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Submissions are currently open for the June 2008 issue of Scorched Ink. The final submission deadline is May 10th, 2008.

If you'd like to submit a story for publication in Scorched Ink, please read the following guidelines and e-mail your submission to editor@scorchedink.com. If you have any questions, please read the FAQ. If you don't find an answer there, feel free to e-mail us. Please note that we do not accept all submissions. We review for content, quality, style, and various other factors before deciding to accept a story. We will let you know within a week on average if your submission has been accepted.

• Standalone short stories should be no longer than 10,000 words and no shorter than 1,000 words. We will occasionally accept flash fiction, but it must be at least 500 words.
• We will accept some serials, but will only publish one chapter per issue, and each chapter should meet the length guidelines for a short story.
• Do not submit poetry. Ever. We don't want it. Thank you for your interest, but there are other publications better suited to your material.
• The same for nonfiction. This is a fiction magazine, and while your stories about picking apples for pies with your family last autumn are quite heartwarming and we swear we're all verklempt over this touching tale of family bonding, if it's not within some genre of fiction then it's not suited for this publication.
• Please format your manuscript using only Times New Roman size 11-12, Arial size 9-10, or Courier New size 10. Any other fonts will likely be difficult to read, meaning your story gets chucked. Just as a tip, we prefer Times New Roman or Arial. Courier may be an industry standard, but sometimes it's a bit hard on the eyes.
• Single-space your document on an 8.5"x11" page, with one-inch margins all around. Please include page numbers in the footer, and your name/pen name and the title of the story in the header of each page. We're probably the only editors out there who get headaches from reading in double-space, so please don't do it.
• Please format your document appropriately; bold text where it's meant to be bold, italicize where it's meant to be italicized. Don't leave obscure markers, HTML code, or other indicators.
• Please spellcheck. Please.
• In the subject line of your e-mail, please include "Submission: [Your Story's Title]". If you're resubmitting a story that was rejected but that you've edited to improve it, make the subject "Resubmission: [Your Story's Title]". If you've changed the title, please let us know what the original was.
• In your e-mail, please include your full name/pen name as you want it to appear if the story is published, as well as all relevant contact information for us to reach you.
• Include a short summary of your story in your e-mail, including word count and genre. Treat this like a query letter, and be just as professional and brief.
• If you're using a pen name please say so, but include your real name. We will not reveal your real name, but we will need it for a contract should your story be chosen.
• Stories should be sent as attachments in .doc or .rtf format. Do not send text files, HTML files, Microsoft Works files, Adobe Acrobat PDFs, or WordPerfect files.
• Do not ask for an address to snail-mail your submission. Production is entirely digital, and we aren't going to type your story up for you. We will mess it up. We promise.
• If you're submitting a standalone short story, please send the entire story. If you're submitting a serial, please send the first five chapters and either a plot outline or a 2-3 page synopsis. We must have the first five chapters and some kind of plot summary or we will not consider the story.
• Do not send any graphics unless you are an artist inquiring about submitting cover art.
• All stories must be received on or before the posted date for the current issue; no exceptions to the deadline. This is to give us time to review and select any stragglers, prepare the magazine for production, and then wait for the print turnaround time and shipping on a draft issue to ensure magazine quality.
• One submission at a time only. We'd prefer not to read your entire backlog of short stories from the last ten years at once, so no multiple submissions, please.