Seeking Fiction


Sun, 5 Feb 1995 04:09:27 GMT

Guidelines for The Blue Penny Quarterly

The Blue Penny Quarterly is an electronic journal of fine
literary work
distributed internationally via the Internet, America Online,
regional computer
bulletin boards and, soon, the World Wide Web. Our goal is to
bring
high-quality literary writing into the electronic communities
and to provide
good writers greater exposure using the best of the
technologies available to us
in a creative, yet dignified manner. We are published
quarterly as a service to
readers, writers, and the online communities by a volunteer
staff, and are
available free of charge.

We accept primarily literary short fiction, poetry, and
creative non-fiction.
We are interested in working with beginning as well as
established writers.
Some of our contributors include Richard Cumyn, New Yorker
writer Deborah
Eisenberg, Edward Falco, and Guggenheim winner Robert Sward. A
recent issue
featured an interview with Margaret Atwood. We also consider
original artwork
for our covers.

For unpublished fiction: We accept works in a variety of
traditions and styles,
and are interested in traditional realism as well as more
experimental formats.
Translations are welcome, as is work from writers outside the
US. Our
distribution is global, and we would like our perspective on
writing to be as
well. Novel excerpts are considered if they are self-contained.

Poetry: We welcome a variety of forms and themes--except for
inspirational
verse, randomness jury-rigged to back up literary theory, and
therapeutic
journalism. We value the wild and well made.
(Please note we have currently accepted poetry through our
March Issue, but are
still reading in earnest for later issues.)

Creative non-fiction should be queried.

We are not interested in genre work, unless the work in some
way trancends its
genre.

For previously published work: We are interested in
considering work previously
seen in non-electronic small press magazines or collections of
short stories, as
well as stories seen or heard in other formats; radio
broadcast, public
readings, etc.

In all cases, word count is open.

Send the story for consideration as well as the citation of
where and when and
in what issue the piece appeared, if applicable, so we can
mention that
magazine's good taste. Submit with a cover letter. While we
do accept
electronic submissions, _we would prefer to receive fiction via
regular mail_.
Writers should feel free to submit via regular mail in any
case--we do not
_require_ electronic submissions of any writing, although
artwork should be
submitted on disk in Macintosh TIFF or PICT formats.

Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, and at the writer's
discretion a return
envelope need not be included if an email address is available
for our reply.
However, we do not accept responsibility for the return of
unsolicited
manuscripts that arrive without return postage.

If your manuscript is accepted, we will then request the story
from you on disk
or via email.

Submissions via the Internet can be mailed as email to either
BluePenny@aol.com
or dll5e@virginia.edu, in ASCII. Submissions via regular mail
are accepted at
The Blue Penny Quarterly, c/o 102 B Morris Paul Ct,
Charlottesville, VA
22903-2900. (That address may change without notice--email to
BluePenny@aol.com for the most current address to be sure.)
Don't forget the
SASE if you want your work back. We're not responsible for the
return of
submissions received without the proper return materials.

Terms: BPQ is interested in the use of the electronic rights
to your work.
Publication in BPQ will also count as use of either the First
North American
Serial Rights if your piece is previously unpublished, or One
Time Rights. The
magazine is copyrighted as a whole, and the copyrights for the
individual works
return to the authors and artists.

One of the better features of our medium is that issues of BPQ
remain available
online indefinitely--we are not taken off of shelves when a new
issue is
released. As well, we do encourage the free distribution of
The Blue Penny
Quarterly provided a) no fee is charged for it beyond the cost
of distribution
(stamps, disks, downloading fees), b)the contents and formats
of the Magazine is
not altered IN ANY WAY, and c) no material therein is used
elsewhere without
permission of the author/artist. We're available free via
anonymous ftp at
etext.org in the directory /pub/Zines/BluePennyQuarterly as
well as in the
Writers' Club Ezine library on America Online (keyword
Writers). Our World
Wide Web site is currently under construction.

Though at this point in time we are unable to offer financial
compensation for
the use of your work, you will, of course, receive a copy of
the magazine in
which the story appears in a format appropriate for your
computer via disk if
you are not electronically connected. You should know that the
magazine is in
place as a service to readers and writers and not as a
money-making venture.
Any revenue gained from advertising or donation is reinvested
directly into the
magazine. We regret we're unable to send hardcopy to our
authors at present
time--the cost of printing and mailing is prohibitive to our
small budget.

Please feel free to contact us at our email address if we can
help clarify any
questions for you, and comments are also always welcome.

Sincerely,

-Doug Lawson, Editor

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