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 required 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
