Submission Guidelines
John Benson, Editor
12 Curtis Road
Natick, MA 01760
USA
Not One of Us is about people (or things) out of place in their surroundings, outsiders, social misfits, aliens in the SF sense—anyone excluded from society for whatever the reason. Although we’re known primarily as a horror market, we’d like Not One of Us to consider the problem of “otherness” from every possible fictional angle: horror, SF, slipstream, Western, mainstream, beat, whatever.
We crave characters (human or otherwise) who are different and who act the way they do out of plausible (if occasionally insane) motives. We need not like a character, but we want to understand her/him/it. Overused themes to avoid: vampires, alcoholic villains without any understanding of their motives, tales about writers, sword and sorcery, deals with the devil, and revenge stories that have no other point, especially if the punishment far exceeds the crime.
The ideal story length is 2000 to 5000 words, but shorter and longer works will also be considered. Poetry can come in any length within reason. We assume first North American serial rights, with rights reverting to the author/poet upon publication. Payment is ¼¢ per word ($5 minimum), payable upon publication, plus one contributor’s copy for stories; $5 plus one copy for poems.
Artwork takes the form of story illustrations plus theme-related front and back covers. Typical payment ranges from $8 to $15. Query with samples.
All hard copy correspondence should be accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope, or send submissions to john@not-one-of-us.com. Please send only one story or up to three poems at a time.