Great Hall: Closed
Poetry: Open
Crown & Thistle: Closed
Gallery: Closed
Audio: Open
Commentary: Open
This is the authoritative page for guidelines and addresses; information posted here supercedes market listings available in other publications or on other sites.
All submissions must be sent electronically to the appropriate editor.
Multiple submissions are allowed, but please keep it reasonable. Simultaneous submissions are also okay, but please note that fact in your e-mail. If the work has been previously published please tell us where and when. ("Previously published" applies to public dissemination in print or electronic format. Submitting work to a critique group is not considered publication provided the circulation is limited to others in the group, as with groups that meet physically or utilize password-protected sites. Posting work on your homepage is considered publication.)
Please include the following information in the e-mail and attachment (if applicable) of all submissions:
Great Hall
Fables publishes speculative fiction of all varieties: fantasy, science fiction, horror, sword and sorcery, urban fantasy, magical realism, science fantasy, time travel, alternate history, and so forth. There are no taboos as far as content or theme, and both serious and humorous stories are welcome, as are cross-genre tales. For a sense of the editor's tastes you can read previous issues.
Word count is open. Most works published on the site are shorts (under 1,000 words) or short stories (1,000-7,499 words) but we have published longer works in the past. Novelettes (7,500-17,499 words) are published in their entirety in one issue. Novellas (17,500-39,000 words) and novels (40,000 words and up) will be considered for serialization.
Attachments in .rtf are preferred. Attachments in .txt or .doc format are also acceptable, as are submissions in the body of the e-mail. Please keep formatting simple; even such apparently minor enhancements as curly quotes have a tendency to get garbled in transit.
Poetry
Both traditional and free form poetry with a fantastical or folklorish subject; light verse may also be accepted on occasion.
Submissions should be text only, embedded in the body of the e-mail; no attachments, please.
Submissions for the Poetry section should go to Abigail Friedman at poetry@fables.org.
Crown & Thistle
This section contains retellings of traditional folktales from around the world. Please include the cultural source of the folktale as well as any reference materials you may have used (we maintain a list and like to include references in the Marketplace).
Word count is open, though stories of this type seem to work best as shorts (under 1,000 words) or short stories (1,000-7,499 words).
Attachments in .rtf are preferred. Attachments in .txt or .doc format are also acceptable, as are submissions in the body of the e-mail. Please keep formatting simple; even such apparently simple things as curly quotes have a tendency to get garbled in transit.
Gallery
Work may be sent attached to the e-mail (.jpg or .gif format), or the artist may provide the URL for an online gallery. Images should be sent at a web-standard resolution of 72 dpi.
Audio
If you are interested in submitting a recording, please query first.
Queries should be sent to Lawrence D. P. Miller at audio@fables.org.
Commentary
If you are interested in submitting work for review or joining our pool of reviewers, please see our review guidelines. Articles, interviews and other nonfiction pieces may be submitted individually. If you have an idea for a recurring column, please query.
Commentary queries and submissions should be sent to Lawrence D. P. Miller at commentary@fables.org.
Payment
Fables is a semi-professional market with the following pay rates. Serials, individual illustrations and other exceptions are negotiated on a case-by-case basis.
Rights
For previously unpublished Great Hall stories, we ask for exclusive rights for 90 days (one issue). Fables acquires non-exclusive rights for all other works for a minimum of 90 days (one issue). After that period, works will be archived indefinitely and removed at the creator's request or the editors' discretion. Creators retain their copyright.
General Information
Fables is published on a quarterly schedule. Depending on our current backlog, it may be a year or more before accepted work is published; the section editor will have a better idea about a prospective publication date.
Contributors will have the opportunity to review their work and bio prior to publication.
Fables assumes that those who submit work have the legal right to do so. We do not accept work based on copyrighted material (no fan-fic). Contributors agree to having their work published on our website, the pages of which may be viewed online or downloaded or printed for personal use. The contents of the site may not be redistributed, resold or repackaged.
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