Posted on: January 15th, 2009 Submit

Lofty guidelines

We are those jaded motherfuckers who’ve seen everything.  We worry about fiction. Where are the new ideas? Where’s the weird shit? What’s the future going to look like, and why will it matter?  Please, surprise us. Shock us out of our ennui, and, like the iconic hooker with a heart of gold, or the free spirit w/terminal illness, help make our lives worth living again.

ADD guidelines

750 or fewer words. Weird. Surprising. Preferably no elves.

Concrete guidelines

Brain Harvest is looking for short fiction, 100 – 750 words. We want well-crafted, interesting stories that do not fall back on old, well-worn tropes—unless they have an interesting, bad-ass take on an old, well-worn trope.

We are a speculative fiction magazine, and while your submission should have speculative aspects we’re not looking for any particular genre — substance and execution are more important than subject matter.  We are not particularly keen on elves or steampunk, but if you have something different to say that requires elves or steampunk, feel free to send it along.

Email submissions as attachments to submissions at brainharvestmag dot com.

Submissions must be submitted in RTF (Rich Text Format) only. If they are in another format, we won’t read them.

Again, 750 words or fewer, please. This doesn’t have to include the title.

In the subject line, please write “NAME/TITLE OF SUBMISSION.”

No simultaneous submissions.

Please only send one submission at a time.  When you hear back from us, you may send another.

Standard manuscript format is a bonus.

We now pay 3 cents a word, (up to $22.50 USD) by PayPal.

This change will be reflected in stories purchased after May 15, 2010. Our gravest apologies for having to lower our pay rates, but as we rely on the generosity of our readers and our own pocketbooks to run this crazy show, pro-rates are no longer feasible at this time.

If you have questions or concerns, please contact us at brains(at)brainharvestmag(dot)com. And thank you for your understanding.

We accept reprints, but pay for them at a different rate. Please indicate if your submission has been printed elsewhere.

We do not publish poetry. We may, at some point in the future publish a special poetry issue, but please do not send us poetry unless we’ve asked for it. Really.

Cover letters are nice because we’re nosy. But, really, we only need a few lines about who you are and what you’re submitting.  At this length, quality speaks louder than what you’ve already done or where you’ve been.

We try and keep our response time lightning quick. That being said, if you haven’t heard from us after 60 days, don’t be shy. Query us at submissions at brainharvestmag dot com and ask.

Themes

Once in awhile, we will toss a theme out into the arena for a “special” issue. We are brimming with ideas about fiction we wish existed, and this is our opportunity to make that happen. We will announce upcoming themes well in advance of any deadlines we set, and will always continue to read non-themed submissions.

Other stuff you should know

Unpublished work

By submitting your unpublished work, you understand that, if accepted, Brain Harvest will buy First North Americal Serial Rights, which gives is the one-time right to publish the story first in the North American market. Additionally, we will keep the story up in our archives and are allowed to include it in any future anthologies, either electronic or print. We will contact you if we want to use your story in an anthology.
You, the author, retain all other rights to the work.

Reprints

You must own the rights to the work you are submitting.  Brain Harvest will buy the rights to reprint your piece in a issue of the magazine and keep the story up in our archives. We will happily give credit to the first/initial publisher of the piece.

You, the author, retain all other rights to the work.

Podcasts

Monthly, we would like to take one work from Brain Harvest and distribute it as a podcast, read by a chosen performer. These podcasts would be distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/), which allows visitors to download, distribute, and share this podcast. However, please note that these Creative Common rights refer only to the podcast itself, not the work being read. The writer continues to own all rights beyond First North American Serial Rights or our granted rights to reprint the story.

Please report your response times at Duotrope’s Digest.

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