Lightspeed
Guidelines
Guidelines for Original Fiction
Lightspeed is open for submissions beginning January 1, 2010. A
link to the online submission system will be added to the site at that
time.
Lightspeed is seeking original science fiction stories of
1000-7500 words. Stories of 5000 words or less are preferred. We pay
5¢/word for original fiction, on acceptance. To see which rights
we're seeking, please view our contract template
for original fiction.
All types of science fiction are welcome, from near-future,
sociological soft sf, to far-future, star-spanning hard sf, and
anything and everything in between. No subject should be considered
off-limits, and we encourage writers to take chances with their fiction
and push the envelope.
We believe that the science fiction genre's diversity is its greatest
strength, and we wish that viewpoint to be reflected in our story
content and our submission queues; we welcome submissions from writers
of every race, religion, nationality, gender, and sexual orientation.
Guidelines for Reprints
Lightspeed will be publishing two reprints each month, but it is
primarily a market for original fiction; a majority of our reprints
will be directly solicited, but you may submit a reprint for
consideration if you wish. For reprints, we are offering 1¢/word,
on acceptance. To see which rights we're seeking, please view our contract template for reprinted fiction.
Rejections
Be aware that every month we expect to receive several hundred
submissions. As such, we cannot offer personalized feedback on each
story. If we say, "Send more," it does mean that we hope to see
something else from you. Most rejections will be sent out in 48 hours
or less, while stories being seriously considered may be held for up to
two weeks.
Summary
Stories should be science fiction between 1000 and 7500 words long.
Stories of 5000 words or less are preferred.
Payment for original fiction is 5¢/word, on acceptance. To see
which rights we're seeking, please view our contract
template for original fiction.
Payment for reprinted fiction is 1¢/word, on acceptance. To see
which rights we're seeking, please view our contract
template for
reprinted fiction.
Response time: Most rejections will be sent out in 48 hours or less,
while stories being seriously considered may be held for up to two
weeks.
Submission Procedures
All fiction submissions must be submitted through our online submission
system. A link to the online submission system will be added to the
site by January 1, 2010.
Our submissions form asks for your name, email address, cover letter,
story title, and story. Your cover letter should contain the length of
your story, your publishing history, and any other relevant information
(e.g, if you send us a hard sf story about black hole clusters and your
doctoral dissertation was on black hole clusters, mention that). All
stories should be in standard
manuscript
format and can be submitted in either .RTF or .DOC
format. If you are unable to use our online submission system, please
e-mail your story as an attachment to john@lightspeedmagazine.com.
All
questions about fiction and fiction related e-mails should go to john@lightspeedmagazine.com.
After you have submitted your story, a tracking number will be
displayed and an automated email confirmation containing this
information will be sent to you. If you have not received this email us. Your tracking
number will allow you to monitor the status of your submission through
our website, so please make note of it.
NOTE: Be sure to add john@lightspeedmagazine.com
to your address book (or your email client's spam white list), and
check your spam folder before querying if we have received your story.
Additional Notes
Lightspeed is not a market for fantasy fiction. Please submit
fantasy stories to our sister publication, Fantasy Magazine.
Sexual themes and stories with strong sexual content are acceptable,
but Lightspeed is not a market for erotica.
Lightspeed is not a market for media-based fiction (i.e.,
stories set in the Star Wars or Star Trek universes, etc.), or any kind
of fan fiction.
Lightspeed is not a market for poetry.
We do not accept simultaneous
submissions or multiple
submissions.
Do not query for fiction. If you're not sure if your story is suitable,
please simply submit it and let our editors decide.
If editor John Joseph Adams has previously rejected your story, please
do not submit it to Lightspeed,
unless
it was rejected as being unsuitable for the market (due to
theme, etc.) or unless it has been significantly revised to the extent
that it is no longer the same story.
Please do not respond to rejection letters, even just to say "Thanks
for the quick turnaround" etc. We appreciate the thought, but it is
unnecessary and will just clutter up our editorial inbox.