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 the 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:
Black Petals
is currently under a contingency plan. Due to some health
issues, the Editor, Anne Stickel, is out of commission until February 15th, 2021.
Submissions in the meantime will go to Kenny Crist. 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. 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 indefinitely on our domain. If you wish to have your material pulled after
it appears once, please let us know! In the
past, Anne Stickel has enjoyed doing book reviews for various writers. I will not be doing
those as I just don’t have the time. 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. Inquiries
are welcomed by email
at: blkptls@cox.net
. 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
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