Reading period: January 15th, 2019 to February 28th 2019. Please do not submit anything until January 15th. Emails containing submissions will be deleted. (Uncanny Magazine uses the Moksha submission system.)
Who can submit:
We welcome submission from writers who identify themselves as disabled. Identity is what matters for this issue. What kinds of disabilities? All of them. Invisible and visible. Physical disabilities, learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities, mental health disabilities, and neurodiversity.
Yes, even if your disability is a recently acquired one.
Yes, even if your disability is static, or if it isn’t.
Yes, even if you’ve had your disability since birth.
Yes, even if you use adaptive devices only SOME of the time.
Yes, you.
Please read Elsa Sjunneson-Henry’s essay “Disabled Enough” if you have any doubts.
So, if you identify as disabled across any of these definitions or others, we want to hear from you!
A Note on Manuscript Guidelines For Fiction and Nonfiction:
14pt font, please. Serifed (ex: Time New Roman, Courier, Garamond). Double spaced.
Please let the editors know if you need accommodations as well.
Fiction
Fiction Editor: Katharine Duckett
We do not require stories to explore issues relating to disability, though we welcome them. We’re seeking fantasy stories that invite readers to enter worlds they’ve never seen before. We’re looking for immediate and visceral tales of danger, fun and inventive adventures, and fateful journeys to distant lands or to the dragon’s lair in your own backyard. We’re looking for intricate, challenging tales with gorgeous prose, verve, and imagination that elicit strong emotions and challenge beliefs.
We want the stories you’ve been yearning to encounter in the world. We want to engage with the characters you want to meet in fiction.
Length: Between 750-6000 words
Payment: $.08 per word
Fiction Submission Procedures:
1- Please submit your story via Uncanny‘s Moksha submission system.
2- All stories should be in 14pt font, serifed (ex: Time New Roman, Courier, Garamond). double spaced, and attached in .RTF, .DOC, or .DOCX formats.
3- Your cover letter should contain the length of your story, your significant publishing history and awards, and information that might be relevant to that specific submission.
4- Please do not send multiple submissions at once, or submissions simultaneously submitted at another market or anthology.
5- We will try to respond to all submissions in 60 days. Please feel free to query uncannymagazine [at] gmail [dot] com if we’ve had your submission for over 75 days.
Nonfiction
Nonfiction Editor: Nicolette Barischoff
We are looking for essays that explore the relationship between fantastical literature and disability.
You are free to approach this exploration from any angle you wish. And we do mean any angle.
Some possible essay topics include: Tropes of disability within the fantasy genre, studies of disabled characters in specific works of fantasy, examinations of a particular author’s treatment of disability, examinations of secondary worlds and how those worlds might relate to disabled citizens, personal narratives as a disabled writer or reader, magic and disability, fantasy and ageism, fantasy and wellness…
And the list goes on!
Note that while expressing frustration with some of the genre’s more ableist tendencies is a fine thing to do, essays that are purely demolitionist in nature can begin to feel very reductive, and can leave us with the feeling that someone has come in and torn down all the sets and left us sitting on a bare, badly-lit stage. Paint us a picture. What are you hoping to build? What would you have others build? It’s been a difficult couple of years for most of us. What’s giving you hope right now? What about the fantasy genre do you love?
For Nonfiction we will accept either a pitch, or a fully written essay for submissions. If you are submitting a pitch, please make sure it outlines exactly what you hope to accomplish.
All essay types and writing styles are welcome.
Length: Between 1000-2500 words
Payment: $60 an essay.
Nonfiction Submission Procedures:
1- Please submit your essay or pitch via Uncanny‘s Moksha submission system.
2- All essays should be in a standard font, double spaced, and attached in .RTF, .DOC, or .DOCX formats.
3- Your cover letter should contain the length of your essay (if applicable), your significant publishing history and awards, and any information that might be relevant to your submission. Don’t worry if you don’t have a publishing history. We’re looking for new voices as well as old pros. Just tell us who you are. Feel free to tell us about your specific experience with disability, but you are by no means obligated to share any information you do not feel is relevant.
4- Please do not send multiple submissions at once, or submissions simultaneously submitted at another market or anthology.
5- We will try to respond to all submissions in 60 days. Please feel free to query uncannymagazine [at] gmail [dot] com if we’ve had your submission for over 75 days.
Poetry
Poetry Editor: Lisa M. Bradley
We do not require poetry to explore issues relating to disability, but we do encourage it. We are looking for strong, emotional poetry with multiple layers of meaning. We are open to the full gamut of emotions. Hope, love, and joy can be just as powerful as fear, hate, and grief. Clear language can be just as vibrant and powerful as more intricate language. Most of all, we are looking for poetry that has a unique voice and doesn’t shy away from engaging with its core issues and themes.
Length: No line limits
Payment: $30 per poem
Poetry Submission Procedures:
1- Please submit your poem(s) via Uncanny‘s Moksha submission system.
2- Your cover letter should contain the length of your poem(s), your significant publishing history and awards, and information that might be relevant to that specific submission. Don’t worry if you have no previous publications. Everyone starts somewhere, so please don’t self-reject.
3- You may send up to five poems at a time, but please send them in separate files through the Moksha system in .RTF, .DOC, or .DOCX formats. Please do not send poems simultaneously submitted at another market or anthology.
4- We try to respond to all submissions in 60 days. Please feel free to query uncannymagazine [at] gmail [dot] com if we’ve had your submission for over 75 days.
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Disabled People Destroy Fantasy is a continuation of the Destroy series in which we, disabled members of the science fiction community, will put ourselves where we belong: at the center of the story. Often, disabled people are an afterthought, a punchline, or simply forgotten in the face of new horizons, scientific discovery, or magical invention. We intend to destroy ableism and bring forth voices, narratives, and truths most important to disabled writers, editors, and creators with this special issue.
(Special thanks to the Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction guest editors Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, Dominik Parisien, Nicolette Barischoff, S. Qiouyi Lu, and Judith Tarr for developing the original version of these guidelines.)
Naomi Kritzer- “The Thing About Ghost Stories,” as read by Stephanie Malia Morris
Fabulous news, Space Unicorns! Our awesome Editorial Intern Chimedum Ohaegbu is becoming the new Uncanny Magazine Assistant Editor! Chimedum is a passionate fan of science fiction and fantasy, with impressive editorial experience, and has a done a tremendous job as our Editorial Intern! We’re eager and excited to work with her on more Space Unicorn shenanigans!