Submissions are closed. They will open again probably mid May or early June, 2017.

I recently started reading lots of short fiction. As I’ve picked up a few different magazine titles, I’ve noticed that there’s not really a lot getting published of the stuff I like to read best, which is pulpy action/adventure. A couple of genre-specific titles have come and gone, with one or two still having a go at it, but I’d like to see a place that specializes in action/adventure across genres. So that is what StoryHack Action & Adventure is intended to be.

My end goal is to launch a professional-rates-paying magazine. Lofty indeed, I know. To this end, I’m going to fund an “Issue 0,” paying less-than-professional rates, as I’m not made of money. I’ll do a magazine-sized print layout, and I’ll also commission a cover and a bit of interior artwork. And then I’ll use the produced Issue 0 as a part of a crowdfunding campaign, to prove I have the skills to bring it all together. If the crowdfunding thing works, then I’ll see if I can get the magazine to be self sustaining. If it doesn’t crowdfund, then it will still- I’m just kidding, It’s going to work. I’m going to crowdfund the crap out of it.

What I’m looking for

To steal a joke, StoryHack Magazine will publish both kinds of fiction – action and adventure.

I’m open to any genre, as long as there’s at least one good meaty action scene in there. Bonus points for extra adventure. And I’m serious when I say any genre. Sword & sorcery, lost world, occult detective, alien fighter pilot, western horror, you’re limited only by your imagination. Think Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Dashiell Hammett, Doc E. E. Smith. Think fun and energetic.

You should know, however, that I’m not going to select erotica or extreme gore.

note 3/20/2017: I have a ton of excellent fantasy / sword & sorcery submissions. I’m still open to them, but I’m trying to hit a variety of genres, so you may have better luck dusting off that space opera thing, lost world yarn, or modern thriller short.

I’ll consider any short story/novelette length 1,000 to 14,000 words, but I do have to cap the payments. Sorry.

What I’ll pay

$0.01 / word, $50 max for worldwide 1st print and ebook rights with 3 months exclusivity. I’ll make a sample contract available if you want.

Other stuff

Stories simultaneously submitted elsewhere are fine. Multiple stories submitted at once, no.

How to Submit

Just send your submission, formatted appropriately, in a .doc, .docx, .odt, or .rtf file to submissions at storyhack.com, with the subject line of “StoryHack Magazine Submission”. Make sure in your email you include your name, the name of your story, and your pen name (if different). Also please include a one or two sentence synopsis/teaser.

I’m going to give submissions about a month. They will close on 12:01 AM, April 1, 2017 . Now closed.

Once I’ve selected stories, It’s time to send out contracts, pay authors, commission art and do the layout. I think that’s about 3 weeks worth of stuff, but I may be a tad optimistic.

Once everything is all set, then I’ll upload the magazine to all the stores and get on the process of making the electronic version free everywhere. That should happen relatively fast.

Then I’ll launch the crowdfunding campaign.

If you’re interested in following my progress on this, sign up for the StoryHack Irregular (emails)