Submission Guidelines for COLLIDOR : The future present

A Science-fiction appzine for tablets and smartphones

What we are

Collidor is a science fiction appzine that showcases the world’s best English language short fiction from established award-winning authors and new voices alike. We also publish reviews, opinion pieces, editorials, interviews and event coverage. We are also looking for digital art and illustrations and will showcase our featured artist in every issue.

What kind of stories we are looking for

Our guiding vision is the discovery of the real through the unreal. We believe that science fiction is a subversive medium for social, political, economic and cultural commentary. We intend to stimulate critical thinking and creativity by speculating on the future, but based in current or historical contexts.
We seek character and relationship driven stories from the full gamut of subgenres of speculative fiction, as long as there is a scientific or technological element that reflects the existential conditions for life forms and consciousness (human or otherwise). We are unfortunately not accepting horror, pure fantasy, vampire or zombie themed stories unless they meet the above criteria.

We are seeking under-represented voices with regards to culture, sexual identity and religion, and this includes characters and settings. We have a policy of gender parity and we strongly encourage women writers of any nationality, race or culture to submit their work.
We will not read any stories longer than 18,000 words and consider 2,000 words a minimum. We are interested in serializing longer works, but please send us a query letter and curriculum vitae before submitting anything over 18,000 words.

No Multiple or Simultaneous Submissions

Please only submit one story at a time and wait for a response before submitting another one. When you submit your story to us, please wait until you get a response from us before submitting somewhere else. Remember that we are paying top rates for a 6 month exclusive on original, never-before-published work (including on the web) and this is one way we give value to our paying subscribers (and how we can pay you). We would hate to have your story make its way up from readers to senior editors only to find out it was sold to someone else. 

We acknowledge receipt and reply to everything we receive. If you haven’t heard from us within 2 months, your story is probably in the queue for a second look. We strive to reply to everyone within 4-5 months. 
We would prefer that you do not query us about your submission unless you sent it more than 6 months ago. Some exceptions to querying us include that you changed your contact information or you sent the wrong file and would like to send us the new one. We do not have unlimited resources to get through all of the submissions we receive, so we appreciate your patience. If you find we are too slow and wish to withdraw your submission, we understand. 

We are also interested in non-fiction

We are accepting pitches for essays, reviews, opinion pieces and editorials that would be of interest to our readers. Topics include science, technology, book, movie and game reviews, geek/fandom culture, interviews, artist profiles and event coverage. Please do not send us articles on spec, but do send us a clear outline on the topic you would like to cover, along with 2-3 writing samples and links to other published works. We are a creator and fan centred magazine and all articles must be respectful and civil in tone. Reviews should be balanced and constructive in their criticism.

We are also interested in original art

Because of reproduction quality issues we only license digital art for magazine “cover” and story illustrations.  We do not commission art, but accept existing work only. We will also be profiling a digital artist in each issue of Collidor. If you would like to license your existing art and be profiled, please send us a link along with your bio to your on-line portfolio. Do not send us any art by email or mail please!

What we pay

Original fiction: We pay $0.25 per word for the first 5,000 words, $0.20 per word for the next 5,000 and $0.10 per word up to 18,000 words. We pay $0.11 per word for serialization rights for the entire series.

Reprints: We pay $0.10 per word for previously published stories that are featured in a single issue of Collidor (not in the featured archives). Please read the submission guidelines for reprints carefully before submitting, 

Archives: We also offer the opportunity for authors to monetize their previously published short story archives on a 60% net revenue basis. 

Reviews: We pay a flat $50 for well-balanced reviews between 500 and 1500 words. 

All other Articles: Upon acceptance of your pitch, we will send you payment rates, paperwork and invoicing information. Keep in mind we pay for original content only.
 
Art: We pay a flat $100 for cover art and $50 for story illustrations. We will showcase a single artist per issue for all of the illustrations we use (cover and story art) and give space for a profile/bio with links to your portfolio or website. 

PLEASE NOTE THAT SUBMISSION OF NEW AND REPRINT SHORT FICTION HAS BEEN TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED. 

If you are an author who has already submitted, please contact us for more information.