SmokeLong publishes flash fiction up to 1000 words. We have a special place in our hearts for the 400-700 word range but will give equal consideration to all pieces within the guidelines.
We are looking to be captured in the first few sentences of your work. Tell a story or paint a scene. We strongly recommend reading previous issues to get a feel for what we like, although that's been known to change somewhat, particularly based on the tastes of our guest editors. Quality writing is key. Your best odds of being accepted are to send us your finished work. We can usually smell a draft a mile away.
Please submit your story using our online submissions form.
Please spare our tired old eyes by including two returns between each paragraph. Seriously, some of us have deteriorating vision, and all of us have short attention spans. Break up your paragraphs with two returns and we will be eternally grateful.
We publish on a quarterly schedule, with publications dates on the 15th of March, June, September, and December.
Submission periods for each issue vary fairly wildly. Submissions are almost always open, however, for whichever issue is next to be filled. Submissions are currently open for the issue to be published on December 15, 2008.
You may send your submission anytime. Our intent is to give you feedback as quickly as possible. Please allow us up to four weeks to inform you if we have accepted your work for publication. You will usually hear from us much sooner.
Alas, we are no longer paying. We are currently in debt creating print versions of Issues Five and Six. We will revisit payment if and when we are out of the red.
Simultaneous submissions are accepted. Please inform our Editor immediately at dclapper@smokelong.com if your work has been accepted somewhere else for publication.
Multiple submissions are accepted. Please note one caveat: it is generally best to submit one piece at a time, as each author tends to have his or her own distinctive style. Reading three consecutive submissions by the same author often works against the writer. Please send no more than three (3) pieces per submission period.
We are not interested in works previously published in online magazines. We do not consider pieces published only on your personal web site or blog to have been previously published, so we will consider those. We are interested in pieces that have only previously appeared in print, but only by solicitation.
Online Rights: If we publish your work, we require exclusive electronic rights to it for 3 months and non-exclusive rights indefinitely so we can include it in our online archives.
Print Rights: We require non-exclusive print rights, so that your work may be included in SmokeLong Annual, which is released each June. All other rights remain yours.
