.:ELECTRIC VELOCIPEDE:. Submission Guidelines

Electric Velocipede is closed to submissions until further notice. You can read the whole story here.

Please note that there is a new e-mail address for submissions to Electric Velocipede. It is:

submissions [at] electricvelocipede [dot] com

Or you can click here.

Stories up to 10,000 words. Published stories tend to be 2,000 to 5,000 words, but longer is fine. If your story is considerably longer than 10,000 words (i.e., 15,000 words), please query me first.

I want to see something different. I want to see something unusual. I want to see stories that are . . . a little weird. If you've read the zine, you know what that means. If you recognize the names of the people in the zine, you'll probably have an idea of what I want. Science fiction is fine; I just don't care for hardcore nuts and bolts. Fantasy is fine; I'm just not all that comfortable with elves, dwarves, unicorns, etc. Cross-genre is more than fine, and weird is just about perfect. I am not actively looking for horror.

Despite the zine's name, it's certainly not a requirement to write steampunk to be considered, but you will catch my ear if you do. I like stories that have something hidden in them; it can be a character with a secret, things that aren't what they seem, or places that exist where they shouldn't.

Here are a some names you can keep in mind while trying to decide what to send: Kelly Link, Hal Duncan, Leslie What, Jeff VanderMeer, Theodora Goss, Jeffrey Ford, Margo Lanagan, China Mieville, and Kage Baker.

That's a wide enough variety of writing styles to give just about anyone a chance to write something I'd publish. And don't think you have to write in the style of these people to have a chance of getting a submission accepted; I don't want their clones, I want writers with their originality.

I do not want reprints.

I prefer to not receive simultaneous submissions.

Show me something out of the ordinary.

I will not accept anything longer than 100 lines. Most poems (other than haikus) that are published in Electric Velocipede tend to run around 15 or 20 lines. Otherwise, the same guidelines follow as for fiction. Bruce Boston, Christina Sng, Kevin L. Donihe, Keith Allen Daniels, Joe Haldeman, and Neil Gaiman are all very talented poets. Don't copy their style, but use them for inspiration. Seek them out.

If you want examples of the poetry I like, you can click on the ISSUES link and look at back issues to see what I've published. The poems in issue #11 are excellent examples of what I'm looking for.

Poetry is much more subjective for me than prose. It's tough for me to nail down a description of what I'm looking for. Because of this, I see a lot of poetry that I do not like. I prefer poetry that runs along the surreal and/or humorous. However, don't try to be just funny, don't be just surreal, be original, give me a twist on something that's been over done. Send me your best.

Please do not send me more than five poems at one time. When I get ten or twelve (or more) poems from one person at one time, it tends to numb me to their style. I can't see too much from you all at once. Wait for my response to see if you're on the right track.

I do not want reprints.

I prefer to not receive simultaneous submissions.

Show me something out of the ordinary.

The zine currently has a few nonfiction elements, so I'm not actively looking for anything new. However, if you have a great idea, please e-mail me with a description of what you have in mind and we can discuss the idea.

I do not accept unsolicited submissions of artwork. However, I am always willing to discuss your work.

I always get asked what people should put in their cover letters with their submissions. Here are things that you can put into cover letters that will grab my attention (in order of importance*):

Please note that I did not mention a summation of your story. The stories are short enough that I do not need a summation. If you feel the need to mention anything about the story, tell me its title, length, and genre.

* The order of importance is to me, not to other editors, agents, writers, etc. This is how I view things in publishing and does not reflect what anyone else thinks.

Read this to learn how I want my submissions formatted. If you ignore these guidelines, you will be rejected. An over abundance of spelling/grammatical errors will get you bounced as well. Don't give me the easy out of abandoning ship because of problems in grammar, spelling, or format. Don't let me brand the work as amateurish. Yes, I might miss the NEXT BIG THING, but I'll take that risk. Obviously submission sent in the body of an e-mail will have difficulty adhering to this guidelines, so do the best you can.

Do not query me about whether you should send a submission. Send it. I'll read it. I'll let you know what I think about it.

I pay about 1 cent a word for accepted pieces to Electric Velocipede. This will not be an exact science. Your word count will be rounded, and I will typically round up the final dollar value to make a nice number (i.e. $40 instead of $39). There is a $25 minimum payment for short fiction. Poems will be paid as follows: $15 for one poem, $20 for two poems, and $25 for three poems. All authors will receive two copies of the issue in which their work appears.

If I accept a piece, I am acquiring First Serial Rights; I have enough authors, subscribers, fans around the world that I am not comfortable acquiring only First North American Serial Rights. However, this is negotiable should I accept your piece. Do not discuss rights with me before I accept your piece. All rights revert to the author upon publication of the piece. Ask me if you have further questions.

Spelling, grammar, and formatting errors are distractions from your writing. They make you look amateurish. They make you look like you don't care about your story.

And if you don't care about your story, why should I?

I cannot overstate the importance of putting your name and some sort of contact information on your fiction. When you send in a story, please put at least your name and e-mail address before the text of your story.

This is not negotiable. This is mandatory.

If I get a submission without at least a name and e-mail address before the text of the story, the story WILL BE REJECTED. You will not get the story back to have your information added to it; YOU WILL BE REJECTED.

Leaving your name and contact information off of your submission just shows you up as an amateur and as someone who isn't serious about writing.

Electric Velocipede is closed to submissions until further notice.

I prefer that you send your submission as an attachment or in the body of the e-mail. If you don't feel comfortable clicking on the link, send it to: submissions [at] electricvelocipede [dot] com. Follow the guidelines above for layout. For submissions pasted in the body of the e-mail, just paste the text, don't try to format it. Be forewarned that I often print out submissions and read off paper. The simpler format you provide your attached story in (i.e. plain text) the easier it is for me to work with for the purposes of printing out. I will respond to e-mail submissions more quickly than print submissions.

If you'd still prefer to mail your submission, use the following address:

Enclose a SASE or an e-mail address with your submission or it will not be read. I can't tell you how many times I get a piece of fiction that does not have any contact information about the author on it.

NOTE: If you notice any errors on these pages, please feel free to laugh at me and send me a derisive e-mail about them.