Ongoing Submissions: Black Cat Weekly

Payment: 1 cent per word, minimum $5, up to $50
Theme: Science Fiction or Fantasy

Black Cat Weekly is a weekly publication showcasing the best in original, modern, and classic mysteries, adventure stories, fantasy, and science fiction. Issues are (mostly) unthemed except around the holidays. (We run extra dark fantasy stories around Halloween, for example.)

Submission Guidelines for Black Cat Weekly (Science Fiction)

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a market for both original and reprint fiction. Guidelines for both are different. Please see the appropriate section below.

ORIGINAL FICTION

We will read human-generated, original crime and mystery stories as long as they meets the following criteria:

SUBJECT: Stories must include a fantastic element. It isn’t a fantasy or science fiction if it doesn’t have an element of science fiction or fantasy. We prefer traditionally plotted stories rather than experimental or literary fiction. Space opera, hard science fiction, social SF, high fantasy, sword and sorcery, contemporary or historical — we love it all!

RESPONSE TIME: We try for less than a week if we know it won’t work for us, but realistically that’s been slipping to 3-4 weeks of late. It can be several months if it’s under serious consideration and needs multiple readers to look at it.

TABOOS: No gimmick stories, no surprise endings. PG-13 rating.

FORMAT: Use standard manuscript format. (You know, double spaced, title on first page, page numbers on the upper right-hand corners, etc.)  .rtf, .doc, or .docx file formats preferred. Make sure you have your contact information on the first page. (You’d be amazed how many people don’t. We use your mailing address for the contract.)

LENGTH: 1,500 to 15,000 words preferred, but can go up to 45,000 words. If your submission is longer than the portal will allow, just tell it that the story is 15,000 words and it will accept it. (We don’t mind.)

SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS: No. You will be banned from this and future projects if we discover we have received a simultaneous submission.

AI-GENERATED FICTION: No, unless so heavily revised by a human until it’s basically original work by a human. AI writing is an interesting experiment (we have played with it), but it isn’t good enough on a sentence-by-sentence level today.

ARTWORK: No.

POETRY: No.

MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS: No. Send one story at a time. If we pass on it, please submit another.

REPRINTS (PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED FICTION): No, unless specifically requested.

DEADLINE: Open. It’s a weekly publication, running 52 fstories every year. We are currently about 3 months backlogged with material to publish.

PAYMENT: 1 cent per word, minimum $5, up to $50. Payment is on publication. We prefer to pay by PayPal.

Via: Black Cat Weekly’s Moksha.