Submission Guidelines

MT Editor: Jay Manning (aka Webhead)
Assistant Editor: JJ Collins.

Contact and submissions e-mail address: editor@midnighttimes.com

Submission Guidelines last updated May 30, 2006.

MISSION STATEMENT

Midnight Times (MT) is an online "literary magazine" geared toward new and beginning writers. MT is dedicated to publishing works of poetry and fiction of high quality by both previously unpublished as well as published writers. Although MT is an e-zine, the appearance of the web site and the presentation of the author works is done in a highly professional manner. To date, MT has published a wide variety of excellent works of fiction and poetry by both new and previously published authors.

PUBLICATION INFORMATION

Midnight Times is a quarterly publication. The publication date for each issue is as follows: Winter, January 1; Spring, April 1; Summer, July 1; Fall, October 1. Between 4 to 10 stories and 1 to 3 works of poetry will be selected for each issue. Please visit the Back Issues page to view past issues of MT. For publication deadlines and to view a list of contributing authors and works that will appear in upcoming issues, please visit the Next Issue page.

The fiction and poetry contributed by authors will be published on the web site in the Adobe Acrobat PDF document format. Adobe Reader is required to view PDF files. You can download the Adobe Reader software for free from the Adobe web site if you do not already have it installed on a computer to which you have access.

THEME

The primary theme of the Midnight Times is darkness (hence the title). However, "darkness" does not necessarily imply evil (e.g., there may be a light at the end of the tunnel). While the foremost darkness theme is vampires and vampirism, I will consider fiction and poetry on any subject provided it has darkness as a central theme. What I mean by "darkness" is open to broad interpretation. If you think you have captured some characteristic, concept, quality, method, interpretation, metaphor, literal representation or symbolic ideal that encompasses darkness, feel free to submit your story or poetry. For examples of works that stylistically convey darkness in some way, please read the author contributions that have been published in MT, or visit The Tome where I have published some of my own work.

There is also, typically, a special sub-theme for each issue. A few of the past sub-themes include Ghost Stories, A Bizarre Twist of Fate, and the annual Vampire Fiction Issue (the Spring issue). For information about upcoming special themes, please visit the Next Issue page.

GENRE

I will consider work that encompasses the following genre categories, provided it meets the theme requirements stated above: science fiction, horror (dark fantasy, futuristic, psychological, supernatural), psychic/supernatural/occult, fantasy (heroic, chivalry, sword & sorcery), literary, mainstream or contemporary.

SUBMISSIONS

Length: Short fiction from 1,000-10,000 words maximum. Vignettes from 500-1,000 words. Poetry from 1 to 5 pages maximum.

NOTE: Multiple submissions (i.e. submitting more than one story at the same time to the same editor) are acceptable provided the combined number of words for all stories totals less than 10,000. Please do not submit more than three stories at the same time.

How to submit: I will accept electronic submissions via e-mail. Your story should be in one of the following formats: Microsoft Word document or RTF (Rich-Text-Format). I also accept submissions by standard postal service; however, you will need to e-mail me at editor@midnighttimes.com to obtain the mailing address.

Response time: Due to the high number of manuscripts that are being submitted on an ongoing basis it takes approximately one month for me to reply. I read submissions in the order of the post mark for snail mail submissions and the time/date stamp for online submissions. In other words, online submissions will not get priority simply because there is a shorter delivery time. This keeps it fair for everyone.

Publication Rights: TowerWeb ProductionsŽ secures one-time electronic rights. This means you (the author) are granting me (the editor of the Midnight Times) permission to publish your work on the MidnightTimes.com web site for the duration of one issue, with "one issue" being equivalent to three months. After ninety days you may request the removal of your work from the MT web site if you wish, otherwise a link to your work will remain on the Fiction & Poetry Archive web page until you specifically request its removal, or I have cause to remove it. At any time after acceptance you are free to publish your work elsewhere if those publication rights do not conflict with the rights granted by publication on the MT web site during the initial ninety-day period.

For more information about publication rights and your rights as an author, please visit the Writer's Resources web page. Many of the linked web sites provide extensive information about publication rights.

NOTE: Contributed work will be published as it has been submitted by the author. I will not be making changes to the text of manuscripts other than for formatting purposes.

Payment: Currently there is no payment being offered.

RESERVED RIGHTS

As the editor of the Midnight Times, I reserve the right to reject any submissions that do not meet the stated guidelines or that do not meet a standard level of quality that merits publication on the Midnight Times web site. The editor also reserves the right to remove an author's work from the Midnight Times at any time without prior notification.