Alien Magazine is looking for all types of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and visual art submissions. Don't be afraid to send us anything.
General Guidelines:
- Please wait until you receive a response for your submission before submitting again. You are free to submit multiple times, but only one in each genre at a time
- Only submit previously unpublished work
- Include a biography in the appropriate place on Submittable. Please keep this brief: 100 words or less
- If you feel the need to address the specific genre editor you're submitting to, please just use their name and/or they/them pronouns. But there's really no need to use formal titles; we're all friends here.
- We accept simultaneous submissions, but do let us know as soon as it’s accepted elsewhere
- Submit all written work as a .doc or .docx file and all visual work as a JPEG or PNG file
- Have standard formatting: put your page number and last name somewhere on each page. If the submission is prose, please double-space. Use TNR font, or similar
*Alien Magazine reserves the right to reject your work unread if these basic guidelines aren’t followed. There are genre-specific guidelines in the individual submission forms below.
Links:
https://twitter.com/alienlitmag
https://www.instagram.com/alienlitmag/
https://duotrope.com/listing/26587/alien-magazine
https://www.alienliterarymagazine.com/
Donation and Merchandise Information:
Please consider donating and/or buying a sticker with your submission. Here is a link to what the stickers look like: https://twitter.com/alienlitmag/status/1362117722327437312/photo/1. Also, please note we can only ship stickers within the United States and refunds cannot be offered. All proceeds go to the upkeep of our accounts. If we do happen to go over our goal, we donate the excess funds to different causes each month. You can follow our Twitter account to track which fund we donate to.
Without donations and sticker purchases, Alien couldn't happen.
Disclaimer: We are not a science fiction magazine, though we are open to SF work. By "Alien" we mean "outsider" or anything that exists outside the societal norm*
We’re open to any form of visual art, including comics. Surprise us and take risks.
All visual art submissions will be considered for the cover of the issue.
Issue Eight will be published online in winter/spring 2023. We pay $20 for each accepted collection of art. Payments can be done via Venmo, Cash App, and PayPal. Visual artists will retain all rights to their work.
Specific Visual Art Guidelines:
- Please submit as a JPEG or PNG file
- Please only submit up to 6 images at time
- Please only submit art pieces the artist still retains the rights for. Works that have been previously published, posted, and exhibited are allowed as long as the artist still retains the rights.
- If selected for publication, Alien will acquire rights to feature your artwork (while giving you credit) on our website and social media accounts. However, in this agreement, you still retain full rights to your images--including posting on your own social media, reprinting in other publications, selling, exhibiting in galleries, etc.
Donation and Merchandise Information:
Please consider donating and/or buying a sticker with your submission. Here is a link to what the stickers look like: https://twitter.com/alienlitmag/status/1362117722327437312/photo/1. Also, please note we can only ship stickers within the United States and refunds cannot be offered. All proceeds go to the upkeep of our accounts. If we do happen to go over our goal, we donate the excess funds to different causes each month. You can follow our Twitter account to track which fund we donate to.
Without donations and sticker purchases, Alien couldn't happen.
For fiction, we want your best. We are open to all types of stories.
However, as a guideline, we are especially interested in pieces that explore non-traditional narratives, though we still enjoy traditional ones that have a bit of a twist.
All of these guidelines are just suggestions. We encourage you to take risks.
We are currently reading for our eighth issue, which will be published online in Fall 2023. We pay $20 for each accepted story. Payments can be done via Venmo, Cash App, and PayPal.
Specific Fiction Guidelines:
- Use standard formatting: double spaced, 12 pt. Times New Roman or similar font, and a page number and last name somewhere on each page
- Submit as a .doc or .docx file
- Only submit previously unpublished work
- Only submit one piece, up to 3,000 words, at a time
- Please wait until you receive a response for your submission before submitting again. You are free to submit multiple times, but only one at a time
- We accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know as soon as it’s accepted elsewhere
*Alien Magazine reserves the right to reject your work unread if these basic guidelines aren’t followed.
Donation and Merchandise Information:
Please consider donating and/or buying a sticker with your submission. Here is a link to what the stickers look like: https://twitter.com/alienlitmag/status/1362117722327437312/photo/1. Also, please note we can only ship stickers within the United States and refunds cannot be offered. All proceeds go to the upkeep of our accounts. If we do happen to go over our goal, we donate the excess funds to different causes each month. You can follow our Twitter account to track which fund we donate to.
Without donations and sticker purchases, Alien couldn't happen.
For nonfiction we want it all. We are open to any format: lyric, essay, memoir, creatively researched, etc. We especially like pieces where the artist discovers something about themselves while writing. Additionally, we find that topics that deal with current societal issues (and there are so many societal issues currently) work well.
We pay $20 for each accepted essay. Payments can be done via Venmo, Cash App, and PayPal.
Specific Nonfiction Guidelines:
- Please wait until you receive a response for your submission before submitting again. You are free to submit multiple times, but only one, up to 5,000 word piece, at a time
- Use standard formatting: double spaced, 12 pt. Times New Roman or similar font, put your page number and last name somewhere on each page
- Submit as a .doc or .docx file
- Only submit previously unpublished work
- We accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know as soon as it’s accepted elsewhere
Donation and Merchandise Information:
Please consider donating and/or buying a sticker with your submission. Here is a link to what the stickers look like: https://twitter.com/alienlitmag/status/1362117722327437312/photo/1. Also, please note we can only ship stickers within the United States and refunds cannot be offered. All proceeds go to the upkeep of our accounts. If we do happen to go over our goal, we donate the excess funds to different causes each month. You can follow our Twitter account to track which fund we donate to.
Without donations and sticker purchases, Alien couldn't happen.
We are open to all types and themes of poetry. However, to guide you, we find that topics dealing with current societal issues (and there are so many societal issues currently) work best for us.
We pay $20 for each accepted poem. Payments can be done via Venmo, Cash App, and PayPal.
Specific Poetry Guidelines:
- Only submit up to one poem, of any length, per document
- Use standard formatting
- Submit as a .doc or .docx file
- Only submit previously unpublished work
- Please wait until you receive a response for your submission before submitting again. You are free to submit multiple times per reading period, but only one at a time
- We accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know as soon as it’s accepted elsewhere
Donation and Merchandise Information:
Please consider donating and/or buying a sticker with your submission. Here is a link to what the stickers look like: https://twitter.com/alienlitmag/status/1362117722327437312/photo/1. Also, please note we can only ship stickers within the United States and refunds cannot be offered. All proceeds go to the upkeep of our accounts. If we do happen to go over our goal, we donate the excess funds to different causes each month. You can follow our Twitter account to track which fund we donate to.
Without donations and sticker purchases, Alien couldn't happen.
Alien Magazine is a biannual literary publication for outsiders. We're looking to add to poetry readers to our team! The details of this position would include:
- Using Submittable to read and vote on submissions you are assigned.
- Contacting the lead editor for your genre when you find an acceptance potential.
- Attending irregular all-staff virtual meetings.
- Treating all editors and submitters with respect.
To apply:
- Please upload a cover letter detailing any relevant writing and editing experience as a Word doc or PDF.
- In the same document as the cover letter, please explain specifically why you think you'd be a good fit for our team.
- Again, in the same document, briefly describe your favorite piece of writing from any of our nine issues. Specifically, please tell us why you like it.
- Overall, the steps above can brief. Anywhere from a paragraph to a page works well.
- Optional: If you would like, you can upload a (10 pages or less) sample of your writing. Or, if it's easier, you could provide links to your published work.
Further Details:
- As we are a new publication still working on getting our finances down, this position would be on a volunteer basis.
- BIPOC and members of the LGBTQIA+ community are especially encouraged to apply.
- All applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.