Open for Submissions Since September '09.
We're a paying market for original new Short Fiction. Submit your fiction!
We pick the very best to publish, reading approximately one hundred stories for every one we release.
The best feeling is getting an email from an author, "This is the first story I've sold!"
Show is better than tell. Tell generally doesn't fly for us. Show it to me, paint a picture. She was beautiful is a perfect example of tell.
She had amber brown eyes, and dark skin like she was half Latino and half African American. Her hair was long and straight, cut in black lines
around her face. While wearing no makeup, her lips were the shade of rose red. Her waist was narrow, but her hips were sized well
and appeared firm. The shirt she wore was new and crisp. That is show. It goes far beyond that, but that's the simplest example I can provide.
Scenes in general are very important to us as well. Something to keep in mind.
The dragon lived in a cave in a mountain and stole a princess. George donned armor and blade, scaling the mountain. The battle raged for seven years.
He slew the dragon and rescued the princess. ---- This is not a scene.
George stepped into the half light of the cave with blade in hand. The dragon puffed out a ball of red and orange fire the size of a wheelbarrel,
and George leapt over it to safety. ---- This is part of a scene.
As part of the production process, I read through every story one last time and fix comma problems. Sometimes, after a writer receives
payment, they will get an email saying, "Hey, I've fixed a couple commas, but I'd like to do this or that with the story too
(such as adding the word 'and' to fix a comma splice)." Always just an issue
of dialog formatting or a missing word, that kind of thing. If the change is very minor, I just change it, but if it's a lot of changes or something
as big as adding a word, I contact the writer. Fixing commas is part of the publishing process, and
I don't start that process until I send payments.
I want the writing we publish to be so good and the stories so unique that we can showcase our Issues for years to come,
while we intend to publish a new issue every three to six months.
I want fiction so dark, twisted, or just plain tasty that I lose sleep after reading them
(by dark I do not mean depressing).
We're going to try and include a mix of every category of story.
We aim to publish fiction that stirs the mind and awakens the heart. Or, something scary! It doesn't have to
be genre fiction for us to be happy, but at the same time, we're a genre market.
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Register as a writer.
Registering will allow you to submit your fiction.
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Submissions
- We love mind benders and stories that make you think
- We pay $0.03/word for the first 1,000 words (payment caps at $30 USD)
- We generally prefer less than 2,000 words
- Paypal is preferred, but we mail postal orders too
- To Submit: Register, and use the online submission form
- Submit up to three stories at once
- If you have any problems submitting please email me at geoffporter@yahoo.com (please include as much information about the bug as possible, and use a good subject line in your email).
- Click here for our story categories.
- Click here for stories we don't want.
- We don't accept artwork, erotica, or poetry.
- We require an email address and name with each story
- REPRINTS -- We will accept reprints. Please note where it was publised before at the top of the story submission
- NO SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS. If you submitted your story to another market, give them time to reject or accept it before submitting it to Untied Shoelaces of the Mind. If
you submit a story to us, please don't submit it to any other markets until we've rejected it or accepted it.
- If you haven't heard from us within two weeks, please query to geoffporter@yahoo.com (use a good subject line).
Register as a writer.
Registering will allow you to submit your fiction.
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Categories (or Genre)
All stories must possess conflict, a beginning, a middle, and an ending. Solid plot twist(s) are
nice in short fiction as well. Stories that are a mix of categories are welcome. Romance with a
thick vein of sarcastic humor, or a nice horror piece laden with slapstick humor, will both
be welcomed.
Categories
Romance
Submit great dialogue.
Action/Adventure/Thriller/Mystery
Yes, one giant genre mix.
Science Fiction / Fantasy
Tell us a tale that will inspire us to play RPGs in the woods.
Humor
Make us laugh and smile, but not necessarily in that order.
Literary
We expect deep rooted conflict in these.
Horror
Last on our list, but definitely not least. We love horror.
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Issue #7Posted November 2012
Humor
Letter to the Editor
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By Joshua Brown
Romance
The Man That Got Away
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By Judith Field
Romance
Something Fishy
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By W. R. Shaw
Humor
Dromedary
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By Samuel Mae
Humor
Jacob and Lizzie
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By Roberta Glacken
Humor
A Good Man
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By Andrew Brazier
Literary
Seed of Doubt
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By John Conway
Horror
A Day And Two Nights When I Was Twenty
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By Brendan Detzner
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