# Submission call for new Speculative Fiction Magazine!



## MindseedMagazine

Hello!

My name is Stephanie, and I am the editor for Mindseed Magazine, a new quarterly magazine publishing works of science-fiction, fantasy, and horror, located here in Eugene, Oregon, in the United States. We are currently looking for new submissions for our upcoming first issue. After talking with one of your forum leaders, it was felt that some of you may have interest in submitting to our magazine, and so I felt I'd take this opportunity to post to this forum to let you know our submission guidelines, in case any of you may be interested in submitting your work for our first upcoming issue. Unfortunately, due to international copyright laws, we can only accept work from artists and writers in the United Sates at this time. 

Our submission guidelines are as follows:

1) We are currently accepting short stories, poetry, essays, and comic styled works only.

2) No piece can exceed a maximum word count of 4,000 words.

3) The one exception to this word count is poetry. A poem may not exceed 1,000 words in length, but can be in any style of your choosing- haiku, free form, rhyming, etc.

3) Comics can, in fact, exceed the 4,000 word count. However, please be aware that we will serialize any piece exceeding the 4,000 word 
count limit. To clarify, we will place the first several panels, up to the first 4,000 words, in the first issue, the second set of panels, up to the second 4,000 word limit, in the second issue, and so on, until the piece has been published in its' entirety. Please note that comics are the only pieces we will serialize. All comic submissions must be full length stories, with a beginning, middle, and end already clearly planned out at the time of the story's creation. No ongoing story lines, with indefinite end points, will be considered. All comic entries must be submitted to us in their entirety. 

4) Anime will be accepted for the magazine, both as artwork, and for any comic submissions we receive.

5) Short stories may fall into any of the subcategories of science-fiction fantasy, and horror including (but not limited to) cyberpunk, historical fiction, contemporary fantasy, and the like. Should you have any questions as to whether your piece could be considered for our magazine based on the style it falls into, feel free to email us with a basic synopsis of your story, and we will happily email you back to let you know whether or not it's what we're looking for! 

6) All essays must discuss science-fiction, fantasy, or horror literature. Essays discussing films in these genres will be considered, but only if they are used as a comparison to literature in these genres. The essay's main topic must pertain primarily to literature written in one of these three genres. 

7) All essays must be written in MLA style format, with works cited according to the rules given in the text. Should you have any questions as to what this format is, please consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Citations, both in the bibliography and the body of the text, will not count towards the 4,000 word limit for the essay. 

8) No submitted works of any kind that have previously appeared in other publications will be accepted. However, if there is an essay you are interested in submitting that was originally written as a paper for a college level course, and did not receive publication in a college journal or literary magazine, then we will gladly accept it for consideration. 

9) Please send all submissions to: mindseedmagazine at gmail.com 
(substituting an "@" sign for the word "at," in the above address).

10) The deadline for submissions is February 11th, 2007.

We are also currently looking for talented artists to become resident artists to draw for the inside pages of each of our upcoming issues. 

If you would be interested in the possibility of becoming one of our resident artists, to draw artwork for the inside of our magazine on a regular basis, please submit 5 pieces of artwork to us for consideration.

We are also currently accepting freelance artwork as consideration for cover art for our upcoming issues. Each piece of art submitted to us will be considered both for our first issue, and all subsequent issues thereafter. 
Please submit all artwork to the email address listed above, attached as a .pdf file to the email you're sending us.

Thanks for taking the time to consider submitting to us! We're excited about our first upcoming issue, and are looking forward to hopefully hearing back from anyone out there who's interested in contributing! Should you have any questions for us, please feel free to drop us a line at mindseedmagazine at gmail.com. Hope you all have a great holiday season, and enjoy the new year!

Warm Regards,
Stephanie Austin,
Editor-in-Chief
Mindseed Magazine


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## Ian Whates

Hello Stephanie, 

Welcome to Chronicles.

New markets for writers are always welcome. Thank you, too, for your detailed submission guidelines. One vital piece of information is omitted from your outline, unless I've missed something, namely: what, if anything, are you paying? 

As a writer, this is always a detail that interests me. It would be greatly appreciated if you could clarify. Thanks.


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## the_faery_queen

awful isn't it, ian whates? but that was the FIRST thing i thought of as well! makes me feel all miserly!


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## Ian Whates

Very true, Faery Queen... what a mercenary lot we are...


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## the_faery_queen

but we need to be


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## MindseedMagazine

Hello all!

Speaking as a writer myself (and one who does try and keep herself fed, to boot!) I can definately understand payment being the first thing that comes to mind when considering whether or not to submit your work to a magazine. 

As it stands now, we are currently unable to provide financial payment, as we work to get ourselves up and running with our first issue. As a speculative fiction magazine catering primarally to talented, never before published authors, what we are able to provide, however, is a chance at publication in what has proven to be a highly competitive literary genre. A vast number of science-fiction magazines turn a keen eye to seasoned authors who have been getting published time and time again over the years, as they believe that seeing well known names appear in their magazine will help them to sell more issues. We here at Mindseed Magazine, however, actually pride ourselves at being able to find new talent, and give them the opportunity to be published with us. In this way, as they begin to build their portfolio, we can one day take great satisfaction in knowing that we were the ones to help them get their foot in the door and be noticed in such a highly competitve field. 

So, unfortunately, no, we can not offer payment at this time. What we can offer you, however, is the opportunity to gain exposure, and a much greater chance at publication in a market that has proven, time and time again, to be overwhelmingly competitive. In upcomming months, as our publication gets off the ground, we will be able to begin offering payment, however. Should you have further questions, please feel free to let me know- and thanks for the interest! 

~Stephanie


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## Locksmith

MindseedMagazine said:


> Unfortunately, due to international copyright laws, we can only accept work from artists and writers in the United Sates at this time.


 
I'm quite interested in this statement - it's got to be rubbish, surely!?  

If I live outside the US and create a new piece of work, it's protected by copyright worldwide. If I choose to licence (or license, if you will) it to you in the US, that's the same as someone in the US doing the same. 

I'm perfectly prepared to accept I'm wrong, but if I am, I'm interested as to why this is the case.


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## Susan Boulton

Perhaps I am a bit cynical, but if all sounds a bit iffy to me, not even a mention of even a "copy" as payment, which is what most "for the love of" mags do.


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## Robert M. Blevins

Comment from:
Adventure Books of Seattle

International copyright laws?
Writers from the U.S. only?
No Website Address?
E-Mail Contact Only?

*Ridiculous.*

To the Editor of Mindseed Magazine:

First, writers submitting to your magazine will OWN the rights to their stories, so your submission call for U.S. writers only makes no sense. You don't even give a web address, which drops you into the strictly amateur category immediately. You also say you accept everything from anime to The Bible, and that looks like you are just a vacuum for authors' hard work, with nothing given in return. 

Second, I can assure you that if you accept stories from outside the U.S. that you will be in no danger of problems from copyright. You should be building a pro website and getting serious, rather than posting up at a British-based website and then telling British writers they cannot submit...

We also have a magazine. It is published once per year, and we DO accept writing from other countries. It is a paying market. I won't publish the link here, out of courtesy. 

No payment for authors also bothered us a bit...not even a copy of the finished work. 
_'The worker must be paid...'_ as the saying goes.


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## Robert M. Blevins

I wanted to put an addendum to the previous post I made.

When this happens...when a 'magazine' asks for multiple types of material without payment, using only an email address, you should be warned.

Sometimes, the purpose of this is to repackage the material and submit it under another name, all over the planet...to paying markets. 

Hey...it beats writing the material yourself. Be warned.


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## Foxbat

Robert M. Blevins said:


> Comment from:
> Adventure Books of Seattle
> 
> International copyright laws?
> Writers from the U.S. only?
> No Website Address?
> E-Mail Contact Only?
> 
> *Ridiculous.*
> 
> To the Editor of Mindseed Magazine:
> 
> First, writers submitting to your magazine will OWN the rights to their stories, so your submission call for U.S. writers only makes no sense. You don't even give a web address, which drops you into the strictly amateur category immediately. You also say you accept everything from anime to The Bible, and that looks like you are just a vacuum for authors' hard work, with nothing given in return.
> 
> Second, I can assure you that if you accept stories from outside the U.S. that you will be in no danger of problems from copyright. You should be building a pro website and getting serious, rather than posting up at a British-based website and then telling British writers they cannot submit...
> 
> We also have a magazine. It is published once per year, and we DO accept writing from other countries. It is a paying market. I won't publish the link here, out of courtesy.
> 
> No payment for authors also bothered us a bit...not even a copy of the finished work.
> _'The worker must be paid...'_ as the saying goes.


 
I agree. This seems a bit strange that an editor does not understand copyright laws. All you need to do is to buy a copy of the Write's and Artist's Yearbook to find a full explanation of both copyright and libel. 



> I'm perfectly prepared to accept I'm wrong, but if I am, I'm interested as to why this is the case


 
@ Locksmith -  you are definitely not wrong in your belief on copyright.


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## Robert M. Blevins

It isn't REALLY a copyright issue. Take a good look at the magazine's posting. They have no website (I checked), just an email address. You may as well drop your work down a sewer. This 'magazine' is likely another example of a scam I have seen before. 

*The scam is this:* You submit whatever you want to the email address. They repackage whatever comes in with new names and sub it out to half the paying markets at Ralan.com or wherever. If they get enough subs to repackage, perhaps they get some sales...paid to their PayPal account. 

They change their email address when the authors begin to complain, and invent a new magazine name. *It's an old game...*

Robert M. Blevins
Managing Editor
Adventure Books of Seattle


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## Robert M. Blevins

Update:

'Mindseed'  
Still no website. No google entries except their post here, and on another forum, calling for submissions. 

Adventure Books' recommendation: _*Avoid them like the plague.* _

"Stee-rike Three...you're OUT!"


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## BookStop

Good call, RB.


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## Status

Robert M. Blevins said:


> Comment from:
> Adventure Books of Seattle
> 
> We also have a magazine. It is published once per year, and we DO accept writing from other countries. It is a paying market. I won't publish the link here, out of courtesy.




I would be very interested in getting a copy if you would please PM me the information on how.


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## Louis Wu

The problem is.. I would let them use what i wrote simply to get it in print.. 
As a child of 50's. A C Clarke and all that came after.
The gratification of ones' work actually 'published' is worth more than money.. I have lots of that.

luweewu


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## mosaix

Louis Wu said:


> The problem is.. I would let them use what i wrote simply to get it in print..
> As a child of 50's. A C Clarke and all that came after.
> The gratification of ones' work actually 'published' is worth more than money.. I have lots of that.
> 
> luweewu



Is there any guarantee it'll be published under your name?


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## Louis Wu

mosaix said:


> Is there any guarantee it'll be published under your name?



1:
True..a problem. While i could prob buy the publisher.. few can do this.
2:
The nightmare of logging to this site..
The internet has become a miasma of Rl rules based in garbage.
Who who will spam here and why does it need  metaphorical railguns to keep out imaginary spammers.

Luweewu


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## Boneman

Now that's what I call a bump... Must have taken ages to find, especially as it was pre-crash, I think?


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## mosaix

Louis Wu said:


> Who who will spam here and why does it need  metaphorical railguns to keep out imaginary spammers.
> 
> Luweewu



It does happen, less often than other sites but that's because there are rules in place and the mods and members are vigilant. 

Welcome to the Chrons by the way.


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## Teresa Edgerton

Actually, we get even more spam than most of our members realize, because our vigilant mods whisk it away pretty darn quickly most of the time.  We would prefer, of course, that the spam not appear at all (hence the ... um, railguns) so that we can spend our time doing other things, like participating in the discussions.


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## Dave

We even get some spammers before they even get a chance to spam.


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## Pyan

Louis Wu said:


> ... to keep out imaginary spammers.





You mean - I've been wasting my time banning people who wanted to share their links to buying cheap shoes on-line, illegal file-sharing sites, and dating 16-year-old Russian girls, as all the time they were only trying to make genuine contributions to a S&SF discussion site?

Silly me...


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## J-WO

pyan said:


> You mean - I've been wasting my time banning people who wanted to share their links to buying cheap shoes on-line, illegal file-sharing sites, and dating 16-year-old Russian girls, as all the time they were only trying to make genuine contributions to a S&SF discussion site?
> 
> Silly me...



Damn! All that would have been fantastic research for my alternate history novel, where Imelda Marcos is a file-piratical lesbian.


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## J Riff

How about sending them some Poe or Lovecraft or Asimov short story and let them try and flog it around for a while?


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