Submissions

 

​The following is relevant to all submissions for 2023 for The Fairy Tale Magazine.
 

Writing opportunities for 2023 include:

New Fairy Tales: Fairy tales that are almost or entirely new or are just new takes on old tales are all welcome. Mashups of existing fairy tales are welcome as well. Submissions must follow the theme below to be considered.
 

Poetry: Poetry inspired by fairy tales and that follows the theme is also welcome.

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The theme for the year is love—more below.

HERE IS HOW YOU SUBMIT AND FORMAT AND WHEN

Only the kind of submissions outlined below will be accepted at

The Fairy Tale Magazine (FTM) in 2023.

 

Here are the submission periods for both stories and poems:

• Dec. 1, 2022 at 12 a.m., EST, through Jan. 2, 2023, at 11:59 p.m., EST. This will be the window for works that will be published in the March and June issues of FTM. 

• The second and last submission period for 2023 will be from May 1, 2023 at 12 a.m., EST to June 2, at 11:59 p.m., EST. This will be the window for works that will be published in the September and December issues of FTM. There will only be four issues. 

• No submissions will be considered or acknowledged if received outside of the windows stated above. 

 

You submit through email only. Please use this address only: 

thefairytalemagazine@gmail.com. That is for submissions only. 

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Your last name, the publication month you are submitting for, and the year should be in the subject line of the email of your submission. Example: If you are submitting for publication in March 2023 and your last name is Smith, you should write Smith, March 2023 in the subject line. 

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You must be 18 years old or older, but may be from any country. Only works in English, please. You should try to use American English word forms and punctuation. 

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Do not send attachments. They will not be opened or considered. Paste your work in the body of an email.

 

No fancy spacing or characters, please. Do not indent for new paragraphs. Just do an extra return between them. Please, single space between lines and after sentences. And please include a title. 

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A bio in the third person and no more than 50 words should be in the submission email below the story. Even if you have been published in our magazine before, we need a new third person bio every time. 

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You should include a word count below the story. 

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A Paypal address must be included. Without one, work will not be considered. (Please do not email or message anyone at FTM asking what PayPal is and how to use it.) 

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Only previously unpublished work, please. 

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Only one work per writer per submission period. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but once we have accepted a story or poem for publication, we expect authors to withdraw their submissions from other publications.

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RIGHTS

First and all electronic and digital rights and print rights for a yearbook edition of the magazine are being sought, as are rights to use the work for promoting and to benefit FTM in perpetuity, although you will retain the right to withdraw consent for using your work in promotional efforts after one year from publication. We are also buying the first podcast, YouTube, and all potential digital media rights to your work. 

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Once a work is digitally published in FTM, you are free to shop it elsewhere—meaning electronic and digital rights revert to you immediately after publishing. And once a work is published in the print edition of FTM, you may sell the print rights elsewhere, but The Fairy Tale Magazine will continue to sell or publish your work as part of the digital magazine, on media platforms such as YouTube and on podcasts platforms and the print yearbook indefinitely.

 

THEME AND CONTENT

The theme for 2023 is "LOVE,” with romance preferred, but love between friends, family members, pets and their humans, etc., will be considered as well. 

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We are also very open to the stories and poems focusing on seasonal holidays, like solstice celebrations, Halloween, Hanukkah,  etc. However, while holiday based stories and poems are very welcome, you still need to include the theme.

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Stories must be PG in terms of content. A lot of young kids find our site, even though it’s not a kids publication. We have to bear that in mind. (See below.)

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Content definitely does not have to feature the traditional white, princess and prince love story. 

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Remember, stories and poems must have the theme in them, even though it needn’t be a huge part of the story. Do bear in mind that all fairy tale related fiction and poetry needs an element of the supernatural—as well as transformation. Transformation is a huge deal for the 2023 publishing year. 

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The essence of classic fairy tales should be maintained when you write these stories and poems. Kate tends to prefer things to end happily, but it's not absolutely essential. 

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Absolutely none of the following for any submissions: Sci-fi, lengthy grossout descriptions of bodily functions or injuries, dystopian, descriptions of people’s bodies through the objectifying eyes of the protagonist, erotica, high fantasy, vampires, stage magic, excessive world building (a.k.a., info dumps), time-travel, extreme horror/gore, futuristic, space travel, western, love triangles and any form of romance that is not between humans or human-like creatures like fairies. 

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Also, The Fairy Tale Magazine is NOT a young children's publication. Period. We see this as a 15 years of age and older publication. Yes, we know young children will see our work, but it’s definitely for teenagers and older. 

 

The Fairy Tale Magazine prefers “own voices.” Follow this link to learn more about what “own voices” means. 

 

It's essential that you read past stories, poems, and nonfiction to see what we will publish.

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WORD COUNT

Length of stories is 1,000 to 5,000 words, but 1,000 to 3.500 is preferred.

 

Poems must be no longer than 500 words.

In the case of stories, remember that when you write more than 1,000 words, your pay per word
drops, as we pay a flat rate of $50.

NOTIFICATION OF SUCCESS & PAYMENT

Please read the following completely before submitting: 

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You will receive a response telling you Kate has received your submission. You will not receive a notice of rejection.

 

No editorial feedback of any kind will be provided. We will not justify editorial decisions either. We just do not have the time. We get well over one thousand submissions a year and are a tiny staff. 

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Only emails of acceptance will be sent. 

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Also, the chosen authors will be announced on the blog at fairytalemagazine.com. The authors whose work will be featured in the March and June editions should be announced on the site blog on Feb. 1, 2023. The authors whose work will be featured in the September and December issues should be announced on the site blog on July 1, 2023. If your work is not chosen and announced on the site, then FTM has no claim on it. 

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If your work is not chosen and announced on the site, then FTM has no claim on it. 

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Payment for all works is $50. There will also be a contract for you to sign.

 

A Paypal address must be included. Without one, work will not be considered.

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All things being equal, authors who support The Fairy Tale Magazine will get greater consideration of their work. FTM depends on its fans, and deeply appreciates them. We are a community, not just a magazine. However, quality always takes precedence over all other considerations. 

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A great way to get started with supporting our site is to sign up for our newsletter. It’s free and filled with goodies you’ll probably appreciate, so sign up and read it! 

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For questions only, but not for submissions, contact Kate at katewolford1@gmail.