Okay, before we get into this, I have to rant
just a little. It is becoming obvious that some people do not read guidelines
or, if they do, they are not paying attention. I am receiving e-mails with no
author's name, no information, no formatting of any kind. Just junk pasted into
the body of an e-mail that I am expected to deal with. Here's a clue: Not gonna
happen. That is why they put the little trash-can icon on the e-mail
application. So, if you bomb my mailbox with that kinda junk, don't be surprised
when you never get an answer. Okay, I'm done and here are the guidelines:
Please use file attachments in Word or
PDF. I do not like zip files. Times New Roman is my fave, but if it's not
written in Crayola, we're probably okay. The email address is blkptls@cox.net.
We accept short fiction, 700 words for flash fiction pieces, 2500 to 3500 words
for regular stories, and poetry of any length up to four pages, and
illustrations. We do not care for simultaneous submissions, as we have had
issues with writers "pulling" their work after release, because they
got a better offer elsewhere. If your piece IS being submitted elsewhere,
please advise at time of submission. For over twenty-five years, Black Petals
has been proud to give many authors their very first publications, and we still
continue that tradition. Even though we are one of the oldest "small
press" mags on the net, we are still about new talent.
Black Petals
is about the dark side of Science Fiction, and the bizarre and unusual in
Horror. Give us your best, most bizarre tales and your most chilling poetry. We
will do the rest because we strive to publish a quarterly, very professional
magazine.
Keeping this in mind, please
do not waste our time with manuscripts
containing “Star Trek” or any other copyrighted characters. They will be
discarded.
Please
send only your own work. Having
once been the victim of a plagiarist, you need to be aware you will be asked to
sign a contract. Work in which graphic sex or violence serves only to
“spice up” the tale, rape scenes, and “splatter punk” don’t impress us; neither
does focusing on ‘sexploitation’ or abuse of children, animals or dead people.
Other than that, go for it, and we will try our best to read and reply to all
submissions.
Payment at this time is limited to bragging rights. Authors and
artists retain all rights to their material after our one-time publication. We
require First Worldwide Electronic Rights for 18 months, after which we
normally archive our websites so readers can see back issues. Your story or
poem will be yours to do with as you like, but will still appear for 2 1/2
years on our domain. If you wish to have your material pulled after it
appears once, please let us know!
Here’s
what I like to see in a submission: First, as I already said, I want a file
attachment. I don’t care for a manuscript embedded in the body of an email.
I
don’t need to see strict manuscript format, but I do need your full name and
address on the first page, and some bio information at the end. I see no need
for your phone number unless you just want to include it. I like Times New
Roman font in at least 12-point. 14-point is even better. I like seeing good
spelling and grammar, but I would much rather have a story that grabs me and
makes me say, “Wow!” and have to work on it a little, than a
meticulously-written piece of crap. I’m not looking for English majors as much
as I am storytellers.
I tend
to be blunt and I didn’t take anyone to raise. If you can’t handle criticism or
rejection, you will have a tough time as a writer. If I reject your work, I
will tell you exactly why and I will suggest things you could do to improve
your chances of being published.
Artists, if you do
horror or science fiction art, we'd
like to see your work! We cannot pay for artwork, but we can help you increase
your portfolio of published work.
The contact person for
artwork is our Art Director, Hillary Lyon. Contact her at
blackpetalsartwork@gmail.com. We are looking for new talent to do custom
artwork to suit each story we decide to publish. Art assignments
will be sent by email and artists typically will have at least 30 days to
complete and return their work. Work should be submitted as a .jpg file
in 300 dpi density. DO NOT SEND ORIGINALS. If you can't scan it, send a good
color copy by regular mail to:
Black Petals
11627 Taft
Wichita, KS 67209
