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Fiction Guidelines
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Clarkesworld Magazine is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine that publishes short fiction, interviews, articles and audio fiction on a monthly schedule. All original fiction published in Clarkesworld is also made available in single-issue chapbooks and collected annually in the Realms trade paperback series. Our art, articles and half of our fiction are open to submissions.
Fiction Guidelines
Word Limit: 1000-8000 words (preferred length is 4000)
Pay Rate: 10¢ per word up to 4000 words, 5¢ per word after
Genres: Science fiction and fantasy
Rights: We claim first world electronic rights (text and audio), first print rights (author must be willing to sign 100+ chapbooks), and non-exclusive anthology rights for Realms, the yearly Clarkesworld anthology.
Stories must be:
- Well-written. Language is important. There is no distinction between "style" and "substance" or "story" and "writing."
- Convenient for on-screen reading. Very long paragraphs or typographical trickery may work against you.
Science fiction need not be "hard" SF, but rigor is appreciated. Fantasy can be folkloric, medieval, contemporary, surreal, etc. Horror can be supernatural or psychological, so long as it is frightening. There are no barriers as to levels of profanity, gore, or sexuality allowed, but high amounts of profanity, gore, and sexuality are generally used poorly. Be sure to use them well if you do use them.
Though no particular setting, theme, or plot is anathema to us, the following are likely hard sells:
- stories in which a milquetoast civilian government is depicted as the sole obstacle to either catching some depraved criminal or to an uncomplicated military victory
- stories in which the words "thou" or "thine" appear
- talking cats
- talking swords
- stories where the climax is dependent on the spilling of intestines
- stories where FTL travel is as easy as is it on television shows or movies
- time travel too
- stories that depend on some vestigial belief in Judeo-Christian mythology in order to be frightening (i.e., Cain and Abel are vampires, the End Times are a' comin', Communion wine turns to Christ's literal blood and it's HIV positive, Satan's gonna getcha, etc.)
- stories about rapist-murderer-cannibals
- stories about young kids playing in some field and discovering ANYTHING. (a body, an alien craft, Excalibur, ANYTHING).
- stories about the stuff we all read in Scientific American three months ago
- stories where the Republicans, or Democrats, or Libertarians, or the Spartacist League, etc. take over the world and either save or ruin it
- your AD&D game
- "funny" stories that depend on, or even include, puns
- sexy vampires, wanton werewolves, or lusty pirates
- zombies or zombie-wannabes
- stories originally intended for someone's upcoming theme anthology or issue
- stories where the protagonist is either widely despised or widely admired simply because he or she is just so smart and/or strange
- stories that take place within an artsy-fartsy bohemia as written by an author who has clearly never experienced one
- your trunk stories
Fiction Submissions Process Guidelines
Clarkesworld uses an online submissions system that has been designed to streamline our process and improve communication with authors. We do not accept email or paper submissions. Go here to submit your stories.
Our submissions form asks for your name, email address, cover letter, story title, and story. Your cover letter should contain the length of your story, your publishing history and any other relevant information (e.g, if you send us a lusty pirate story and happen to BE a lusty pirate, mention that). All stories should be in standard manuscript format and can be submitted in either .RTF or .DOC format. No simultaneous submissions. If you have questions, concerns or technical issues, please contact Neil via email.
After you have submitted your story, a tracking number will be displayed and an automated email confirmation containing this information will be sent to you. If you have not received this email within 24 hours, please email us. Your tracking number will allow you to monitor the status of your submission through our website, so please don't lose it. NOTE: Yahoo.com occasionally treats our email as spam, please keep an eye on your spam folder.
Our average response time is under two days, but we have occasionally held a submission for as long as a week. We ask that you:
- Please do not send queries until after a two-week period has passed. Please check our Neil's blog or our forum for any important announcements first. Use your tracking number to check on the status prior to that.
- Do not send revisions to a submission unless specifically requested.
- Do not submit another story for a period of seven days after receiving a rejection.
- Please do not re-submit stories that have been rejected. Do not query for permission.
- Writers whose work is accepted may not submit again until six months after their story is published.
- Please do not argue with rejection slips.
If you are uncertain about anything above, we recommend following the most conservative interpretation.
