Submission Guidelines and Deadlines and Issue Themes

Please read the following all the way to the very bottom, including the PS. Thank you!

What, exactly, is EnchantedConversation.org?

Enchanted Conversation is an online magazine, in Blogger format, that celebrates the art, history, analysis, charm, beauty, horror – well, you name it – about fairy tales. In its first year, 2010, we will have four issues, which are themed. (More about themes below). Enchanted Conversation is for lovers of fairy tales all over the world. We hope to entertain and enlighten our readers, and give opportunities to writers, poets, artists, and scholars to have their work published.

We are a nonprofit organization. Many of the rules that follow are an outgrowth of that status. In other words, if we seem extra picky, it’s because nonprofits must toe the line.

What are the rules for submission?

When you provide a short story, a poem, a non-fiction or scholarly article, a fun piece on fairy tales -- in short, any written work we accept, you will be paid for the work.
1) ENTRIES MUST BE MADE THROUGH EMAIL ONLY. THE ADDRESS IS ENCHANTEDCONVERSATION(at)GMAIL(dot)com.
Submissions must be made via attachment, please put the title of your work and your name in the message line. Please make your stories or articles single-spaced in terms of lines, with double spacing between paragraphs. Provide your full name, address with the submission.

2) Chosen submissions will be edited.


3) The editors will not defend or explain why entries are chosen or not chosen. NO CURRENT STUDENTS OF KATE WOLFORD AT IUSB are eligible.


4) There will be a theme for each of the issues. Only submissions that adhere to the theme for an issue will be chosen. Submissions that fail to meet beginning or ending submission dates will not be used.


5) We love scholarly and non-fiction work, but it must be properly attributed.


6) We will accept pieces up to 2,500 words, but no longer than 1,500 will be preferred. Understand that your chances of having work accepted are higher if your work, especially fiction, is no longer than 1,500 words. We understand that non-fiction work may need to be longer, but no longer than 2,500 words. Proper attribution is required for non-fiction or scholarly work. This means a bibliography, which is required, but for which the author will not be paid. Parenthetical attribution is not required, but plagiarism will not be tolerated -- and we will check. Plagiarism will void all contracts and the author will be blocked from further submission.


7) Payment is 4 cents a word for articles (fiction or non-fiction), poems at a flat rate of $10, and art rates will vary according to type of image. (For most artists, promotion of their online shop will be made in lieu of payment.) All accepted contributors must have Paypal accounts. Acceptance is contingent upon the contributor having an account. No account, no payment. Note: No exceptions to this Paypal rule. Payment for written work will be for six months of Exclusive World ELECTRONIC Rights, with work to be archived indefinitely. Written work must not have been previously published in another publication. Further details are spelled out in the contract. Payment will not be made until the contract is formally acknowledged and accepted. Creators of accepted work will get further contract details after being notified of acceptance.


8) Enchanted Conversation is NOT aimed toward children, but that is not because we are anti-child. Indeed, the editorial team includes early-childhood educators. However, we are aiming at a grown-up audience. By their nature, some fairy tales deal with some pretty hair-raising subjects -- we won't shrink from that, but writers should consider that content should show an awareness that younger readers could find their way here. Content must be parent-friendly -- we mean very tame and not beyond, say, the level of Harry Potter in terms of language, romantic interaction, and violence.


9) Submissions will have to be in English, and contributors must be 18 or older, but yes, if you have a Paypal account, it doesn't matter where in the world you live, we'll consider your work. We will make every effort to verify your age. (Note: We may give opportunity to younger teen authors in the future. We are still working that out, but are hopeful about the future for writers 16-17 years old.)


11) Non-fiction articles should focus on exploring the art or history of each theme fairy tale or take an interdisciplinary approach. Scholarly work should be accessible to all kinds of readers. This does not mean "dumbing down," but keep in mind, this is not a scholarly journal. We are very eager to receive submissions of this kind

12) About art: We are very interested in digitally created art and classic-style illustration. Steampunk is intriguing as well. Images of artwork or jewelry or three-dimensional work will be considered, if the image is of high quality -- and of course, if it meets theme requirements. It may be helpful to know what we will not accept: No anime or anime-inspired work, no sexy fairies or nudity of any kind, nothing cartoonish or Disney-esque. Also, no fantasy or gamer-inspired art. And, please, please, no unicorns or winged horses.
13) For this to succeed, we'll need lots of readers. Please sign up as a Follower. If you want your work to be noticed, please encourage friends and family to sign up as followers. Twitter about us! Blog about us! Get the word out!
14) Stay tuned. There is more to come. And remember, always check out Diamondsandtoads.com and this site too!

What about other genres?

We firmly respect all of the following genres, but are not a market for the following kinds of stories:
1) Gore
2) Fantasy of the gaming or role-playing variety
3) Vampires
4) Werewolves -- unless we ever have a "Red Riding Hood" issue -- very possible.
5) Romance, in the sense of romance being the point of a fairy tale. Fairy tales are not, for the most part, very romantic -- that is, if you are reading the Brothers Grimm or Perrault versions.
6) Sword and sorcery types of stories
7) Sci fi or space travel
Again, we have no dislike of these genres, we enjoy many of them ourselves, but Enchanted Conversation is not about any of those genres and you will waste our time and yours by submitting anything in those genres.

You haven’t scared me off yet, so what else do I need to know if I wish to submit?

If you wish to submit, please do the following:
1) Read everything on this page even remotely related to submission.
2) Read fairy tales in the original. We mean the ones written by Perrault, Grimms, Andersen, etc. If you have no idea how "The Little Mermaid" originally ends, you probably aren't a big enough fairy tale geek to write for us. We mean no offense by that, but the fairy tales we want to expand upon were not, for the most part, produced after 1900.
3) Read books and articles by Maria Tatar, Jack Zipes, Marina Warner, etc.
4) Fiction written from the point of view of minor or secondary characters has a good chance of succeeding in this publication.
5) Do understand that writing a fairy tale is not some easy little bit of a lark that anyone can do. People often say that about sci fi, children's books, and romance and mystery novels. They are wrong. If you don't respect the genre, please don't submit.
6) We are most eager to publish work by new writers.

Anything else?

Calling this publication Enchanted Conversation was no accident. We want readers to fall under a spell -- one that keeps them coming back. So it is most important that you read fairy tales -- lots of them. It doesn't matter if you are a poet or graphic artist or fiction writer, you must read actual tales before submitting. What's more, you would do well to go beyond the bowdlerized, goody-good and/or politically correct versions and read the older versions of stories like our first theme story.
For example, read Giambattista Basile's "Sun, Moon and Talia," for a dose of what the first written rendition of the “Sleeping Beauty” was like. (Or at least the first written one we know about.) It can be found at Surlalunefairytales.com, as can a number of "Sleeping Beauty" variants. Read as many as you can of any theme story for an issue you wish to write for.
1) Do understand that a sense of transformation is essential to fairy tales. The main character must be new in some significant way by the end of the story.
2) Endings should be uplifting, but they definitely do not need to be "happily ever after." By uplifting, I mean to say that even if sad events transpire, we still get a sense of rightness and joy about the human experience in any work you send us.
3) Please, no you-go-girl, faux-self-esteem movement stories. Modern twists are great, and of course the princess can save the prince in your story. Just don't make it preachy. Also, chick-lit tones for characters and dialogue aren't really our thing either. Finally, funny is really hard to do. We love to laugh, but snark and sarcasm aren’t what we are looking for.
4) It's important to know why we think a fairy tale journal for grownups is needed. First of all, some excellent ones, like Cabinet des Fees already exist, but the field is not crowded. Second, and most important, is that fairy tales can help us map developmental paths far beyond our childhoods. "Sleeping Beauty," for example, could easily be changed into a tale of an adult going through the motions, but really "sleeping" through life, until a change brings about an awakening and a new phase in life. We'd like to think we can help with that. Thirdly, we think doing this will be fun.
5) Read fairy tales. Read them, fall into them, and let them engulf you. That really will help your chances of getting published. We can spot a true fairy tale lover quite easily.
6) Of course, your hero or heroine can be from any country, any race, and any background. Your story just needs to have magic, transformation, and a reasonably positive ending.
Thank you for reading all of this.
Kate Wolford, Editor,

EnchantedConversation.org

Diamondsandtoads.com

PS:
Enchanted Conversation will start out as a quarterly. We hope we will be able to publish more frequently in 2011.
However, for the year 2010, the following stories will be used as themes:
1) "Sleeping Beauty": Submission Deadline, Nov. 15, 2009. Submissions for this issue are closed.
2) "Beauty and the Beast": Submissions for this issue are no longer being accepted. It will publish on April 2, 2010.
3) "The Little Mermaid": Submission Deadline, May 15, 2010 -- but no submissions will be accepted before April 3, 2010.
4) "Hansel and Gretel": Submissions Deadline, August 15, 2010 -- but no submissions will be accepted before June 3, 2010.
Please respect the submission start and end dates. Also, please note that when we have enough submissions for any issue, we will close submissions before the stated deadlines.
Thanks!