Submissions Guidelines for
Niteblade Fantasy and Horror Magazine

Rights:
Niteblade Fantasy and Horror Magazine will require the non-exclusive right to use your story or poem in our free online edition, pdf editions and the right to archive your work on our website indefinately. Also, should your work be chosen, we will purchase the additional right to include it in our annual print anthology.

Payment:
I want to pay you lots, I really do -- but until Niteblade gets off its feet and is able to support itself the best I can offer is one US dollar per story or poem and an ad-free pdf version of the issue your work appears in. In addition, if your work is included in the print anthology you will also recieve a contributor's copy of it. Payment will be made by your choice of paypal, epassporte or a donation to Duotrope's Digest and will be paid upon acceptance.

For all submissions please email your story or poem as an .rtf or .doc attachment to the appropriate address.
Poetry --> poetry@niteblade.com (up to five poems at a time)
Fiction --> fiction@niteblade.com (one story at a time)

I'm getting a significant amount of spam at these addresses so make sure you have the word 'Niteblade' 'Submission' or 'Query' in the subject somewhere. Any one will do, you don't need to use all three :)

**I am not accepting fiction submissions during the months of May and November.**

When submitting prose please single space your work, insert a blank line between paragraphs and do not indent them. For the record, I don't care what font you use, as long as I can read it.

Please include your legal name, the name you want your story published under and a short bio written in the third person (ie: Joe Schmo has always loved writing...) that will be printed along with your work. If you want your email address or website listed be sure and include them in your bio.

Keep in mind that Niteblade is primarily a web-based market, so longer stories are a harder sell than shorter ones.

I am happy to accept simultaneous submissions and reprints -- assuming you have the right to submit that story elsewhere. If your story is a reprint please note it in your email and let me know where and when it has been published before.

No multiple submissions please. Only one story and up to 5 poems per author will be considered at a time. If you've got more that you'd love to submit, wait until I've accepted or passed on your first submission before sending the next one.

Do not tell me what your story is about or include a synopsis in your cover letter. Let the story sell itself.


Nonfiction
Each issue of Niteblade will feature two book reviews. If you would like to be considered as a book reviewer, or if you would like to have your novel reviewed, please drop me a line at rhonda@niteblade.com .

What I like...
The best way to see what I like is to check out the current issue -- all it will cost you is time. That being said, you may still find the following pointers helpful.

To me, horror stories don't need to involve murders, monsters or villians (though they very well might), all they need to do is scare me, send a chill down my spine or make me shiver. The best stories, horror, fantasy, sci-fi, whatever, are the ones that linger, that play around the edges of my memory long after I've put them down and walked away.

Fantasy stories can be damsels and dragons, sci-fi, surreal -- anything 'fantastic'. I don't want to paint anyone into a corner so my definitions are going to err on the side of broadness. Not sure? Send it in -- you never know. For me, swords and sorcery will often beat out rayguns and robots, but there are exceptions to every rule and plenty of spots for both in each issue of Niteblade.

Regarding poetry, I despise poems that are 'technically perfect' but don't have anything to say and forced rhymes make me cringe. Other than that? The sky is the limit.

** I will occasionally comment on rejections -- if you'd rather not receive my feedback please make a note of that in your cover letter and I won't deviate from the form letter. **

Hints...
My name is Rhonda Parrish. I am not a 'sir' and I get cranky when you address me as such.

The magazine's name is Niteblade. Not Nightblade, not Niteblayde, not even Knightblade. It's Niteblade. I get cranky when you spell it wrong.

I get cranky when I have to read stories in the body of an email (poems are okay).

If your submission includes a synopsis I'll know you haven't read these guidelines and I'll be cranky.

It's best if I'm not cranky before I even start reading your submission.

Just sayin'.

Please consider tracking your submission and reporting your response at Duotrope's Digest or Ralan's Webstravaganza:
~*~ Ralan's Webstravaganza