InkyBlots

MAD Magazine

We’re actively looking to expand our pool of freelance comedy writers and there’s more opportunity to join The Usual Gang Of Idiots than ever. If you have a twisted sense of humor, a peculiar way of looking at the world, or are simply eager to express your immature, strange or just plain silly side, then we want to see your stuff! Here’s what we’re looking for:

1. Material for The Fundalini Pages: Introduced in January 2004, this still-evolving front-of-the-book-section provides great outlet for topical, short form humor. Especially prized are biting social satire and outrageously funny quick takes. Throw the kitchen sink at us! This is an excellent place for first time writers to break in.

2. Comic strips: We want to add new comics to the magazine. Whether a strip is an ongoing, monthly feature, or a one-time-only, single or multi-panel gag, we’d love to see your ideas. While we are particularly interested in comics that reflect adolescent male sensibilities, feel free to let your mind roam. Got a really weird concept that you think belongs in an underground comic? Have an idea for an irresistibly irreverent character? Whatever it is, if you think it’s funny, send it to us. (And, no, you don’t have to be an artist.)

3. Hard Hitting Satire/Cutting Edge Yuks: Tackle ongoing cultural themes and fads, problems and issues, including controversial court cases, political blunders, celebrity and sports scandals and anything else ingrained (and sometimes senselessly beaten!) into the American consciousness. Good areas include: pop culture, sex/dating, politics, the Internet, the music and fashion scenes, and any topics of interest to teens. Especially prized are articles on video games, kid/parent and student/teacher relationships.

4. Media Parody: Poke fun at and lambaste your favorite (or least favorite) showbiz celebs, movies, TV programs and channels, radio shows, videos, commercials, magazines, books, catalogs, etc. Be audaciously original!

5. Utter Silliness: Pointless humor for humor’s sake, which may include a heavy dose of stupidity, faulty logic, moronic conclusions and non-sequiturs. (Articles we’ve run in this category include Most Wanted Renegade Clowns and Sadistic Simon Says.)

6. MAD 20 Features: Our annual run-down of the 20 Dumbest People, Events & Things of the Year has become a reader favorite. Especially prized are full-page visual-impact pieces. (Take a look at one of our previous MAD 20 installments to familiarize yourself with the feature.)

Here’s what we’re NOT looking for:

1. Movie & TV Satires: Unless they’re entirely different in format and approach from the ones we’re currently using.

2. Rewritten MAD-Like Junk: Nothing will get you a rejection slip faster that an article with a title like “Other Uses For Your Old _____” or “Who’s Who At A ______.”

3. Your Take On Already Existing Features: Including Spy Vs Spy, A MAD Look At…, The MAD Fold-In, The MAD World Of…, etc.

4. AND PLEASE: No advice columns, short stories, book manuscripts, articles about Alfred E. Neuman, or Alfred E. Neuman cover gags.

HOW TO SUBMIT MATERIAL

Send us a paragraph or two explaining the premise of your article, with three or four examples of how you would carry it through. Be sure to include art notes describing the visual content of each example. Rough sketches are welcomed but not necessary. Be neat and to the point. No hand-written submissions.

IMPORTANT NOTES

1. Our preference is for you to submit via email. Send your material to submissions@madmagazine.com. Please note: We will respond only if we’re interested. Fax submissions are not accepted.

2. If your material contains significant sketches or is otherwise art-intensive, you may submit via snail mail. Be sure to include a self-addressed stamped envelope with sufficient postage to send your submission back, or we will not be able to return your artwork. (Overseas contributors must include U.S. stamps or International Reply Coupons.) Send your submission to:

MAD Submissions Editor
1700 Broadway
New York, NY 10019

3. Before submitting become familiar with today’s MAD, not the MAD you grew up with (although that helps). Don’t be discouraged if the rejection slips pile up. Writing for MAD isn’t a piece of cake. That’s why we pay top rates — $500 per MAD page (for new contributors) — on acceptance (pieces that are less than a page — e.g. comic strips, Fundalini bits, etc. — are pro-rated accordingly).

Any other questions? See your spiritual advisor or write your Congressman! We’ve told you everything we know. Now it’s time to sit down at your computer, word processor, typewriter, notebook, stone tablet (or whatever it is you use to record your idiotic brainstorms!) and exercise your funny bone. We’re waiting to hear from you! Lots of luck!

Lead found at FreelanceWritingGigs.com

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Runners
101 Inspirational Stories of Energy, Endurance, and Endorphins

Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen & Amy Newmark

Many of you know that we originally planned this book to cover all three triathlon sports – running, swimming, and cycling – and we had titled it Endurance Sports. Our distributor Simon & Schuster advised us that there is much more interest in a book that focuses on running, so we are reorienting the book more towards running, but with a chapter on triathlons and cycling and swimming, since so many runners are fascinated by the prospect of trying out triathlons as well.

We have about 70 great stories selected so far for this book, and are looking for 30 more. Our November 30 deadline is rapidly approaching so we wanted to let all of our past contributors know about this opportunity. Stories about all aspects of running are welcomed: bonding with family, camaraderie, personal challenges, injuries, triumphs and defeats, what running means to you, and humor. we love funny, quirky, and unusual stories.

We prefer stories and poems written in the first person of no more than 1,200 words. Stories should not have been previously published in our books or other major publications. Previous publication in school newsletters, local newspapers, and other small circulation venues is okay.

If your story is chosen, you will be a published author and your bio will be printed in the book if you so choose. You will also receive a check for $200 and 10 free copies of your book, worth more than $100. You will retain the copyright for your story and you will retain the right to resell it.

SUBMISSIONS GO TO http://chickensoupforthesoul.com/form.asp?cid=submit_story.

DEADLINE IS NOVEMBER 30, 2009. Book is scheduled for publication July 13, 2010.

Found at: Girlie Jones Livejournal

Just a friendly reminder that the deadline for Sprawl closes December 20th 2009. Someone just asked me about multiple submissions and I don’t have a problem with authors submitting more than one work. I’d like to consider as much material appropriate to the theme as possible for what I hope to be a stand out anthology at Aussiecon 4.

Twelfth Planet Press is currently reading for Sprawl, a new anthology that will showcase Australia’s best and most exciting writers to an international audience. Sprawl will be launched at Aussiecon4 in Melbourne 2010.

Australia is a nation for the 21st century. Twenty one million people crowded into seven major cities; a modern technologically advanced society that sits perched on the perimeter of a vast dry interior occupied by an ancient, alien aboriginal culture.

Sprawl is an exciting new original anthology, edited by Alisa Krasnostein and published by Twelfth Planet Press, that will give readers from around the world a unique glimpse into the strange, dark, and often wondrous magics that fill the days and nights of Australia’s dreaming cities and towns, homes and parks, and most of all, it’s endlessly stretching suburbs.

Taking as its point of inspiration the delightful and whimsical creations of Shaun Tan’s art and fiction in Tales from Outer Suburbia, Sprawl is intended to be a book that glimpses into the brightest dreams and darkest fears of modern Australia.

Stories for Sprawl should be original fantasy stories of between 2,500 wds and 7,500 wds, and should be Australian in voice and setting, and fantastical in nature. Sprawl looks to pioneer a new subgenre – the Australian suburban fantasy – and we’d love if you could be a part of it!

How: send your submission in rtf attachment to twelfthplanetpress@gmail.com
Length: stories should be between 2 500 and 7 500 words
Submissions will close December 20, 2009.
Payment: AUS$50 per story

***
I am not responsible for what you do with your work or where you submit it. Do your research before handing over your work to anyone.

Found at: Girlie Jones Livejournal

Just a friendly reminder that the deadline for Sprawl closes December 20th 2009. Someone just asked me about multiple submissions and I don’t have a problem with authors submitting more than one work. I’d like to consider as much material appropriate to the theme as possible for what I hope to be a stand out anthology at Aussiecon 4.

Twelfth Planet Press is currently reading for Sprawl, a new anthology that will showcase Australia’s best and most exciting writers to an international audience. Sprawl will be launched at Aussiecon4 in Melbourne 2010.

Australia is a nation for the 21st century. Twenty one million people crowded into seven major cities; a modern technologically advanced society that sits perched on the perimeter of a vast dry interior occupied by an ancient, alien aboriginal culture.

Sprawl is an exciting new original anthology, edited by Alisa Krasnostein and published by Twelfth Planet Press, that will give readers from around the world a unique glimpse into the strange, dark, and often wondrous magics that fill the days and nights of Australia’s dreaming cities and towns, homes and parks, and most of all, it’s endlessly stretching suburbs.

Taking as its point of inspiration the delightful and whimsical creations of Shaun Tan’s art and fiction in Tales from Outer Suburbia, Sprawl is intended to be a book that glimpses into the brightest dreams and darkest fears of modern Australia.

Stories for Sprawl should be original fantasy stories of between 2,500 wds and 7,500 wds, and should be Australian in voice and setting, and fantastical in nature. Sprawl looks to pioneer a new subgenre – the Australian suburban fantasy – and we’d love if you could be a part of it!

How: send your submission in rtf attachment to twelfthplanetpress@gmail.com
Length: stories should be between 2 500 and 7 500 words
Submissions will close December 20, 2009.
Payment: AUS$50 per story

***
I am not responsible for what you do with your work or where you submit it. Do your research before handing over your work to anyone.

The Autumn 2007 issue if the Ink-Filled Page is now available for free download at http://www.indigoediting.com/ under the Ink-Filled Page tab. Thanks to all our talented contributors!

It’s also time to submit your talent for the Winter 2007 issue!

Literary Submissions:

Fiction submissions can be short stories or novel excerpts, and the nonfiction section is open to personal narratives and essays. While all genres are welcome, special interests include travel, multicultural themes, feminism, and magical realism.

Limit submissions to 5,000 words, one submission per candidate. Authors who submit more than one piece will not be considered. All submissions must be in Times New Roman, 12-point font, and double-spaced. Name, contact information, title, and word count should be at the top of the first page.

Artwork submissions:

Artwork submissions are open to all mediums, but pieces must be submitted electronically. Winning pieces are selected based on composition and originality. We are looking for pieces that highlight the human experience—show us the good or the bad, be surreal or real, but make sure that whatever you submit connects us, human to human.

Limit three submissions per candidate. Artists who submit more than three pieces will not be considered. Submit digital artwork at 300 dpi or higher.

Selected authors and artists earn publication and will receive a complimentary copy of the annual anthology. Authors will also receive professional editing services on the selected story. All work must be original and unpublished. By submitting your work to the Ink-Filled Page, you are offering first online and North American print publication rights. Rights revert to authors and artists after publication.

E-mail all submissions to inkfilledpage@indigoediting.com with a 100-word bio and “Fiction Submission,” “Nonfiction Submission,” or “Artwork Submission” in the subject bar by Friday, November 30.

View the most recent issue of the Ink-Filled Page at http://www.indigoediting.com/ under the Ink-Filled Page tab.

***
Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any submissions you make. Do your research before sending your work to anyone.

The Reader’s fiction issue, which comes out at the end of December, is an annual collection of work from mostly local fiction writers paired with mostly local illustrators. Our fiction issue archive includes some fantastic contributions and some names you should recognize. This year’s edition will be our ninth and there’s still time to get in on it:

We’ll be considering submissions for another month. Send them to fiction@chicagoreader.com. We prefer text pasted into email rather than attachments. It’s hard to find room these days for pieces over 10,000 words, but generally we’re flexible on length.

We pay for those we publish, of course.

***
Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any submissions you make. Do your research before sending your work to anyone.

Slash Books Call For Submissions – “Kink Bingo”

X marks the spot for this anthology, where each story utilizes a different kink to fill in a square on the Slash Books Kink Bingo card! Pitching for this anthology is simple: pick a kink, and let your imagination run wild! We’ll be looking for stories from 2000 to 20000 words that explore the fun and wild side of kinks. As usual, all stories must include at least one same sex relationship. Your story should focus on the relationship. Intriguing characters and interesting situations are the ticket to success here. Be creative! All genres welcome. (Four days ’til the deadline!).

Like the Knave of Hearts: Circlet Press.

What if Alice returned to Wonderland as an adult, and met up with the White Knight or the Red Queen again? What if there was more going on between the Queen of Hearts and the Knave than just those tarts? And what kind of adventures was Mary Ann, the White Rabbits maid, up to when she wasn’t at home? We’re looking for a darker, sexier view of Wonderland. Be creative, keep it legal, and don’t be afraid to explore your nightmares as well as your dreams.

*Found at EREC

Angels for whom heaven is not enough. Demons searching for redemption in a mortal’s arms. Seraphim, nephilim, heaven’s warriors or creatures from the pits of hell—love could be waiting for them all.

Samhain Publishing invites you to step into the light or embrace the forces of darkness with stories of angels and demons from any mythology. Will your angels be wicked and your demons be wanton? Only you can decide on which side of heaven or hell they’ll fall.

Samhain Publishing is seeking submissions for their Spring 2010 demons and angels themed anthology. Stories can be of any genre or heat level, and submissions are open to M/F, M/M, or multiples thereof, but all submissions must feature either an angel or demon theme (or both!) as integral to the story. Submissions should be 20,000 to 30,000 words in length.

Submissions are open to all authors previously published with Samhain as well as authors aspiring to publish with Samhain. Submissions must be new material, previously published material will not be considered.

Additionally, manuscripts previously submitted, whether individually or for past anthologies, will not be considered either. Please be aware that manuscripts submitted to this anthology cannot be resubmitted at a later date unless by invitation from an editor. However, submissions with merit for possible publication at Samhain are and will be passed to interested Samhain editors even if not chosen for the angels and demons anthology.

Chosen manuscripts will be published as separate ebooks under their individual titles in Spring 2010 but will be combined as one print title for Winter 2010 print release.

To submit a manuscript for consideration please include the full manuscript (of 20,000 to 30,000 words) with a comprehensive 2-3 page synopsis in addition to a letter of introduction/query letter which details the genre, heat level and story length. Full manuscripts are required.

As well, when you send your manuscript, please be sure to use the naming convention Title_AngelsDemons_MS and Title_AngelsDemons_Synopsis. This will ensure that your submission doesn’t get missed in the many submissions we receive, and makes it easy for me to find in my ebook reader.

Submissions are open until November 1st and final decision will be made by November 16th.

Submissions and questions can be directed to Angela James at editor@samhainpublishing.com Please put Angels and Demons Anthology in the subject line.

**permission to forward granted**

Bona Fide Books is seeking literary essays about your experience working in our national parks, from Denali to the Everglades, Yellowstone to Yosemite. Some go seeking commune with nature; others to escape. Diverse park experiences are desired. Although we enjoy tree-hugging epiphanies, we also want to read about day-to-day life, and societal, environmental, and existential implications of living in the park. What happened there, and how did it influence your life? Writers will receive $100 for their story and one copy of the collection.

Check out this page for guidelines.

Angels for whom heaven is not enough. Demons searching for redemption in a mortal’s arms. Seraphim, nephilim, heaven’s warriors or creatures from the pits of hell—love could be waiting for them all.

Samhain Publishing invites you to step into the light or embrace the forces of darkness with stories of angels and demons from any mythology. Will your angels be wicked and your demons be wanton? Only you can decide on which side of heaven or hell they’ll fall.

Samhain Publishing is seeking submissions for their Spring 2010 demons and angels themed anthology. Stories can be of any genre or heat level, and submissions are open to M/F, M/M, or multiples thereof, but all submissions must feature either an angel or demon theme (or both!) as integral to the story. Submissions should be 20,000 to 30,000 words in length.

Submissions are open to all authors previously published with Samhain as well as authors aspiring to publish with Samhain. Submissions must be new material, previously published material will not be considered.

Additionally, manuscripts previously submitted, whether individually or for past anthologies, will not be considered either. Please be aware that manuscripts submitted to this anthology cannot be resubmitted at a later date unless by invitation from an editor. However, submissions with merit for possible publication at Samhain are and will be passed to interested Samhain editors even if not chosen for the angels and demons anthology.

Chosen manuscripts will be published as separate ebooks under their individual titles in Spring 2010 but will be combined as one print title for Winter 2010 print release.

To submit a manuscript for consideration please include the full manuscript (of 20,000 to 30,000 words) with a comprehensive 2-3 page synopsis in addition to a letter of introduction/query letter which details the genre, heat level and story length. Full manuscripts are required.

As well, when you send your manuscript, please be sure to use the naming convention Title_AngelsDemons_MS and Title_AngelsDemons_Synopsis. This will ensure that your submission doesn’t get missed in the many submissions we receive, and makes it easy for me to find in my ebook reader.

Submissions are open until November 1st and final decision will be made by November 16th.

Submissions and questions can be directed to Angela James at editor@samhainpublishing.com Please put Angels and Demons Anthology in the subject line.

**permission to forward granted**