Lovecraft eZine

UPDATE: April 3, 2012: I am once again accepting submissions, but please read the entire page below for the guidelines.  ALSO, I am currently accepting submissions for the following themes:

• Lovecraftian time-travel stories for an issue sometime this year.
• Lovecraftian Halloween stories for the October issue.
• Lovecraftian Christmas stories for the December issue.
• Deep Ones/Dagon/Innsmouth stories for an issue sometime this year.
• AND, I want to do a Lovecraftian “Woman-theme” issue, for lack of a better term. For this issue, I want female writers only.

I am also now considering non-fiction Lovecraftian philosophy articles.

ART: I publish original and previously unpublished Lovecraftian art.  If you’re an artist, please feel free to submit your work for the new art section.  Please note that “previously unpublished” includes the internet.  At this time I’m unable to pay for artwork, but you will receive a link back to your website and/or online art gallery.  The Lovecraft eZine receives a high volume of traffic and it will certainly bring attention to your work.

ALSO, I would like some Lovecraftian female art submissions; both males and females may submit art.  Risqué is fine, but no nudity.

This concludes the April 3, 2012 update; please read below for general guidelines.

Please read below for submission guidelines.  The Lovecraft eZine pays $50 for accepted stories over 3,000 words and $25 for stories under 3,000 words, poetry, or flash fiction.

We Want

The Lovecraft eZine wants well-written, original Lovecraftian and Cthulhu Mythos fiction.  While we enjoy and appreciate pastiche, best read works will feature an original voice and new takes on old themes, not simply mimicking Lovecraft’s style.  Simple mentions of Cthulhu or the Necronomicon do not make a story Lovecraftian.  For us, the best Lovecraftian fiction share the tone and themes of Lovecraft: Cosmic horror, the discovered knowledge of the unnameable terrible things behind the curtain of reality, etc.

It’s important to understand that we do not reject stories that mention or feature Cthulhu and others, neither do we reject stories that do not mention them.  This is important enough to repeat: We are interested in the themes of Lovecraft.  Cosmic horror.  Hopelessness.  The madness that comes when you realize what’s behind the curtain.  Isolated and old locations.  Unanswered questions about reality.  If you are still not sure what this means, read the anthologies Lovecraft Unbound, Dead But Dreaming, and Dead But Dreaming 2 — these books are excellent examples.

We prefer stories under 5000 words but there is no maximum word-count; longer stories accepted may be serialized.

Reprints, Multiple and Simultaneous Submissions

The Lovecraft eZine does accept reprints but we prefer original fiction.  We do not accept simultaneous submissions; if you submit a work, please wait until you have received a reply before submitting again.  Please do not submit the same story to us and other magazines at the same time.

Content Standards

Graphic scenes and obscenity are acceptable if they are integral to the piece, within reason.  The Lovecraft eZine has no interest in stories that are only gratuitous depictions of sex or gore. We may reject a story for any reason. Submission does not equal automatic acceptance.

How To Submit

Send submissions to MichaelDavisWriter AT gmail.com:

– Attach the story in RTF or DOC formats.

– In the subject line put the STORY TITLE (in all caps), your name and word count.

– In then body of the email, put your name, pen-name (if any), contact information, a short bio, two to three lines, as well as any credits or relevant websites you wish to plug.

– The story should be double-spaced, in a readable font, and as you originally formatted it; paragraphs indented, italicized words in italics, etc.    It is helpful to our editors if you follow the standard manuscript guidelines (Though no story will be rejected for not following them to the letter)

Response Time

The Lovecraft eZine will respond to your submission as soon as possible.  Due to the high volume of submissions, it may take several months for a response, but I WILL reply to your submission within a day or two to let you know it has been received.

Editorial Caveat

Stories should be thoroughly proofread before submission. We do understand that minor mistakes will slip by and we will correct them before publication on the website. Minor grammatical changes may be made to the story; however, we will seek the author’s permission before publication.

Payment

The Lovecraft eZine pays via PayPal upon publication on the website.

Rights

The Lovecraft eZine buys non-exclusive rights to publish your work on the website. The author retains all other rights and all responsibilities of the piece. This means you are free to have it published elsewhere at any other time and are responsible if the rights to the story are questioned or if there are accusations of plagiarism.

***

LAST BUT NOT LEAST, here are a few comments from authors I’ve published:

“Just wanted to say that I’ve been blow away by your website/magazine. First it was the audio version of my story, then it was all the quick feedback I’ve received about my story, and now it’s the amount of feedback. I’ve had stories come out in print anthologies that never had a single review or word said about them, and here, in 2 days, I’ve had about a dozen comments. You, good sir, have one hell of a magazine.”

– Brian M. Sammons

***

“You’re on my list of Best Editors.  You actually communicate with your authors and you pay attention to the comments people make on your site. I’ve run into too many who don’t! (and you pay when you say you will- another important consideration!)”

– Patricia Correll

***

“I spend weeks/months on a story. Revise it. Send it out to folks for critique. Revise it again. Revise it, sometimes, many, many times until I’m satisfied that it’s as good as it can possibly be. Then I send it out to an editor. After a few months, the editor lets me know if the story has been accepted or rejected. Then another few months (or longer) until it gets published. Then (maybe, not all the time, but sometimes) I’ll get some reader response…  one of my stories was published in The Lovecraft eZine. The eZine maintains a comments thread under each piece, so that readers can provide feedback, dissect the stories, criticize them, etc. So far, the reader response for A Catechism For Aspiring Amnesiacs has been quite positive.   In fact, I’ve been overjoyed to find that in addition to reader feedback, the story has been praised by a few long-established and critically-acclaimed Lovecraftian authors. People like Wilum Pugmire, Joe Pulver, and Ann K. Schwader have taken time to post positive remarks in the comments thread underneath the story.  Their praise (along with the praise of several readers) has just bowled me over. I really don’t know what to say. So, I’ll just keep it simple and say, Thank You. Thank you for reading my story and letting me know what you think of it.”

– Nicole Cushing

***

“Dear Mike, First, I can’t thank you enough for your lovely intro to the story on your site. I have never been so amazingly treated. Where were you years ago? … You’ve thrilled me by taking the story. I enjoyed writing it immensely, and wouldn’t have, if it weren’t for you. I must tell you both that I am also extremely impressed by the look of what you’re doing there. You’re presenting the stories beautifully. There are many ‘publishers’ who don’t know the first thing about legibility, let alone style. I’m pleased as anything that you guys DO… Even your community networking has great style and substance.  Are you, by any chance, gods?  Yours obediently, if so…”

– Anna Tambour

***

“Oh, how I love being published in ye Lovecraft eZine!!”

– W.H. Pugmire

***