The Lion Submission Guidelines

What are we looking for?

The Lion is seeking original fiction, flash fiction, micro-fiction, non-fiction, and illustrations dealing with the steampunk genre and aesthetic.

Fiction/Poetry Submissions

What We Are Looking For

Here are the lengths we currently accept:

At this point we are not accepting any stories longer than 5,000 words, so please only submit word counts within the specified limits. We do not accept reprints.

Simultaneous Submissions

We do accept simultaneous submissions, but if your story is accepted elsewhere, please do us the courtesy and let us know right away.

Multiple Submissions

We do not accept multiple submissions. Please wait until we respond to one piece before you send another. Do not re-submit the same piece, unless we specifically ask for it.

Payment

The Lion pays 1 cent per word for original fiction, with a minimum $5 for microfiction and $10 for flash fiction and short stories, respectively.

Formatting & Submission

All submissions must submitting electronically as attachments, in the .doc, .docx, .rtf, or .txt. formats. Please include your name, email address, the work’s title, and the story file.

Deadline & Response Time

The deadline for all submissions is June 1st, 2018. We will respond to all submitters by June 30th, 2018.

What we do not publish

Sexual themes and stories with strong sexual content are acceptable, but The Lion is not a market for erotica, so use your judgment.

We accept horror stories , but we will not publish anything of a particularly high gory nature, especially for no apparent reason.

No stories about child abuse and/or child sexual abuse.

Watch the language: we are not prudes, but a story filled with curse words just for the shock effect is not something we are looking for. Again, use your judgment. Please take this as an invitation to develop new, steampunk-specific curse words.

For fiction submissions, no “vignettes” or slice-of-life type of stories. Whereas we understand their value, we do not want to publish them. Make sure your stories have a plot.

What do we want?

We want interesting articles that are related to steampunk. These could include essays on the historical period steampunk draws on and that relate to it, the philosophy and philosophical issues within steampunk, reviews of reluctant books and movies, description of steampunk conventions and festivals, and so on.

What are we most likely to accept?

We love to read, but we obviously can’t read everything under the sun, so one thing that we are mostly interested in are book reviews. However, we do not want overly critical book reviews; we don’t want to hear why you hated a book, we want to hear why you loved a book. And the same goes for movie reviews.

Since steampunk is among other things interested in exploring and deconstructing history, articles about lesser-known aspects of victorian culture, or other cultures contemporaneous with Victorian culture, are also highly appreciated.

Payments & Rights

We pay a flat $10 per published article. We purchase First Serial rights and electronic rights. 6 months after purchase, most rights return to the author, but we retain the right to continue selling back issues of the magazine, and the right to archive your articles.

Length & Format Considerations

We prefer articles that are at most 1,000 words, but we will accept articles up to 2,000 words. Please do not send anything longer than that. Submit your articles in standard format.

Art Submissions

What do we want?

We are looking for art the fulfills and explores the Steampunk genre and aesthetic. This may be combined with horror, adventure, romance, or any other subgenre or aesthetic you wish. Submissions may be illustrations, photographs, collage, or multi-media. All accepted submissions except for the cover, see below) will be reproduced in black & white, so that should be taken into consideration.

Formatting

We accept most PC-compatible file formats, such as: .jpg, .tif, .gif, .png, .pdf. Please make your submissions in 72 dpi with dimensions of maximum 800 width by 600 height. If your art is accepted, we will require a file with 200 dpi resolution. Your file should not exceed 2MB in size. Files who do not follow these rules are automatically deleted by the system.

Payment & Rights

We will choose one image to use as the cover image, for a payment of $15. We will pay $10 for any other images. We purchase First Serial rights and electronic rights. 6 months after purchase, most rights return to the author, but we retain the right to continue selling back issues of the magazine, and the right to archive your art.

Submission

All submissions should be emailed as attachments. Please include your name, email address, the titles of the works, and the image files.

Please email all submissions to John L Robinson, at johnnylemuria@gmail.com.