Prose
Issue 1: Visions from a Gender Inclusive Future
Content submissions CLOSED on
October 6th 2023.
General Details
For this round of submissions, we are primarily looking to fill specific niches in the magazine.
We are currently looking for:
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A piece inspired by our cover art (pictured here, top)
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A response to this artwork by Al Hess (pictured here, bottom. See below for more details.)
We are looking for submissions from trans, nonbinary, and genderqueer artists and writers for the content of the first issue of Inclusive Future Magazine. You do not have to be out in order to submit; we’re happy to publish your work under pseudonym. Regardless of whether you are out, if you choose to disclose your gender identity to us, we will not share that information with anyone without your permission. We encourage trans, nonbinary, and genderqueer people with other marginalized identities to submit.
The anthology will be at least half fictional non-fiction. For this first issue, we’re looking for pieces up to 3,000 words that reflect how language, culture, science, and day-to-day life could change over the next 50-ish years to be gender-inclusive in various cultures around the world. Basically, we want any type of article or other text you’d find in a culture magazine, but of course it’ll all be made up. To see what past, successful submissions have looked like, check out Issue 1.
While the editorial team is based in the U.S., this is meant to look like an international popular culture magazine, so we’re very invested in choosing pieces that represent gender inclusivity in cultures often underrepresented or left out of mainstream Western media. Special attention will be given to submissions that meet this criteria.
What we want
Prose up to 3,000 words in English. All dialects are welcome.
Work that is finished and has been polished.
This is a print publication, so the submission must work in print.
Simultaneous submissions are allowed.
If your submission is accepted by another publication while it's under consideration with us, please let us know as soon as possible. Depending on the circumstances and your wishes, we may still be able to consider your submission as a reprint.
Multiple submissions up to 3,000 words per contributor are allowed.
If submitting a piece under 350 words, we strongly encourage you to submit multiple pieces.
Collaborations are welcome.
For payment and other purposes, a team of collaborators will be considered a single contributor. This means that you may submit up to 3,000 words as an individual and up to 3,000 words as part of a collaborating team.
What we don't want
AI-Generated or AI-assisted work.
Queerbaiting; burying your gays; unchallenged racism, heterosexism, or ableism; hate speech.
Erotica.
First drafts or works in progress.
Excerpts from longer works that don't stand alone.
Invading/co-habitating aliens, bigfoots, Hobbits, elves, vampires, were-creatures, shape shifters, or other spec fic elements that don't fit into social speculative fiction. The point of this project is to present a realistic collective vision for a gender-inclusive future.
Work that depends on hyperlinks, interaction, animated graphics, or anything else that doesn't translate to a print publication.
Work that doesn't express gender inclusivity.
Payment and rights
Payment
We will pay 8¢ (USD) a word with a minimum payment of $25 per contributor for previously unpublished prose and 4¢ a word with a minimum payment of $10 per contributor for reprints. In addition, each contributor will receive one contributor copy of the anthology. Payment will be made via PayPal.
Rights
For previously unpublished work, we ask for worldwide rights with 30 days of exclusivity and that, when published again in the future, you credit us as the original publisher of the work.
For previously published work, we ask for reprint rights. For our purposes, we are considering work published anywhere in print or online as previously published. This includes self published materials, social media, and websites.
Terms
Work you submit must be your own work, and you must own its publication rights. All work must be 100% created by you without the assistance of AI programs such as Chat GPT.
Payment will be made via PayPal within 30 days of the receipt of a signed contract.
How to submit
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Please email your submission as a .doc, .docx, .rtf or PDF to inclusivefuturemag[at]gmail[dot]com. Unrecognized file types included as attachments will be deleted unopened.
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Be sure to include SUBMISSION: PROSE and the title of your submission in the email subject field. For example, SUBMISSION: PROSE "Mars Colony Update"
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If submitting more than one piece, please include all pieces in the same file and just include the title of the first piece in the email subject field.
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Please include a statement in your email that confirms you identify as trans, non-binary, and/or genderqueer. (You do not have to specify which.) Please also include your pronouns.
Withdrawal policy
If you need to withdraw a piece after submitting it, please email us at inclusivefuturemag[at]gmail[dot]com and let us know why. Please note that, once withdrawn, a piece may not be resubmitted to the same issue.
Response time
Response time will vary, depending on several factors, but it is our intention to have responded to all submissions within a month of the submission deadline.
Response to Al Hess' Artwork
When we say it was really difficult to choose a piece of artwork to use for the cover of our anthology, we mean it. We had so many amazing submissions, among them the portrait you see above by Al Hess. Though we ended up choosing Liasis' artwork to be our cover, we knew we wanted this portrait to be included in the magazine. Now, this painting needs text to go along with it.
What exactly that text looks like is up to you. Is it about this person's work as an inventor? Or a politician? Maybe they're a businessperson, or fashion designer. In short, why is this person interesting to an international audience in the year 2068?
In order to help get your creative juices flowing, here's what Hess had to say about his work when he submitted it:
"In considering your entry requirements, I was overwhelmed with choice in who to depict, because nonbinary doesn't look like any one thing. I wanted to portray someone graceful and intelligent who is in the public eye in some capacity, like a political figure or inventor, leading the way toward a better future. I have a love of holographic sci-fi tech and 1930s art deco aesthetics, so those made their way in as well."
We're looking forward to what you come up with!