Short Story Guidelines

Content:

Aphelion will accept original stories with a science fiction, fantasy, or horror theme and will not accept fanfiction stories because of the risk of copyright infringement this often entails. Note, however, that the boundaries of 'science fiction', 'fantasy', and 'horror' are nebulous things, and we have been known to stretch the point. Fan fiction, of course, is anything that involves copyrighted characters or institutions, including (but not limited to) Star Trek (TM), Star Wars (TM), etc., etc.

Stories that, in the opinion of the editors, contain bigotry or slander will not be published.

Due to the backlog of submissions, simultaneous submissions will be considered in the Short Story category only (less than 7500 words in length), with the condition that the Short Story Editor should be informed immediately if the story is accepted elsewhere before a response is received from Aphelion. Simultaneous submissions will not be considered in the Poetry, Serials / Novellas (works longer than 7500 words), or Features departments.

Length:

Short stories (1500 to 7500 words) should be sent to Robert Moriyama at shorts@aphelion-webzine.com.

Stories longer than 7500 words should be sent to Jeff Williams at serials@aphelion-webzine.com

All Mare Inebrium stories should be sent directly to the senior editor and publisher of Aphelion, Dan Hollifield at mare@aphelion-webzine.com

All poetry submissions should be sent to Iain Muir at poetry@aphelion-webzine.com

Writers will recieve copyright notices at the end of each story, a short biography, and if you include one, a picture. We can handle most graphic formats, but GIF or JPEG are preferred.

Aphelion provides an optional link to your homepage and an e-mail link at the end of each story. Please include the bio and URLs with your submission!

Cover Letter:

The cover letter should state that you are submitting the manuscript to Aphelion and should contain a brief biographical sketch (one or two sentences will be enough, more if you are so inclined. Don't be afraid to write too much. We can cut it down if necessary). If you have published other work, please list the most recent ones, preferably work in the same genre as the story you are submitting.

Format:

In the past we have been willing to accept short story submissions in almost any form, but there are so many different word processors, formats, and mail tools out there that it has become increasingly burdensome to transcribe stories into standard HTML.

We can no longer accept short stories in HTML. The short story editor would prefer submissions in the form of attached files in either MSWord .DOC or Rich Text Format (.RTF), at least one of which can be generated by most word processing programs. Note, however, that the short story editor has anti-virus programs that might block a message and its attachment if it appears to be infected -- .RTF format may be the safer choice.

Please follow the suggested format:

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length of story in words
your email address

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Always include a title for your story.

Always indicate your byline beneath the title.

Always place the words "The End" at the end of the story so I will know that I have received everything.


Please be patient. Submissions will be processed in the order they are received and response times will vary depending on the number of manuscripts received and the energy level of the editor. The new Short Story editor is not as organized as Cary Semar, and may not remember to acknowledge receipt of your manuscript within any set time; he will respond promptly to a query about the status of a story (but please do not query repeatedly, as this is not a habit that editors find charming).

You will receive a link to the online galley proof of the manuscript in HTML for review prior to publication, OR a copy of the HTML file that should allow you to view the story as it will appear online. If you do not respond to the email, it will be assumed that you accept the document as it stands.

Aphelion welcomes your submissions.

Robert Moriyama
Short Story Editor
shorts@aphelion-webzine.com