susurrus
the
literature of madness
|
susurrus |
the
literature of madness |
Guidelines updated 08/20/08
Susurrus is closed to submissions until January first. We're publishing two print anthologies (here and here), and NaNoWriMo is coming up, and most of the editorial staff participate in that, as well. We also have a massive backlog of submissions that we're working our way through. If you submitted a story and you haven't heard from us yet, you will soon!
Published quarterly, Susurrus is a highly experimental venue for fiction that deals with the human condition in speculative situations. We accept fiction and artwork submissions to be considered for publication. We purchase first electronic rights (second in the case of reprints), and archive all works on the site unless an author specifically requests otherwise. Our response time is now lingering at just over three months. Fiction We really like this new word that we've learned: Slipstream. This is a word that describes one of the things we most like to publish. We publish very few stories about traditional insanity, i.e., asylums, people talking to psychiatrists, stories that turn out to have taken places in someone's imagination, etc. If your story is like this, it must be very, very excellent to be considered. We almost automatically reject any flash fiction dealing with suicide or murder. Our official stance is that if your story has characters, then they're crazy, and it fits the theme. Surreal, experimental, low fantasy, humor (we'd like more of this), horror, SF, magical realism, and literary fiction are all considered -- but you stand the best chance of being published if your story is more than one of these. Fiction should be well written and well edited pieces from 1 word to 5,000 words, and should be sent as .doc, .rtf, .txt, .odt., or pasted to the body of the e-mail. Multiple subs: no more than 3 stories to a maximum combined word count of 5,000 words. Include your name and mailing address. Send fiction submissions to editor Rev Brian Worley and assistant editor James Maddox: editor@susurrusmagazine.com Poetry We publish poetry very occasionally (two or three poems a year). Humor or a strong narrative help. Send no more than 5 poems at a time. Send submissions to editor@susurrusmagazine.com Artwork We have a strange way of dealing with art submissions. Most of our artwork is solicited, but we accept submissions that will be "archived" in our inbox. We will contact you if and when we find a piece that suits a particular issue. Because we continually change the layout, etc, of our issues, we just keep your work in an ongoing pool of artwork for consideration. If we like enough of it, we may ask you to be a "feature artist". Artwork should also be strange or surreal. We prefer recognizable subject matter, and we tend to like figurative artwork. See the artwork of Margot Quan Knight and Nicholas Di Genova for an idea of what we like. Also, look at the art in the magazine. Send submissions as jpegs, or send us a link to your website, and please put "ART" or something like that somewhere in the subject line. Include your name and mailing address. Sent art submissions to: editor@susurrusmagazine.com
Reviews If you'd like us to review your novel, story collection, magazine, or fiction website, send us a query with a brief bio and synopsis. We do not review self-published or vanity-published works. We will also consider reviews written by third parties, please submit the full review for consideration.
Other We consider articles of interest, interviews, and random miscellany. Articles, reviews, and interviews must do one or both of the following: 1) Be of interest to a reader or writer of small press fiction or electronic fiction. OR 2) Be written in a way that is consistent with what we publish. That is, be experimental, strange, incomprehensible, obscure, esoteric, ergodic, etc. Submit or query if you're not sure: editor@susurrusmagazine.com
Payment Our rates have raised to a flat US$10.00 payment per story/poem per issue, paid on publication. Feature artists are paid a flat $10.00 payment.
We welcome your submissions, questions, comments, or suggestions. Email: editor@susurrusmagazine.com Reading List In no particular order, that is not comprehensive, but is everything I could think of (with the brief aid of my bookcase). David Sedaris, A Spot of Bother, Kurt Vonnegut, Kelly Link, Franz Kafka, Anthony Burgess, American Psycho, House of Leaves, Carlton Mellick III, Christopher Moore, Ray Bradbury, Catch 22, Borges, J. Vasquez, Chuck Palahnuik, Richard Matheson, Neil Gaiman, Richard Brautigan, Italo Calvino, Terry Pratchett, Nick Sagan, Haruki Muirakami. See also, links, and, read our magazine. Our lawyers say that we should tell you that our rates and terms are subject to change.
Volunteer Would you like to help with Susurrus Press publications? None of our positions are paying (in fact, we spend money to make Susurrus Press happen), but we're always looking for people willing to lend a helping hand. Drop us a line if you're interested. Let us know if you have any special skills or relevant interests. |
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