Submission Guidelines

Submission Limits at a Glance

  • Prose—up to 2,500 words, one submission at a time
  • Poetry—all forms, up to three (separate) submissions at a time
  • Simultaneous submissions are okay

What We Are Looking For

Genres

Zetetic is not a genre-specific anthology; we are looking for great stories without boundaries. Therefore, most genres are considered, but probably not “Young Adult Paranormal Romance,” because we’ve seen enough of that lately in other markets.

Styles & Formats

Prose

Prose includes all fiction and non-fiction. We are looking for excellent, polished writing that pulls us into an engaging story. Tell us an interesting and compelling story between 100 and 2,500 words.

Creative Non-Fiction is the beautiful union of exposition and literature, and should be a true story told well enough that it is indistinguishable from the best fiction you have to offer.

Poetry

Most forms are considered, both metered and unmetered, traditional and experimental. Poems from 3 to 100 lines have the best chance of acceptance. You may submit up to three poems at a time, but a separate submission form must be completed for each poem.

What We Are Not Accepting

Explicit Content

Erotica

We do not accept pure erotica, explicitly sexual content, or works where sex acts are the primary focus of the piece. However, if it’s part of a great story and tastefully handled enough that our mothers can read it (in the next room, please), we’d be willing to consider your work.

Violence

Gratuitous descriptions of injury, abuse, or attack are discouraged. Conflict is integral to a good story, and may include fighting or death, but we do not seek gory blow-by-blow itemizations of violence in progress. We also avoid stories of rape, both explicit and implied, whether the characters understand it as rape or not.

Language

Because we’d like to reach the widest audience possible, we actually recommend that you avoid vulgarity and profanity entirely when submitting work to Zetetic. This isn’t a matter of being prudish; this is a matter of understanding our public audience and online format. If you believe that the few occurrences of strong language flavor your story but do not define it, and that the story would stand if those instances were changed or removed, please change them or remove them before submission.  (Better yet, send that piece to another market and find the right piece for Zetetic.)

Previously Published Work

We consider works that can be easily found through an Internet search to be previously published, including stories and novels published to your own blog or to Authonomy and Wattpad.  We don’t want those works.  Send us something we can help you share with the world for the first time.

Ars Poetica and Metafiction

Even writers don’t want to read writing about writing.

FanFic

We do not have the resources to validate rights, and it is therefore our policy to decline all work which makes use of another creator’s universe or characters, including fictionalized scenarios featuring public personalities.  Yes, that includes Holmes and Cthulhu.  Play in your own sandbox, please.

Will We Revise It or Reject It?

Due to the high volume of submissions we deal with, rejection is more likely, so sending us work that already follows the guidelines makes the most sense for all of us.

Submission Limits

More than one story or three poems at any given time will not be considered.  Exceeding limits will result in the newest entries being returned unread.  Please wait for a response to your submissions within the limits before sending more work.

Feedback

We reserve the right to return a submission without feedback when it does not meet our needs.

submittable-submit-button-poetrysubmittable-submit-button-prose

7 Responses

  1. Pigeonholes & Zetetic – Submissions Open | ashley capes
    at ·

    […] I wanted to mention two online publications poets & fiction writers should check out Pigeonholes and Zetetic: A Record of Unusual Inquiry. […]

  2. silent seranader
    silent seranader
    at · Reply

    I will definitely submit. I love the ethos of your site.

  3. Publishers With Open Submissions | verysherryterry
    at ·

    […] Zetetic […]

  4. James Rowe
    James Rowe
    at · Reply

    Quick question: When I try submitting poems, it sends me to your submittable page with only options to submit applications for intern and editing positions. When I click on “poetry” there it does the same. Are you guys currently closed? Or is this an error?

  5. csheapoet
    at · Reply

    Happy (hopefully) New Year! I hope you never go away. I love Zetetic.

  6. dean
    dean
    at · Reply

    How do i query for a response time for my submission?

Leave a Reply