New Online Lit Mag Accepting Submissions - Writers Forum

Stacy · 09-06-2005, 09:10 PM

Halfway Down the Stairs, a new literary magazine, is now accepting submissions for our second issue. The theme for that issue is Wanderlust, and we accept work of all genres except for erotica and children's literature.

We are not able to pay our authors, as we don't profit from our site, and none of the editorial staff has any rich, eccentric aunts willing to fund our little publication (though we all checked our family trees very thoroughly, just in case). Our goal is to allow new and talented writers an opportunity to be published.

This is taken from our submissions page:

Quote:

Halfway Down the Stairs is currently accepting submissions for its March 2006 issue. The theme for that issue is Wanderlust. We accept poetry of 500 words or less, fiction of 5,000 words or less, and nonfiction of 3,000 words or less. Fiction and nonfiction pieces must be related to the theme of the issue, while we are willing to be lenient with poetry. As we do not profit financially from our e-zine, we regret that we cannot pay our authors.

Guidelines
1. We are looking for serious writers with an appreciation for language and the craft of writing. We want fiction with memorable characters and realistic plots, poetry that is fresh and original, and nonfiction that is both thoughtful and entertaining.

2. We will accept writing of any genre except erotica. Halfway Down the Stairs is written for a mainstream audience so if you do choose to submit fantasy or sci-fi, please make certain it is a piece that will be appreciated by people who are not educated in all things elfin or alien. As for the preferences of the editorial staff, we have varied tastes, which we believe is to the benefit of writers looking to submit their work.

3. We will accept only writing that has been proofread for spelling and grammar. Trust us on this one. Avis keeps her machete very sharp for people who are grammatically challenged.

4. People of all ages read Halfway Down the Stairs so we will not publish any pieces that contain explicit sexual content, unusually violent content, or repetitive swearing.

5. While we do not publish "adult content," we also do not publish stories or poems written for children. While we're sure "The Adventure of Bob the Bear" is very charming indeed, this is not the place for it.

6. Please do not send us any of the following: poetry that sounds like it ought to be on a Hallmark card, poetry you copied from a Hallmark card, how-to articles, first drafts of anything, fanfiction, previously published work, or stories that give you the warm fuzzies.

7. This ought to be obvious, but only send us your own work. If you send us anything plagiarized, remember we have a machete.

8. For legal reasons, we can only publish authors aged thirteen and up.

9. The editors are all responsive to shameless flattery and to gifts of chocolate.

10. The editors also like cheese. By this, we mean mozzarella and Brie, not cheesy fiction. Feta is also quite tasty.

The Submission Process
Please send all submissions to halfwaydown_thestairs@yahoo.com.

Your subject line should look like this: submission, genre, and title of your piece. (Example: "Submission, Fiction, Monsoon Nights.")

Within the body of your e-mail, give us the following information: the title, the name under which you wish to be published, your e-mail address, if the piece you are submitting has ever been published elsewhere, if you are over the age of thirteen, and a brief introduction written in the 3rd person point of view. Example:

Monsoon Nights.
by William C. Fredrikson.
crazywillie57@gmail.com.
No, 'Monsoon Nights' has never been published elsewhere.
Yes, I am over the age of thirteen.

William C. Fredrikson teaches grade seven social studies in British Columbia. His students think he looks exactly like Jack Nicholson. In his spare time, William enjoys playing the guitar, reading Hemingway, studying World War II history, and making fun of reality television.
If we do choose to publish your piece, we will also publish your bio. Your e-mail address is confidential, and we will never publish it or give it out.

After your introduction, please post your piece within the body of your e-mail. Please do not send your work as an attachment. We are almost as afraid of viruses as we are of spiders, and therefore, we won't open attachments. We don't accept spiders either. Or haikus about spiders. Please single space your work, double spacing between paragraphs.

We will respond to all submissions within two weeks of receiving them.

Deadline for Spring Issue: February 1, 2006.

Publication Details

Upon publishing your work, Halfway Down the Stairs will require exclusive electronic rights to it for 6 months, or the length of one issue. After the six month period is over, we will request nonexclusive electronic rights so we may include it in our archives.

Stacy · 09-18-2005, 10:51 PM

While we are looking for writers, we would also love some reader feedback.

Christopher Black · 09-28-2005, 04:52 AM

Quote:

5. While we do not publish "adult content," we also do not publish stories or poems written for children. While we're sure "The Adventure of Bob the Bear" is very charming indeed, this is not the place for it.

I found this funny. Nothing for children. Nothing for adults.

**Penelope** · 09-28-2005, 06:57 AM

I must commend you on the clarity of your submission call. I don't believe I have ever been less confused about the required content of possible submissions. Your title is also intriguing and the topic you've focused on is one of my favourites! Travel! Yay!

Stacy · 10-21-2005, 10:03 PM

Christopher Black wrote:
I found this funny. Nothing for children. Nothing for adults.

Sorry, Christopher. It does look funny when you look at it that way. By adult content, we meant erotica which is why we put it in quotation marks. Our work is technically for adults, but it is not solely for adults. It should also appeal to teens and maybe even to intelligent preteens. As far as children's literature goes, we just mean that in everything we publish, the language must be at a higher level. We are perfectly okay with stories about children or stories that have child narrators.

Penelope: Thank you.

Stacy · 01-01-2006, 07:44 PM

I'm doubleposting. Oh well.

There's just one month left before we stop accepting submissions for "wanderlust." We've had some really excellent poetry submissions, but we definitely could use some good fiction and creative nonfiction submissions.

Halfway Down the Stairs is going through a bit of a makeover right now. We'll have a great new site design for issue two, and this will be our very first issue with outside submissions.