Reading period: January 15th, 2018 to February 15th 2018. [UPDATE: Reading period EXTENDED UNTIL FEBRUARY 28th, 2018!] 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.

Reading Elsa’s essay “Disabled Enough” from our Kickstarter may help 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. This is an accommodation for Elsa so she does not have to reformat every submission.

Please let the editors know if you need accommodations as well.

 

Fiction

Fiction Editor: Dominik Parisien

We do not require stories to explore issues relating to disability, but we do encourage them. We would certainly love to see a wide range of disabilities explored across a variety of SF settings and scenarios. We’re looking for the stories you’ve been trying to tell your whole life, for the stories that don’t fit elsewhere. We are also looking for a range of stories, 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: Elsa Sjunneson-Henry

We are looking for essays which explore the relationship between disability and SFF. These essays should interrogate or explain some part of the relationship, whether it is about the genre itself, a character, a specific trope or narrative, or even the experience of being a disabled member of the SFF community. Creative nonfiction, academic essay, personal essay, or other non-fiction styles are all welcome. Please complicate the narrative for our readers, we don’t just want easy answers in this issue.

We want to know what frustrates you about the genre, or the industry, but also what brings you joy. If there’s a character you love with a disability, or a story you want to praise – we want to read those as well.

For Nonfiction we will accept either a pitch, or a fully written essay for submissions. If you are submitting a pitch, please make sure that it outlines exactly what you hope to accomplish.

Length: Between 1k-2.5k

Payment: $50 an essay.

Nonfiction Submission Procedures:

1- Please submit your essay or pitch via Uncanny‘s Moksha submission system.

2- All essays 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 essay (if applicable), 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.

 

Poetry

Poetry Editor: S. Qiouyi Lu

We do not require poetry to explore issues relating to disability, but we do encourage them. We are looking for strong, emotional poetry with multiple layers of meaning. 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.

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.

 

Fiction Reprints

Reprint Editor: Judith Tarr

As with original fiction submissions, we do not require stories to explore issues relating to disability, but we do encourage them. We are looking for diverse, thoughtful, well-written stories that challenge readers to think outside their usual boxes.

Fiction Reprints Submission Procedures:

1- Please submit your story via Uncanny’s Moksha submission system.

2- All stories should be in Standard Manuscript Format and attached in .RTF, .DOC, or .DOCX formats. HOWEVER, as noted above, please use 14pt serifed font and not the standard 12pt.

3- Your cover letter should contain the length of your story, the date and venue of its original publication, 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, and please make sure that you have reprint rights for your story.

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.

Length: 750-6000 words

Payment: $.01 per word

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Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction 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.