|
— Revised November, 2002
EFFECTIVE DECEMBER 1, 2002, WE ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTING FLASH PLAYS.
These are the guidelines we will use to judge your work.
Ignore them at your peril!
About flashquake
flashquake is an independent, quarterly, web-based publication
that focuses on works of flash fiction, flash nonfiction (memoirs, essays,
creative nonfiction, humor) and short poetry.
We aim to make flashquake a top quality paying venue for literary writers, and we award stipends to all chosen contributors in each category. We reserve the right to withhold some or all of the stipends to be awarded depending on the quality of the work submitted.
flashquake defines "flash" as fiction and nonfiction of less than 1000 words in length. However, we admire brevity and will receive shorter works favorably. For poetry, our maximum limit is 35 lines per poem. We have no specific guidelines for prose poetry; it must be under our 1000 word limit.
We accept submissions in each of four categories:
We're open to any type of writing within those categories, and specifically, we're looking for original work with fresh ideas and strong, clean, concise writing. We will consider reprints of previously published work, as long as the author has retained all rights. We want to see pieces that readers will think about after they've finished reading them.
flashquake seeks the following permissions from our authors:
- Permission to include your work in the issue of flashquake for which it was submitted
- Permission to include your work in our online archives after publication
- Permission to include your work in the CD version of flashquake which is awarded to contributors
River Road Studios is the parent company of flashquake.org and retains the copyright on the publication as a whole (name, design, configuration, etc.). Individual artists retain the rights to his or her own work.
PUBLICATION SCHEDULE/READING PERIODS
Spring Issue - to be published March 1, 2003
- Submissions accepted December 1, 2002 to February 1, 2003
- Contributor Notification Deadline - February 15, 2003
Summer Issue - to be published June 1, 2003
- Submissions accepted March 1 to May 1, 2003
- Contributor Notification Deadline - May 15, 2003
Fall Issue - to be published September 1, 2003
- Submissions accepted June 1, 2003 to August 1, 2003
- Contributor Notification Deadline - August 15, 2003
Winter Issue - to be published December 1, 2003
- Submissions accepted September 1, 2003 to November 1, 2003
- Contributor Notification Deadline - November 15, 2003
Any submission received after a deadline has passed will be held for the next reading period.
HOW TO SUBMIT
PROOF YOUR WORK THOROUGHLY! Typographical and grammatical errors distract the reader. Such errors may disqualify your submission, and will certainly make a less than favorable impression on our editors. WE WILL INSTANTLY REJECT ANY SUBMISSION CONTAINING MULTIPLE SPELLING OR GRAMMAR ERRORS.
We do accept simultaneous submissions. Please be sure to tell us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
WE DO NOT ACCEPT MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS
We do not accept multiple submissions. Submissions are restricted to one piece of work per author/artist in any single category per reading period. This means that one writer could send us one short story, one memoir and one poem in the same reading period, and that we would consider all three pieces. However, if one writer sent us two short stories, we would only accept the first one received.
Further, if your submission is rejected, you may not resubmit it, or any other work in the same category until the next reading period.
ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS:
If you are new to electronic submissions, please read our Notes on Preparing Your Work.
Make sure that you include the following information in your submission:
- Name
- E-mail address
- Address
- Title of your work
- The category in which you are submitting
- A short (no more than 100 words) biography written in third person
- Whether the piece has been previously published and if so, where
Paste your submission into a PLAIN TEXT e-mail message addressed to submit@flashquake.org.
WE WILL NOT OPEN ATTACHMENTS TO E-MAIL!
Label your message with the category in which your submitting and the title of your work (e.g., Fiction Submission: My Story Title).
Be sure to use a standard font, such as Courier. Separate your paragraphs with a blank line.
Check and double-check your message before hitting the Send key.
LAND MAIL SUBMISSIONS:
Include the same information as above in a cover sheet.
Prepare your manuscript double-spaced in a standard font (e.g. Courier). Your manuscript will be scanned, converted into electronic text, and sent to our editors. We will not be responsible for typographical errors resulting from the conversion process.
Mail your manuscript to:
flashquake
ATTN: (Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Artwork) Editor
P.O. Box 2154
Albany NY 12220-0154
Be sure to include an SASE if you don't have an e-mail address and want a reply about the disposition of your work, and make sure that you include sufficient postage. If you do not include adequate postage, your reply will not be sent. If you give us an e-mail address, notification will be returned via the e-mail address. Your submission must be RECEIVED by the closing date of the reading period in which you're submitting.
NOTE: We will NOT return manuscripts. Be sure to send a disposable copy.
SUBMISSION NOTIFICATION
Writers submitting work for publication will be notified via e-mail about the status of their submissions within one week of the publication date, or sooner if possible.
We provide our reviewers' comments about work considered so that writers will know why we've accepted or rejected a particular piece. These are not in-depth critiques, but subjective comments from our editors and may not be positive in nature. The comments returned from our editors are unvarnished and have offended some who receive them.
Reviewers' comments about the work will automatically be forwarded along with your notification. The majority of feedback we've received about supplying our editors' comments has been overwhelmingly positive. However, if you are apprehensive about receiving honest comments about your work, please indicate on your submission that you would prefer not to see the comments.
If you are submitting via land mail and do not have an e-mail address, you may enclose an SASE for notification. You will be notified via return mail as soon as our decision has been made.
PAYMENT OF STIPENDS
Submissions in each writing category will be judged by our editors, whose decisions are final. All published authors will receive payments ranging from $5 - $25, to be made upon acceptance. The actual amount to be paid will be decided by our editors' ranking of the work. All authors and artists whose work is accepted for publication will receive a CD version of the issue in which their work was published.
ARTWORK GUIDELINES
|