#1. Length may be anything from Flash Fiction upwards to Novella length. Maximum 40,000 words. Ideally we are looking for works that are in the 5,000 to 10,000 word range in order to fulfill our minimum page requirements per issue, but we have no objection to publishing shorter or longer pieces that fit within the range of acceptability. (Note - Works in the 20,000 to 40,000 words range may end up being split into 2 to 4 parts and published as a series, if it makes more sense to do so.)
- Flash Fiction: 53 - 1,500 words
- Short Stories: 1,500 - 7,500
- Novelettes: 7,500 - 17,500
- Novellas: 17,500 - 40,000
#2. Submissions must be pre-edited with all spelling and grammar mistakes already fixed, to the point that your work is finished/polished and hopefully will require little or no editing on our part. Works rife with problems will be rejected due to low quality.
If you used a third party editor during your editing process we recommend that you please give them an Editor credit. Otherwise you will be listed as the Editor.
#3. Submission must be in RTF or TXT format. Submissions in any other file type will be rejected and ignored*. It does NOT need to be in Standard Manuscript Format. Single spaced with paragraphs indented works just fine.
#4. Genre must be either Heroic Fantasy, Sword & Sorcery, Epic Fantasy, Dark Fantasy or some combination. Eg. "Comedic Sword & Sorcery" or "Mystery/Dark Fantasy" or similar combos are accepted.
#5. Fan Fiction of any copyrighted characters or settings will be rejected and ignored*. Eg. No Harry Potter, no Daenerys Targaryon, etc.
* Whenever you see the words "ignored" that means we won't even send you a reply. Replying indicates we might be willing to discuss the matter. We are not. We will simply delete your email and continue to the next submission. Our time is valuable as is yours. Do not expect a reply when you knowingly ignored the criteria. eg. You knew Harry Potter was copyrighted, but you still submitted it.
#6. Works must be Family Friendly. Anything too graphic will be ignored*. Romance is okay, but we have zero tolerance for graphic depictions.
#7. Works that promote racism, sexism, discrimination, bigotry and hatred will be rejected and ignored*.
#8. You must fill out and complete the Submission Form. Works that accompany incomplete forms will be auto-rejected. Eg. You forget to sign your name, date the form, leave a required section blank, etc.
#9. We are not accepting poetry at this time. We are however accepting fables, as long as they fit within the subgenres listed in #4. In theory a fable could be told in poetic form... so it is possible we will make an exception if it is a poetic fable.
#10. We are willing to accept comic strips or short graphic novels that otherwise fulfill our criteria. (We are actively looking for someone to possibly become a frequent contributor or publish a series.)
We accept American, British and Canadian spelling. Not sure if Australia and New Zealand spell anything differently, but we are sure to find out.
All payments and receipts are conducted in US currency (USD) and paid via PayPal. Payments are rounded down to the nearest cent. The minimum payment is $5.
