SHROUD MAGAZINE

www.shroudmagazine.com
Fiction: Shroud considers horror, dark mystery, dark fantasy and suspense short stories up to 5,000 words (+/-). In addition, we are interested in tightly woven flash fiction, and (in some very rare cases) serialized novellas. Thriller and Suspense tales with a horror aspect are also welcome. We HIGHLY recommend that you buy a SAMPLE ISSUE in order to get a clear idea of our style and tone.

Please query first for nonfiction.

We are especially interested in:

Mythic horror in a real world setting; Classically-themed horror and suspense; Supernatural horror; Creature horror; Dark Fantasy in a contemporary/RW setting; Noir.

We are LESS interested in:

Hard Science Fiction; Sword and Sorcery or anything set in a fantasy world; Stories about serial killers; Vampires ala Rice; First person accounts.

***AGAIN, WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO ORDER A COPY FIRST***

Submission Format

Send us electronic submissions in .RTF format as a file attachment. Your subject line should clearly say "SUBMISSION," your NAME and the TITLE.

Simultaneous Submissions

Simultaneous submissions are okay, just let us know that it's a sim-sub and please let us know if it sells with ANY another publisher (regardless of the format, electronic etc.)

If your story is accepted elsewhere, we will not treat it as a reprint, nor will we continue to consider it for publication. If you fail to tell us it has been accepted elsewhere and we agree to publish it, our contractual agreement will be void.

Why do we do this? We receive hundreds of submissions every submission period and would much rather bring new, original, never-been published material to readers than material that has been published elsewhere.

Multiple Submissions

Please do not send us multiple submissions -- please only send us one story at a time and do not send your next submission until we give you a reply to the first.

Reprints

Discouraged. If you submit a reprint, we will look at it provided it has not been published within twelve months and the author currently bears the copyright. Please only send it once.

Hardcopies

We do NOT accept hard copy submissions. However, we are willing to make reasonable accommodations should you need it.

Bio

PLEASE include a short (50 words +/-) bio somewhere in your submission (IN the.rtf file) along with all of your contact information. If accepted, this will be the bio published with your story in Shroud.

Italics

PLEASE use underlines INSTEAD of italics. Why? It insures that our line editor and layout person sees and preserves the format of your manuscript.

Response Time

Averages 2 to 4 months, but stories kept for further consideration by the editors may take additional time.

Acknowledgement

IMPORTANT: If you have NOT received an acknowledgment of receipt for your SHORT STORY within 1-5 Days of your submission then it is likely the submission was formatted incorrectly. We do appreciate your hard efforts and your creative vision, but with more than 350 submissions a month, if your submission is incorrectly formatted then it will be (unfortunately) deleted... sorry.

Artwork

Please query with samples. We are actively looking for talented artists for covers and B&W interior illustrations.

PAYMENT POLICIES AND READING PERIOD

Shroud currently pays a flat rate of $10 for Flash Fiction, $25 for fiction up to 5000 words, and $25 for non-fiction up to 3000 words. Book reviews and other pieces will be discussed with the authors on a case by case basis. Payments are submitted AFTER publication, and AFTER Shroud receives a simple email invoice for the work.

The email invoice should simply state your name, address, and the preferred method of payment (check or Paypal)

WE WILL BE OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS FROM MARCH 1ST THROUGH APRIL 30th, 2011. We have created this reading period to help us better respond to submissions. Unfortunately submissions that come in outside of those periods will not be read. Again, we are only doing this in order to better serve our writing community.

Shroud Digital Edition ("Shroud DE")

Work submitted to Shroud will be automatically considered for our new, monthly digital edition and the same payment and submission guidelines apply. If, for some reason, you do not want to be considered for Shroud DE please state this in your submission email.

Anthologies: Closed.

Submission Email Address

editor@shroudmagazine.com

Novels and Novellas:

*CLOSED TO UNSOLICITED SUBMISSIONS IN 2011

ALL CONTRACTS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD HERE:

http://www.shroudmag.com/downloads