What you should know
Accepting:
Fantasy and Science Fiction short stories
Length:
2000 to 6000 words
Where to Submit:
http://hollowcity.submishmash.com/Submit
Accepted Formats:
.doc, .rtf, and .pdf
Science Fiction
Science fiction has a long history of exploring many different themes. Some are political. Others are religious or social. Some deal with the military while others deal with the ramifications of human choice on the environment, alien species, and more. The field of science fiction has the ability to be very expansive and to creatively explore a lot of different ideas. With that in mind, we are requesting original work that explores very real themes that are applicable to the world today and the individual author. These can be political or social or economic or environmental. In addition to what they can be, the voice and writing should also be original and should look for a unique way to explore the genre of science fiction.
Hollow City is looking for new and unique science fiction with a flare that is decidedly different from what is considered mainstream. New and unique does not mean non-marketable, as any story well told and well written is marketable. There are many examples of unique stories originating from different cultures and places around the world. It is these voices we’d like to tap into, explore, and publish.
Fantasy
As with science fiction, the Fantasy genre is open to many interpretations available for exploration. Where science fiction can often find a foundation in some scientific principle, fantasy finds itself exploring themes through culture and conflict using magic or non-scientific elements for the final resolution. Fantasy is an exploration of character and worlds and interactions. This genre can be set in Medieval times, modern times, near past, and near future. Extra points will be awarded to those that find unexplored or little-explored periods in history to base stories off of. Some of the best explorations of fantasy are the ones that ignore convention and choose to explore themes from a unique perspective, often cultural or individual, rather than trying to reinterpret what has already been published.
Submission Process and Policy
All submissions can be made through http://hollowcity.submishmash.com/Submit.
Anyone who submits is encouraged to include college or university name so we can add a link to the university program that generated the writer.
Hollow City is looking for submissions in both science fiction and fantasy. These submissions should be between 2000 and 8000 words long. Formatting should be through Microsoft Word or an RTF format, double-spaced, with 1 inch margins. Please do not submit anything with a fancy or frilly font that is hard to read. Font suggestions should be 12 point and either Times New Roman or Courier. Other legible 12 point fonts are acceptable. Please no sans-serif fonts at this time. Multiple individual submissions are acceptable. And Hollow City will accept submissions currently out to other publications. However, if your piece is accepted somewhere else, please inform Hollow City’s editorial staff so that we can remove your writing from consideration.
Also, please consider following Hollow City through Twitter @hollowcity and Facebook through the Hollow City Science Fiction and Fantasy page.
Compensation
Unfortunately, at this time Hollow City does not make enough money to pay authors an advance on work submitted. However, starting with publication, Hollow City will pay authors based on visitors and ad sales to individual stories and we hope that within the next year ad revenue will increase so that all future stories will receive remuneration upon acceptance and prior to publication and will continue with royalty payments. There is a business model in place to create a revenue stream that, unlike other publications; we want to share with contributing authors. More information will be provided upon acceptance of a story for submission.