Submissions
Reading period is twice a year. Submissions are open in Summer and over the Winter. Submissions should be made through Submittable. To help cover the costs of using a submissions platform, we do have a small submission fee. There are also free-submission periods available. Please follow us on instagram to keep up to date.
Writers
We will consider unpublished written work: fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
Visual Artists
We will consider unpublished visual art that can be printed in color or black and white. High resolution photos of paintings and sketches are encouraged. Photos of three dimensional works will be considered also. Please indicate size, and medium. Digital artwork will be considered also.
Timeline
Work will be accepted for consideration twice yearly. Depending on the volume of submissions we might not have the opportunity to consider your piece during the issue cycle in which it was submitted. You are free to, and encouraged to withdraw your piece whenever that becomes necessary.
Royalties
Artists must be paid for their work; same as any professional. That said, the publication of 'zines is not exactly lucrative. But profit is infrequently the primary motivator for making art or writing. We hope this zine may occupy a space of collaborative creation. If by some strange twist of fate The Song Between Our Stars turns a profit, we promise to share it. That's our best hope.
Sponsors
Artists all through time have largely depended on the largess of patrons, and the Song Between Our Stars is no different. Please consider sponsoring the zine.
Zine sponsors can be recognized through traditional means, such as recognition in the printed work and on the websites and social media. We are open to less traditional means also, please let us know if you have a specific program in mind.
Sponsorship does not convey any editorial opportunity or committment.
We have made promising intial parnterships. But we will need more support to reach further. Please contact us to pledge support for our print run, or make a donation through the sponsorhip form.
Our web development and hosting has been donated. Print layout work is a donation. Proofreading and copy editing are donated. If you feel moved to share this work, we ask you to promote it far and wide and repeatedly.
Something Else
Can't find the info you need here? Please contact us at info at-sign songbetweenourstars.com .
Copyright & Permissions
The Song Between Our Stars acquires First Worldwide Serial Rights, and the right to archive your work online. If your work is subsequently published elsewhere (in a book of poems or anthology), please mention that it first appeared here. We may separately request permission to use your work in promotional efforts or for an anthology. The terms of submission indicate that you should not accept subsequent publication that will occur within 30 days of the issue's public availablilty. Copyright remains with the creator.
Has my work been published?
Your work is considered to have been published if it has been included in a serial publication, or book, used as album artwork, other promotional material. Other uses can be decided on a case by case basis. If you have shared your work on your own social media pages we may still consider it. Many publications consider social shares as publication, but no artist or author lists Instagram in their publications list so this seems an unfair restriction. If your piece has gone massively viral please don't submit it. Shares to your own profiles or portfolio do not count as prior publication for our purposes.
Simulataneous Submissions
Simulataneous submissions are permitted, but please keep us informed if your piece is accepted elsewhere. We can not stress this enough. If you accept our request to publish your piece, we expect that you will not accept the same from another publisher for at least 30 days after our publication is available to the public.
We feel strongly that it is important to create physical repositories of art and literature that do not change and disappear in the digital realm. Ours is one of a dwindling number of print lit/art magazines avaialble. Print production is costly. We operate on a very tight budget and most operating costs are donated. If you notify us that you wish to withdraw after we have gone to press, it WILL NOT BE POSSIBLE to remove your work. There is no reason the other issue contributors should have to suffer lost potential revenue, or for the zine to have to fold entirely because you changed your mind, or found greener pastures elsewhere. You agree to carry the cost of any damages resulting from your misrepresentation of your work, by the nature of its creation, or its availablilty, or other means. If you have any doubts that your work will find a better home elsewhere, you are encouraged not to submit here.
All we ask is that you communicate in a timely matter and honor your word.
Please contact us to explore any topic further.