Submissions
Submissions
FICTION GUIDELINES (Fiction submissions are temporarily closed for Issue #1)
Word Limit: 500—5,000 words. It is possible to slightly exceed or miss this range and we may still have an interest in your story, but please don’t send us something which is clearly out of this range.
​
Pay Rate: We pay $20 for the first 2000 words (whether your story is 500 or 2000 words). Then we pay $0.01/word for every word above 2000. We would love to pay more, but for now, this is what we can afford. Check back here for the current pay rate. Most payments will be made via PayPal.
​
Genres: Fantasy, literary, and science fiction. Not interested in horror, but if your story crosses genres or dips into slipstream, magical realism, or historical, then that’s okay.
​
Language: Your story must be submitted in English (although English does not have to be your first language).
​
Rights: When we buy your story, we get all first rights for six months. Once the story is published on our site, you are free to sell your story to someone else as a reprint.
​
Simultaneous Submissions: Yes.
​
Multiple Submissions: No.
What we’re looking for:
1. We do not prefer any particular style. Your prose can be lyrical, pulpy, or something in between. That being said, we are not interested in either purple prose or work that outdoes Hemingway in its minimalism. Round characters and intriguing plots are a must, but it’s a unique voice and distinct prose that will hook us.
2. Any topic or theme is acceptable. Sex, violence, and profanity are fine, as long as we feel their use is warranted in the context of the story. We are also not interested in stories which are a thinly veiled critique of current-day political parties. Examining and critiquing ideologies is fine (even encouraged), but we should not be able to switch out a few words and see that your story is really just an alt-right manifesto in poor disguise.
3. Not that it should need to be said, but we are also not interested in stories which are racist, sexist, homophobic, or hateful toward any particular group. While we do not allow the identity of an author to affect our choice to publish a particular story, we encourage writers from all manner of backgrounds to apply, and we welcome stories written from diverse perspectives.
How to Submit:
​
When you submit, we request that you like and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. You can use the icons at the top of the website. Thank you!
​
All stories should be submitted in standard manuscript format. We prefer serif fonts and you should submit in either .DOC or .DOCX format. No other file types will be accepted. Once your story is formatted correctly, you can email it to submissions@theyearaftermag.com. Please use the subject line “SUBMISSION: Story Name” (making the appropriate substitution for the story name). We will try to get back to you as soon as we can, but we may hold on to your piece for up to a month. If our response time changes or we want to ask you about your piece, we will reach out to you. You may contact us regarding the status of your submission only after two full weeks have passed.
We may give feedback or we may not (it depends how busy we are; we’re all volunteers). If we think your story is close, we may reach out and suggest some edits. There may be an exchange or two of edits, and we may then make an offer to buy. Please understand, however, that our request to edit is not a guarantee that we will purchase the story. You may, of course, refuse the request to edit and choose to submit a different story in the future. We are excited to read your fiction submissions! Good luck!
​
NONFICTION GUIDELINES (Rolling submissions for Issue #1)
Word Limit: 500—5,000 words.
​
Pay Rate: $25/piece. We regret that we cannot offer a higher rate of pay at this time, but watch this space.
​
Topics: We are interested in a broad range of pieces, including personal memoirs, literary criticism, commentary on current events, and philosophy. Pitch something to us!
​
Language: English
What we’re looking for:
​
1. This publication is for a general readership. Therefore pieces should be thought-provoking and accessible, but not oversimplified, aimed at an informed, but not expert, audience. Jargon should be avoided as much as possible.
​
2. We will consider nonfiction written from both neutral and personal perspectives, but not material which is overly biased and polemic, or which targets specific parties who are not in the general interest.
​
3. We particularly encourage detailed articles where the writer puts something significant in historical context. However, any commentary on current events must contain unique and original insights, since that genre is highly competitive.
​
4. It is important that you provide sources for all factual information, which we will check individually. We cannot publish spurious claims. Please provide these as inline citations, giving hyperlinks where possible.
How to Submit:
Do not send us your entire piece. Instead, please submit an email with the topic, an outline of what you plan to write, and the first 2-3 paragraphs so we can get a sense of your writing style. We may request additional information or more sample paragraphs. If we request the full piece, then we intend, but do not guarantee, to publish it. Once we reach out to you with a request to write the piece, we would like a prompt response and delivery of material. We reserve the right to forgo buying the piece if it turns out to be 1.) off-topic, 2.) poorly written, or 3.) fails to fully explore the topic as proposed—however, we expect this to be rare. We also reserve the right to edit and rearrange your piece for clarity and effect; if an edit is substantial, we’ll contact you beforehand.
Please send all submissions to submissions@theyearaftermag.com with the subject line “NONFICTION: [Your title here].” You may query about the status of your proposal after two weeks have passed.