Submissions Guidelines
DreamForge is Open for Submissions!
DreamForge Magazine is OPEN for Submissions for the following period:
- Tuesday, March 19th through Sunday, June 30th, 2019 (midnight, EST)
Following our guidelines does not guarantee that we will accept your story, but ignoring them does guarantee that your submission may be returned without receiving the attention it deserves.
An Overview
At DreamForge, our goal is to publish positive science and fantasy fiction. (That’s about it, but if you want to know more, you can check out our Rules of Fiction page.)
What Are We Looking For?
Space opera, urban fantasy, military sf, magical realms, hard science fiction, sword & sorcery, time travel, cyberpunk, steampunk, hopepunk, and whatever else comes before punk. Parables, poetry, zombies, and vampires are also welcome. No horror please.
- Yes to communities and teams working together to overcome dire challenges.
- Yes to marginalized and under-represented characters as protagonists.
- Yes to science and magic that solve problems, alleviate suffering, and boldly explore new possibilities.
- No to corrupt, dystopian governments or evil corporations.
- No Horror, please
- Stories set before, during, or after an “apocalypse” are more likely than not to be rejected.
- Tone down the violence, profanity, and sex
Story Length
Shorter is better!
If you submit a story over 5,000 words, it has to be amazing to get very far in the review process. We want variety in each issue, and longer your story, the less variety we can print.
Overall, we will consider the following word counts:
- Flash Fiction & Poetry: 100 – 1500 words
- Short Stories: 2,000 – 7,500 words
- Novelettes: 7,500 – 12,000 words.
Submission Formatting
Your story must be submitted in Word or RTF format.
Top of the Page
- Title of Story (centered)
- Your By Line (centered)
Formatting:
- Font: Arial, Size 12
- Double spaced
- Indented paragraphs
- No extra line break between paragraphs
- Section breaks, as needed, should be three ### symbols, centered on the page.
- In the document Header, include Last Name/Title/Page #
File Naming:
- When you SAVE your file, name it in the following way: FirstName-LastName-Story-Title
During the submission process, you will have the opportunity to write a cover letter, enter the word count, select genre and story type, etc.
Contracts and Payment
Our contract is based on the model provided by the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA). Copyright and story ownership remain with the author. Contract terms are negotiable within reason.
Payment rates vary between $0.04 and $0.08/word, depending on the following:
- Print and Online publication
- Online publication only
- Original vs Reprint
- Word Count
- Merit (We have been known to pay more for stories that made us giddy with excitement to publish them.)
Poems and micro-stories are paid at the rate of $25 to $100.
Payment is on Acceptance
Miscellaneous Notes
- If you are a Forge Master (print) Dreamforge subscriber who subscribed before 3/1/19, be sure to tell us that in your cover letter. Your story will be read by the Editor-in-Chief and you will receive feedback on your story.
- One submission at a time, please, but you are welcome to submit again if your story is returned.
- Simultaneous submissions are OK, if you let us know as soon as your story is accepted elsewhere.
- Please allow 6 to 9 weeks for our review and final response. We try to be faster, but we’re a new organization learning the ropes of editorial review. Feel free to query us at submissions@DreamForgeMagazine.com.
- We will consider reprints if you can show that publication rights have reverted to you, the author.
Submission Procedures
Congratulations, you made it all the way here! It’s time to move on to our Submissions Procedure Page!
Please click the image to the right or the following link: DreamForge Submissions Procedures.
Curious Why Stories Get Rejected?
You know, you are probably a pretty decent writer. There is a very good chance we are going to like your story, even admire parts of what you have accomplished with it. We know that going in, but still, the odds of us choosing your story for publication are pretty slim. Read our Blog Post below to understand why:
By Outer Space