Semaphore Magazine - Submissions

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Submissions

Semaphore publishes short fiction and poetry in a quarterly PDF e-zine. Every December, we also publish an anthology of work from the quarterlies.

Submissions may be sent to Marie Hodgkinson here ( semaphoremagazine @ gmail . com ) Please read the guidelines below before submitting.

We try to respond to all submissions within a fortnight. Please note that if your submission makes it past the first selection round, it may be some time before we contact you with our final decision.

General Guidelines:

Attach submissions as a Word-compatible document to your email, preferably .doc or .pdf.
Include a cover letter with your submission, in the body of the email. We've received a few submissions in the past which have been nothing but an empty letter with a story attached, and honestly, this isn't a way to get into our good books - or our magazine.
Please notify us of simultaneous submissions.
We prefer it if you do not saddle your manuscript with masses of fancy formatting bits and pieces; in fact, the plainer the submission, the better.

Short Stories:

Length: 1000 - 7000 words.
Multiple submissions: only send us one story at a time. Once you've heard back on that, feel free to send us another.
Content: we're happy to consider stories of all genres, but please: no gore, no porn, and no gory porn (or porny gore, for that matter).
Payment: $NZ10.00

Poetry

Length: up to 60 lines.
Multiple submissions: feel free to submit up to 4 poems at a time.
Content: we like to see quirky, fun poems more than anything else.
Payment: $NZ3.00

Artwork

Thus far we have got our cover and occasionaly interior artwork by going out and begging artists to let us use their work, or even to create something specifically for Semaphore. However, if you would like your work to be considered, please send us a query letter with some samples of your work attached.

We do not pay for any artwork save the anthology cover art.

The Anthology

Semaphore publishes an annual anthology of the best work contained within the preceding four issues. Pieces are selected for this by their popularity with our readers - if it rates well, you're likely to make it in, but if not, then you're in something of a pickle. This said, votes in the reader surveys which are obviously of a sock-puppetish or blindly biased nature - for example, a survey in which nothing is filled out except one perfectly-scoring story, and which is followed by a series of similar responses - will be discounted from the final vote.

Authors whose work is included in the Anthology are paid royalties depending on the sort of work they provided. All royalties are calculated on profit after costs, and are paid six-monthly following publication or as soon as the book has sold out, whichever happens first.

Here are the individual royalties offered:

Short stories: 3% per story.
Poetry: 1% per poem.

The cover artist for the anthology may choose between receiving a complimentary copy of the book or a nominal sum reflecting the cost of providing and sending the book. This is usually somewhere in the region of $NZ35.00.