Submission Styleguide

Is this your first time submitting to us? Do you like making your draft perfect-er? Here is a (hopefully) simple styleguide that we follow.

Cover Letter

Keep your cover letter simple.

Dos:

  • Include a third-person bio (max. 70 words) that will appear beside your piece in the issue.
  • Add the word-count and genre.
  • Let us know if this is a simultaneous submission (we allow those).
  • Keep it short.

Don’ts:

  • Do not describe or summarise the story.
  • Do not write a bio in first-person without telling us your pronouns.

Here is an example:

Dear Ayush,

Please find “My Speculative Fiction” (~3600 words, slipstream, weird). It is previously unpublished but has been simultaneously submitted to other markets.

Aryan is a Bangalore-based writer who has been previously published in Magazine X, Magazine Y and Z, an upcoming anthology. These days, he spends his time thinking about time travel.

Best
Aryan

Manuscript

We will get back to you on all major and minor manuscript edits. However, if you would like to help make our life easier, here are some things you can do:

Dos:

  • Submit a .doc, .docx or .rtf file.
  • Use Times New Roman, 12pt, double-spaced text (single-spaced text for poetry).
  • Use first-line indent (half-inch or 1.27 cm), no extra space between paragraphs.
  • Indicate scene breaks with ‘/’, center-aligned, no indent.
  • Write a title and author name on the title page; start your piece on the second page.

Don’ts:

  • Do not add headers or footers.
  • Do not add page numbers or contact information in the manuscript.
  • Do not add extra newline characters after paragraphs.
  • Do not shift to regular font within italicized text (it does not render well on our site); use single quotes instead.
  • Do not indicate “END” for end of the manuscript.

The finicky stuff

Here are some edits we will eventually make:

An advanced styleguide:

  • We use curved quotation marks (sixes and nines): \u2018, \u2019, \u201C and \u201D.
  • We use the ellipsis as a single character: \u2026, (with three equally spaced period marks).
  • We prefer emdashes marked as an emdash (—) or as three hyphens (- – -, without the intervening spaces). Either add one space on both sides of an emdash or no spaces on both sides.
  • We prefer fewer exclamation marks, and only for exclamatory sentences. Words that are shouted or emphasized may be written in uppercase or italicized. Please do not use ‘?!’ or other doubled/tripled question marks or exclamation marks. We know Dan Brown does it; we do not.