Submission Guidelines for Flash Fiction Online

What We Publish:

• Fantasy
• Science Fiction
• Horror
• Literary
• Mainstream
• Seasonal
• Romance (not erotica)

Flash Fiction Online strives to publish fiction that presents the full variety of humanity in its pages. As such, we encourage submissions from writers of every stripe. We particularly like to see stories from writers whose backgrounds not well-represented in the field of short fiction, whether it be due to race/ethnicity, religion, ability, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, or something not listed in this statement.

What We Look For

• 500-1,000 words in length.
• Strong, interesting characters, plots, and settings.
• Correct English grammar, syntax, and spelling (Yank or Anglo spellings are acceptable).
• Stories only
• Standard manuscript format: Times New Roman, 12 pt., double-spaced, left-aligned, indicated scene breaks (use # or *), auto-formatted paragraph indents, and one-inch margins.
• doc., docx., rtf., or txt. files only.
• Omit ALL author information (name, address, phone, email, etc.) from the text body, headers, and text file name. Include author information in the cover letter only. This allows for anonymity in our selection process, and ensures that stories are selected entirely on merit — not previous publication credits.
• We DO accept multiple submissions. Submit multiple submissions as a SEPARATE submission for each story. DO NOT submit multiple stories in one Submittable submission form or in one text document. DO NOT submit more than 3 stories at once.

What We Don’t Take

• Simultaneous submissions
• Poetry, children’s books, free verse, novel excerpts, novels, etc.
• No erotica, porn, graphic sex, or egregious violence.
• Stories longer than 1000 or less than 500 words.
• Resubmissions or rewrites unless requested by the Editor in Chief.

What We Pay:

Please submit Reprints in the REPRINT category. Reprints submitted through any other category will be returned unread. Payment is $.02 (two cents) per word. You must include where the piece has been published before. All general guidelines apply.

As of April 1, 2014, we pay sixty dollars ($60) per story. This payment provides us with first electronic rights, including HTML, PDF, plain text, print and MP3 (audio) formats. Distribution will be through this Web site and a variety of other electronic and print means, including but not exclusively epub, mobi, pdf, ibook and print. This payment also provides us with a non-exclusive one-time right to publish the stories in an anthology. For reprints, we pay $.02 (two cents) per word for nonexclusive rights.

When to Query:

We are an open submission market.

Please do not query prior to submitting. Query only to ask after the status of your already-submitted story.

Our response time ranges from 2 days to 10 weeks. Queries are only for stories that have already been submitted.

Please do not query until at least 8 weeks after submission.

Send queries to editor@flashfictiononline.com. Include QUERY in the subject line.

Due to the number of submissions we receive, we are unable to give personal feedback or critiques.

HOW TO SUBMIT:

Click over to Submittable to submit.

(http://ffo.submittable.com/submit)

We do not accept email submissions. All submissions must go through Submittable.

Want to Know More About Flash Fiction Online:

Want to know more about us? Visit our staff page, read our stories, sign up for a subscription. We’re also on Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Facebook. Look us up. Like us. Tweet us.

SFWA Qualification

Publication in Flash Fiction Online counts toward the requirements for membership in the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA).

Although the SFWA recognizes this magazine as a professional market, we frequently publish literary fiction and other genres.

Originally published at flashfictiononline.com.