Fiction Submission Guidelines
We are currently CLOSED to fiction submissions.
What do we publish?
- English language hard science fiction short stories of up to 10,000 words. Under 5,000 words is preferred.
- Submit via our fiction submission form.
- Previously published work is acceptable, as long as all terms of the previous publication are disclosed and discharged.
What do we pay?
- At this time we pay a flat price of $25 per published story.
What kinds of stories do we want?
We have written about our definition of hard science fiction, and in general, we want stories that in some way meet that definition of hard. At the same time, we have a loose definition of both "hard" and "science." We believe there can be a hard science fiction story about any science, from zythology, to agnoiology, to geratology.
No really, if you have a science fiction story about zythology, we really want to read it!
When you submit your story using the submission manager link above, one of the questions we ask you is how "hard" is the story. We want you to give a subjective rating on a scale of 1 to 7 that signifies how much research you put into the key scientific elements of the story. Will we publish a story that you rate as a 1? Maybe. But we vastly prefer stories that are rated a 7, even if it is rated a 7 on zythology.
Beyond the science, the story must be a good story. Characters, plot, and setting all matter to us, and ultimately are the guide of how good a story is, and what we will accept. We weigh the fundamental elements of a good story as highly as we rate the science fiction plausibility.
What we don't want
- Stories longer than 10,000 words.
- Partial stories. Please send the entire story when you submit.
- Reprints that you are allowed to republish. If this is a reprint you must specify when and where it originally appeared in your cover letter.
- Stories that are not in English. Translations are ok.