Publisher’s Spotlight: Splickety Publishing

It’s a three-for-one Publisher’s Blue-Light Special Edition!  I’d like to introduce you to Splickety Publishing Group, which offers several different magazines with upcoming themes.  Luckily, each imprint publication has the same general guidelines, so I decided to group them all together instead of doing them separately.  It’s for the best, but it also means I’ve got quite a few links below.  Let’s take a closer look:

• In their own words: “Splickety fills gaps in the modern reader’s day with concise, poignant fiction under 1,000 words. We want stories that hit fast and strike hard––stories that, no matter the genre, can cut through the day’s troubles and grip readers with short attention spans.”
• Genres they accept:
  • Splickety Prime is our premier flash fiction magazine. We strive to publish the finest quality flash fiction in multiple genres including (but not limited to) action/adventure, suspense, mystery, thriller, contemporary, women’s, young adult, and historical fiction.
  • Havok is the premier publication for speculative flash fiction. We publish stories in the following genres (but this is not an exhaustive list): science fiction, fantasy, steampunk, cyberpunk, paranormal, supernatural, horror, techno-thriller, superhero, and more.
  • Splickety Love is the premier publication for romance flash fiction. We publish stories in the following genres (but this is not an exhaustive list): romance, romantic suspense, historical romance, paranormal romance, contemporary romance, inspirational romance, women’s fiction, and more.
• Word count limit: Between 300 – 1,000 words with the following bit of advice from the publisher: We acquire for each issue approximately 12 stories, with the breakdown as follows:
  • 701 – 1,000 word stories — 2-3 stories acquired
  • 500 – 700 word stories — 8-10 stories acquired
  • < 100 words — 1 story acquired
• Payment: $0.02 per word via PayPal, unless it’s a contest, in which case prize money and entry fee varies.  (Next contest: $100 grand prize, $10 entry fee.  BONUS: every entrant receives a complementary 1-year digital magazine subscription.)
• Simultaneous Submissions*: Doesn’t specify.  My personal recommendation is NOT to submit simultaneously to other venues unless they explicitly say you can.
• Multiple Submissions**: Yes, but please send separate emails.
• Schedule: Your piece must fit into one of the upcoming themes.  Follow the link for further information regarding upcoming deadlines.

Note: while they don’t say anything on their website regarding personal feedback, a few of us from my writing group sent in stories for their Fairy Tale call, and we all got a little note saying what knocked each individual piece out of the running, and included a few copy-editing notes.  They’re also pretty good about getting back to you within a week of the final submission deadline.

*This means whether they will allow you to submit this story to another publisher at the same time or not.

**This means whether you can send them more than one story at at time.

Reminders when submitting:

Read the publication:  Flash is short and their stories are freely accessible on the site.  You have no excuse not to do your research and see what kind of style gets their attention.  It will also give you an idea of what’s been done before so you don’t end up sending them something too similar to a recently published story.  Download their free PDF issue here.

Read the guidelines: I don’t post everything required for their submissions, just the basics.  Furthermore, this is a static post.  Publishers change their submission requirements at will so it’s always a good idea to read and re-read them, even if you’ve submitted to them before.

Follow the rules: Do I really need to say this?  Don’t send pieces over the word count.  Don’t send content they specifically warn against.  Don’t send weirdly formatted manuscripts if they give you specific instructions.  (Guys, seriously, their instructions are VERY specific and do not follow the Shunn standard.  Read them.)

Happy submitting!