Writing Craft - New Market Updates
- PERMUTATIONS: THE JOURNAL OF UNSETTLING FICTION
- (prose and photographs solicited)
>
> Pays 1 cent/word, $50.00
>
> David Anaxagoras, Publisher/Editor
> editor@permutationspress.com (submissions only)
> danaxagoras@permutationspress.com (all other inquiries)
>
> For all submissions, please let us know how you heard
> about us.
>
> SPECIFICS: Permutations seeks to publish modern
> literary fiction enlivened with overtones of science
> fiction, fantasy and horror. Our first quarterly issue
> is scheduled for Summer 2004 and will be a 5.5" x 8.5"
> perfect bound, glossy-cover magazine produced and
> published in the United States.
>
> We are looking for intelligent work that is a powerful
> emotional experience. We want to see
> character-centered fiction above all else. Stories
> should also on some level be off-beat, surreal,
> supernatural, fable, or magic realism. Experimental
> forms and short-shorts welcome.
>
> We appreciate subtlety. Leave the zombies, serial
> killers, ray-guns, and hobbits for other markets. Hard
> SF and high fantasy will be a tough sell. We want to
> see fully realized, emotionally and psychologically
> complex characters struggling to come to terms with an
> enigmatic world.
>
> Almost any story that features "typical" genre
> elements will be passed over: vampires, werewolves,
> mummies, witches and wizards, serial-killers, aliens,
> space ships, other planets, virtual reality,
> nanotechnology, cybernetics, robots, elves, barbarian
> warriors, mythological gods, the devil, angels, and on
> and on. We are also not fond of historical fiction.
>
> Most stories are rejected for lacking depth of
> character, for being very entrenched in typical genre
> elements, or for lacking a unique voice and crisp
> prose.
>
> Examples of our editorial tastes:
> Bruce Holland Rogers, The Dead Boy at Your Window
> Harlan Ellison, The Man Who Rowed Christopher Columbus
> Ashore, The Deathbird
> Terrance Cannon, Collapse of the Wave
> Charles Baxter, Through the Safety Net , Gryphon
> Ray Bradbury, Jack-in-the-Box, The Jar
>
> If you aren't familiar with some of these stories,
> please look at them before you submit.
> We are open to working with emerging writers. Unless a
> story clearly falls outside our guidelines, we will
> strive to make brief comments on all submissions.
>
> Submission Format
>
> We accept e-mail submissions only. Send all
> submissions to editor@permutationspress.com with your
> title and word count in the subject line.
> Subject: fiction submission: "My Story" 2500 words
>
> Paste plain text into the body of e-mail. No
> attachments. Include word count and mailing address in
> the body of your email. You may include a short author
> bio but previous publications are not nearly as
> important as the quality of your submission.
> Refer to our quick formatting tips if you have more
> questions.
>
> We will look at stories of any justifiable length but
> 1,000 to 4,000 words seem to work best. Nothing that
> trips into novella territory--err on the short side.
> We don't see publishing anything longer than 8,000
> words at this time and that itself would be a stretch.
>
> Simultaneous submissions are fine, please note at top
> of e-mail and let us know immediately if the story is
> placed elsewhere. Considering our very fast response
> time, you may decide to submit to us exclusively and
> wait a day or two for our response rather than go
> through the hassle.
>
> No multiple submissions.
>
> No reprints, including stories posted to the web.
>
> We are not looking for nonfiction, columns, articles,
> reviews or poetry at this time.
>
> Payment
>
> We pay $.01 (one cent) US per word up to a maximum of
> $50 (minimum $10) by contract plus one contributor's
> copy for first North American serial rights and the
> right to run an excerpt on our web site. Payments made
> on acceptance within 30 days of receipt of signed
> contract.
>
> A note about our blazingly fast response times
>
> Please don't take offense if your submission comes
> back to you too quickly -- possibly within the same
> day. That doesn't mean your submission wasn't
> carefully considered. There is only one editor at
> Permutations, so your submission doesn't bounce from
> reader to reader and wait on people's desks until
> finally, maybe, it trickles up to the decision makers.
>
>
> Because we only accept e-mail submissions we can
> tackle them as they come in, and we don't have to sort
> and open and route and copy and file mail. Finally,
> our editor believes in responding immediately to
> submissions once he's read them, and, again, the email
> system facilitates that.
>
> This may change someday when we are deluged with
> mountains of "slush" (we wish), but for the time
> being, please know -- your story got special treatment
> from an editor who cares about and respects writers
> enough to make them a top priority.
>
> Photography Guidelines
>
> We are seeking surreal, weird, strange, enigmatic
> black and white photography for our covers. Nothing
> gross just for the sake of shock. We want to see odd
> juxtapositions in real life encounters. Strange
> collisions between ordinary and unexpected. Haunting
> images. Blurred, unfocused and oddly framed stills are
> welcome. The grittier, the grainier, the more real,
> the better.
>
> Submit two or three samples in .jpg format (72 dpi)
> attached to e-mail, or send a link to an online
> gallery of your work to art@permutationspress.com.
>
> Payment
>
> Minimum payment is $50 US for cover photography.
> Payment on satisfactory completion of assignment and
> delivery by contract. Artists must be able to supply
> high-resolution .tif images via internet or CD-ROM.
>
> Notice
>
> Any submissions outside these guidelines will be
> likely be ignored.
>
> We are not seeking art in any other medium other than
> that described above.
>
> These guidelines are subject to change at any moment
> without notice as we draw closer to production. These
> guidelines do not imply any contract or offer.
>
> Send all non-submission related correspondence to
> publisher@permutationspress.com
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