 pages or less. Feel free to also send a collection of comic strips / one shot comics, as well. (Please note that our publication size / dimensions might change between issues. Our “Norm” is 6×9”). These must be COMPLETE works.

    For Graphic Work / Comics, you may choose to submit via email by sending jpgs, PDFs, or PNGs to chrisatquarterpress(at)gmail(dot)com

  • Analysis / Interviews / Reviews

    As long as it is tied to the theme in some way, we’d love to see any and all media analysis (film, music, literature, etc.), interviews with notable creatives, or reviews of past—or present—media.

    We’re open to anything up to 10,000 words. (Feel free to pitch non-fiction ideas; however, please note that our “Interest in seeing a draft” does NOT guarantee publication.)

submit

The Boring, Necessary Bits

We Want: Works with fantastical elements: scary, happy, creepy, heartbreaking, bizarre, hilarious, whatever. While you can see our “Loves” lower on the page, we’re pretty open to anything that’s worth picking up.

We (Probably) Won’t: Pick up works not tied to or containing fantastical elements. It’s kinda our thing. (However, some themes may lean more heavily on a specific genre or reality. Interpret accordingly.)

Where to Tread Lightly: We’re pretty open-minded and okay with just about anything, but there better be a reason for it to be in the work. The darker, more explicit you go, the more we’ll really need to see its necessity to the work. We don’t want shock / horror / violence for its own sake.

Definitely Will Not Publish: Any work that is hateful towards any race, creed, religion, gender, or identity. This aims to be an inclusive space.

Your work must be ORIGINAL. We will not accept any AI-Generated work.

Excluding non-fiction submissions, it must be complete. For these shorter forms, we need to see the whole thing to make an informed decision.

We accept simultaneous submissions, but ask that you let us know up front—and if / when it gets picked up by another venue as soon as possible.

If your work is accepted, please wait one year before submitting again. (We want to include as many folks as possible!)

2024 Themes and Deadlines

~ In the Dark – Jan. 31 – What happens in the dark? What lurks there? Show me those intimate moments—or the ones that will freak me the fuck out. Or any combination therein.

Rights: We request one-time, first publishing rights in print and digital PDF forms. All rights will be retained by the creator. We simply ask that when / if published elsewhere, acknowledgment is given to its appearance within The Quarter(ly).

If a “Best of” or Collected Anthology is published, publication rights will be renegotiated for that publication.

Payment: We aim to be a paying venue, even if it’s just enough for a cup of coffee. Upon agreement of publication, we’ll pay contributors $5 and a PDF contributor copy.

However, in some instances where we’d like to publish a single poem, short work, or piece of art, we may not have the budget for a payout. We may offer publication for a Digital Copy of the PDF only. (We totally understand if you’d rather not, though!) Please feel free to let us know up front if you do not want to be considered with this option.

Submit Your Work

  • Written Work

    Please be prepared to provide your bio, type of submission, and the ENTIRE work(s).

    For non-fiction, feel free to submit a brief pitch for an interview / article idea. Remember that an interest in the pitch does not guarantee publication.

    For prose submissions, be sure your document is double-spaced, in a legible font.

  • Art

    Prepare to send us your bio and work(s) titles. You may include a link to your specific work / works for consideration or upload them as PDFs, jpegs, or pngs.

    Remember: Your work needs to “work in print” and may be published in black and white.

    All artwork will be considered for cover artwork. Please let us know if you would NOT like to appear on the cover.

  • Graphic Work

    Please send us bios for everyone involved in the work’s creation, along with the title and length of your submission.

    Feel free to link your submission or include it as a complete PDF—whatever makes the most sense for the project.

    Remember: Final publication size may differ, but our norm is 6×9”. We’re cool with color, but work may be published in black and white.

submit

Things we love.

As our publishing tastes cover a wide variety, here is a very incomplete list of authors, artists, and various media that we would die to work with / publish / have made. These are a HUGE indication of our aesthetics.

Carmen Maria Machado, Erin Morgenstern, Susanna Clarke, Ben Templesmith, Neil Gaiman, Toni Morrison, David Almond, Take Shelter, Hanif Abdurraqib, The 39 Deaths of Adam Strand, Nova Ren Suma, Over the Garden Wall, Haruki Murakami, Donnie Darko, Daytripper, Jeff Lemire, Sean Murphey, Joe Hill, The Golem and the Djinn, Louise Erdrich, Luca, Samurai Jack, What We Do in the Shadows, Coen Brothers, Spirited Away, Hannah Tinti, Brad Neely, Adventure Time, The Hawkline Monster, Michael Deforge, Allie Brosh, Kate Beaton, Graham Annable, Richard Ayoade, Joy Williams…

We love the blending of real life and the fantastic, the absurd, the magical, the heartbreaking, and the things that scare the shit out of us.

And if you want a more direct line, you can pick up a copy of one of our publications here.

Via: Quarter Press.

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