ATTN Poets: Check Out Ideomancer

I just heard that Ideomancer, the speculative fiction e-zine, is one of the friendliest markets for poets! They also have a very low response time. This means, if you were to read up on their submission guidelines, then submit a poem to them, you'd have a response as to whether or not it has been accepted for publication within as few as 15 days. Hey, that's not bad! I once waited 109 days for what turned out to be a rejection letter.

Did I mention that Ideomancer is a paying market? Oo la la.

Submission Guidelines are as follows:

Submissions

Ideomancer publishes speculative fiction and poetry that explores the edges of ideas; stories that subvert, refute and push the limits. We want unique pieces from authors willing to explore non-traditional narratives and take chances with tone, structure and execution, balance ideas and character, emotion and ruthlessness. We also have an eye for more traditional tales told with excellence.

We are especially interested in non-traditional formats, hyperfiction, and work that explores the boundaries not just of its situation but of the internet-as-page.

We are open to submissions during December-January, March-April, June-July, September-October. Any stories or poems submitted to us during the months of November, February, May, and August will be deleted unread.

Ideomancer does not accept simultaneous or multiple submissions.

[If you are new to the world of submitting your work, I'll tell you that simultaneous submissions are instances where you send the same story or poem to two or more publishers/ markets at the same time. Some markets do not accept simultaneous submissions b/c they don't want to waste their time reading your work if another market is going to possibly accept it, forcing you to retract your submission. Multiple submission means sending more than one piece to the same market. Ideomancer wants to read your stuff one at a time.]

Submissions will be replied to inside 30 days. If you haven’t heard from us in 30 days, please send a query with the subject line “Query: Your Story Title“.

f i c t i o n

Stories should be e-mailed to us at fiction @ ideomancer.com with “Submission: Your Story Title” in the subject line.

All submissions should use Standard Manuscript Format and be attached to your e-mail as an .rtf file. Please include a short cover letter in your email with your name, story title, genre, and word count.

Fiction submissions should be no longer than 7000 words.

p o e t r y

Ideomancer also publishes poetry. All poetry must have a speculative element, whether fantasy, mythic, horror or science fiction. Poetry lacking one of those elements will not be considered. Please send only one poem, or one series of short poems, at a time. There is no line limit on poetry, but make sure to send writing that is conducive to webzine publication (no book-length projects, please). We only publish four poems per quarter, sixteen poems per year, so send us your very best. 

All poems submitted MUST be sent as an RTF attachment to poetry @ ideomancer.com; query first before submitting visual poetry, hypertext poetry, or poetry that otherwise requires the use of an alternate file format. Please put “Poetry Submission: Your poem title” in the header of your email.

r e p r i n t s, a r t i c l e s, a r t

Ideomancer accepts only those reprints we have solicited; no unsolicited reprints will be considered.

As well, all non-fiction pieces and art are generated in-house. We do not solicit articles from the public, nor do we accept art submissions.

r e v i e w s

To have your book or project considered for review, contact us at reviews @ ideomancer.com.

r i g h t s a n d p a y m e n t

Ideomancer pays 3 cents a word USD (our word processor count — Microsoft Word) up to a maximum of US$40. Poetry payment is a flat US$6 per poem. Payment is upon publication.

We buy First Worldwide Electronic Rights, with exclusive rights required for three months. The story will be archived unless requested otherwise by the author. All rights revert to the author if the story has not been published within two years of acceptance.

--Are you still reading? I'm so glad! If you're in the mood for some more reading, I may as well share with you my favorite Ideomancer story of all kind. It answers the question...What might man's best friend be like in the future?

"The Promise of Touch" by Stephen Mohan, Jr.

--Sasha, SWG blogger