What We Are Looking For

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• Story-driven, speculative fiction told in specific language.

• We are looking for stories with rich imagery and that are easy to read. Vague, dream-like stories that take place entirely in a character’s head will probably not find a place here.

• We mean it when we say we are looking for stories. There should be a plot with a conflict at the minimum, and at least one character. Experimental writing or sermons won’t find a place here. Highly recommended you check out our Advice page to get a good idea if your story is a good fit for Somewhere.

• We are a speculative fiction magazine. Speculative fiction includes the genre of fantasy, science-fiction, and horror, but submissions need not fit nicely into these genres. The only requirement is that an element of unreality is important to the story. Literary realism will not be accepted.

• Stories have to be told in first person.

• The story has to open in Somewhere, with the narrator meeting the bartender. Read some of our stories to get an idea of what this looks like.

Guidelines

• Submissions are open year-round.

• Simultaneous submissions are allowed. Remember to let us know if your submission is accepted elsewhere.

• No reprints.

• We’ll accept stories that are no longer than 5,000 words.

• Send only one story per submission. Please wait one month after we’ve responded before submitting again.

• Please do not resend a story we’ve previously rejected, no matter how much it’s been revised.

• Format using Shunn’s Modern Manuscript Format. The gist of it is this: Times New Roman, 12pt font size, doubled spaced.

• We would prefer it if your submission were in a Word document (.doc or .docx) but will also accept PDF. Nothing else.

• Send your submissions to somewhere_submissions@gmail.com.

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 Acceptance/Rejection Process 

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• We don’t publish stories in issues. When we read a story we think is worth publishing, we’ll accept it and begin the process of publishing it on the stories page.

• As we are new to this, we cannot definitively say when we will respond to submissions. Our goal is to respond within three months. If you haven’t heard from us by then, send us an email at somewhere@gmail.com with QUERY in the subject line and we’ll let you know what’s happening.

• Please do not respond to rejections, even a personal rejection.

• We are not a paying market. This means we don’t pay you when we accept or publish your writing.

• We ask for non-exclusive, one-time, first, online, North American, archival publication rights. We are happy if your piece appears elsewhere after we publish it. We do ask that you acknowledge it was first published in Somewhere. That would be cool.