realism
Size limit: Flash/short stories (15k limit)
mixer character arcs/plots -- subvert the epiphany!
As a genre, realist stories tend to overvalue the epiphany--ah, our Joycean legacy, and curse!--character arcs almost always follow the trajectory of problems and yearnings that end in realization, understanding—the bright light of Truth that changes everything, forever, usually for the betterment of the protagonist (really?). mixer is more interested in the Chekovean arc; plots that challenge the notion that people are able to change in fundamental and long-lasting ways; or that question the assumption that all change is good or that insight and understanding are possible at all (or for all). mixer seeks stories that explore the ways and whys of stasis—the reasons why people (and cultures) don’t change; or how change can occur so rapidly and repeatedly that the notion of a stable identity is challenged. Charles Baxter's essay "Against Epiphanies" and David Jauss' "Returning Characters to Life: Chekhov’s Subversive Endings" are required reading for mixer realists.
Here's a link to the Jauss article: http://www.writersdigest.com/qp7-migration-books/jauss-essay
I don't want to say that we will never publish an epiphany, but if we do, it better be a hard-earned, cynical, or darkly comic.
mixer "reality" -- subvert "Nature" and "Truth!"
Naïve realism also too often accepts social constructions as “natural." mixer realism is more interested in stories that interrogate the naturalness of what is socially and historically constructed. mixer wants contingent and relative truth, not big T absolutism.
postmodern style -- mix realism with other styles and genres!
mixer also likes realist stories that mix in elements from other styles or genres: comedy (especially farce), black comedy, satire, parody, surrealism, fabulism, horror, noir, etc. The artful deployment of comedy or surrealism in a realist piece can go a long way in defamiliarizing typical realist motifs and assumptions about human nature and "reality."
It is also highly recommended that you read about mixer's general aesthetic of "literary genre": http://mixerpublishing.com/?page_id=262
Payment: $25-$100 for online (i.e., Website) publication, depending on length and quality; $25-$100 for print publication, based on the same standard--some stories will be online only while others will be chosen for online and print publication; and at the end of each year, an additional $500 will be paid to the story that best represents Mixer's aesthetic of literary genre--i.e., The Focus Story.
Electronic Publication (Kindle, iPad, and eBooks): 50/50 split of sales.
Important! *Advice on the submission process*
Please do not query us on the status of your submission. Response time on short stories and poems usually takes 3-4 months (sometimes earlier), but will fluctuate to 5-6 months if the submissions level is high. Novels and novellas are different: 5-6 month response time is normal but that can extend during busy periods to 10-12 months.
Queries are acceptable only if submissions pass the 6 month mark for short stories/poems and the 12 month mark for novels and novellas.
It’s not that we don’t like chatting with you, but if we answered everyone individually we’d never have time to put the magazine out! :)
poetry
Size limit: Single poems; chapbooks (Kindle)
mixer poetry mixes different forms or meters to great effect. Think: the offspring of a villanelle and sonnet. Free verse freed of sloppy rhymes and filled with iambs, trochees, or dactyls that create interesting effects. Poetry that is not just prose with line breaks! And yes, line breaks should be broken for a reason greater than poetical whimsy. Prose poetry that employs odd forms (a newspaper ad; an obituary) to great effect is also very welcome. Do I really need to mention no cliches or sentimentality?We like realist poems that break away from the cliches of insight and offer instead anti-epiphanies, anti-climaxes, puzzlement, or shifts in point-of-view. Endings that eschew understanding, that question epistemology, our ability to know the world.
We like poems that mix in tropes, images, styles, or themes from some genres not typically used in traditional poetry--e.g., noir, horror, sci-fi (dystopia!), black comedy, farce, surrealism. The trick here is that the style or genre is used, obviously, in an interesting way--not gratuitous or goofy. More like a new context or occasion for a poem.
Iconoclasm, parody, and satire. mixer loves poems that attack or play with the traditional tropes of "Poetry." Which means we want poems that make fun of convention--perhaps even while employing it--poems that interrogate the pastoral, the Platonic, the beauty of "Truth." Language experiments that call attention to the constructed nature of the world are also fine, but they must seek ambiguity, not opacity. mixer digs the necropastoral!
Payment: $15-$75 for online (i.e., Website) publication, depending on length and quality; $15-$75 for print publication, based on the same standard--some stories will be online only while others will be chosen for online and print publication; and at the end of each year, an additional $500 will be paid to the story or poem that best represents Mixer's aesthetic of literary genre--i.e., The Focus Story. Yes, a Focus Story can be a poem!
Electronic Publication (Kindle, iPad, and eBooks): 50/50 split of sales.
Important! *Advice on the submission process*
Please do not query us on the status of your submission. Response time on short stories and poems usually takes 3-4 months (sometimes earlier), but will fluctuate to 5-6 months if the submissions level is high. Novels and novellas are different: 5-6 month response time is normal but that can extend during busy periods to 10-12 months.
Queries are acceptable only if submissions pass the 6 month mark for short stories/poems and the 12 month mark for novels and novellas.
It’s not that we don’t like chatting with you, but if we answered everyone individually we’d never have time to put the magazine out! :)
horror
Size limit: Flash/short stories (15k limit)
Work against cliché and play with horror conventions!
mixer horror likes stories that play with the typical conventions and motifs of horror, while still using the power of the genre to scare the reader in ways that interrogate our knowledge of ourselves and the social constructions that supposedly keep us safe.
mixer style and tone -- realist, surreal, psychological, ontological, epistemological, and avoid supernatural horror unless psychologically ambiguous!
mixer, in general, is not big on supernatural horror--please don't send us stories of ghosts and ghoulies unless satire or parody are involved (for example, satires of organized religion). Supernatural stories might also have a chance if they are psychologically ambiguous (that means the supernatural events can also be read psychologically). mixer tends to like environments of realistic horror--urban, suburban, or rural settings--psychological and ontological horror. Think David Lynch or David Cronenberg, Edgar Allan Poe, Brian Evenson, J. G. Ballard, Paul Bowles. mixer horror is more about the subjective--especially solipsistic--experience of the world, not traditional horror's ideological (and intellectual) prostration to supernatural Good and Evil. mixer is more interested in the various modes of sociopathology, not spiritual or metaphysical explanations of evil.
make it funny or mix it with another genre!
mixer also likes horror stories that mix in elements from other styles or genres: comedy, black comedy, satire, parody, farce, surrealism, noir, sc-fi, etc.
It is also highly recommended that you read about mixer's general aesthetic of "literary genre": http://mixerpublishing.com/?page_id=262
Payment: $25-$100 for online (i.e., Website) publication, depending on length and quality; $25-$100 for print publication, based on the same standard--some stories will be online only while others will be chosen for online and print publication; and at the end of each year, an additional $500 will be paid to the story that best represents Mixer's aesthetic of literary genre--i.e., The Focus Story.
Electronic Publication (Kindle, iPad, and eBooks): 50/50 split of sales.
Important! *Advice on the submission process*
Please do not query us on the status of your submission. Response time on short stories and poems usually takes 3-4 months (sometimes earlier), but will fluctuate to 5-6 months if the submissions level is high. Novels and novellas are different: 5-6 month response time is normal but that can extend during busy periods to 10-12 months.
Queries are acceptable only if submissions pass the 6 month mark for short stories/poems and the 12 month mark for novels and novellas.
It’s not that we don’t like chatting with you, but if we answered everyone individually we’d never have time to put the magazine out! :)
2011 contest: sex, violence, & satire -- $1,000! - $12.00
Size limit: poems, flash fiction, short stories (12k limit)
The current contest for 2011-2012 is Sex, Violence, and Satire!What will win? The best mix of (1) sex and satire or (2) violence and satire will receive $1,000 and publication on mixer’s website and also in either mixer’s yearly themed anthology or a special anthology that collects the best of the contest stories.
When can I submit? June 26th 2011-April 26th 2012. All entrees must be unpublished. Contest entrees must be different from regular mixer submissions.
How many stories/poems can I submit? Up to five.
How long can it be? We will accept flash fiction (50-1,000 words), short fiction (1,000-9,000 words), long fiction (9,000-17,500), poetry, and graphic (i.e., illustrated) stories. Our first contest will not include animation or short films.
When will the judging occur and the winner be picked? Judging will run from April 26th-June 25th. The winner will be announced on June 26th every year.
How do I enter? You can enter here for $12.00 or on the main site for the same price (http://mixerpublishing.com/)--all contestants receive a free one year subscription to mixer publishing. Subscribers receive 36 stories (realism, romance, horror, noir, sci-fi, and a serialized graphic novel), 12 poems, 6 essays/interviews, including free straight genre stories and a free weekly updated blog. Subscribe now: http://mixerpublishing.com/?page_id=39.
In the cover letter/bio of your submission, please be sure to include your first and last name, and your email so we can send your free subscription.
science fiction
Size limit: Flash/short stories (15k limit)
Subvert utopian science fiction!
mixer science fiction should question the idea of progress, the old Enlightenment notion that technology and knowledge will always lead to human betterment or a Utopian civilization. You should question assumptions about what it is to be “human,” speculate about the future of what “humanity” is or could turn into. Is human empathy absolute, do we control our destiny, or could we evolve into a race of sociopaths whose only desires are consumption and profit?
Postmodern tone and style!
Please avoid an overly scientific or techno-babble tone of voice, unless the intention is parody or satire. mixer likes stories that mix in diverse elements: comedy, black comedy, satire, parody, farce, surrealism, noir, sc-fi, etc.
Sub-genres/related genres:
Dystopias, post-apocalyptic/apocalyptic fiction, alternative histories, cyberpunk. mixer loves speculative fiction (e.g., Borges, Ballard)!
It is also highly recommended that you read about mixer's general aesthetic of "literary genre": http://mixerpublishing.com/?page_id=262
Payment: $25-$100 for online (i.e., Website) publication, depending on length and quality; $25-$100 for print publication, based on the same standard--some stories will be online only while others will be chosen for online and print publication; and at the end of each year, an additional $500 will be paid to the story that best represents Mixer's aesthetic of literary genre--i.e., The Focus Story.
Electronic Publication (Kindle, iPad, and eBooks): 50/50 split of sales.
Important! *Advice on the submission process*
Please do not query us on the status of your submission. Response time on short stories and poems usually takes 3-4 months (sometimes earlier), but will fluctuate to 5-6 months if the submissions level is high. Novels and novellas are different: 5-6 month response time is normal but that can extend during busy periods to 10-12 months.
Queries are acceptable only if submissions pass the 6 month mark for short stories/poems and the 12 month mark for novels and novellas.
It’s not that we don’t like chatting with you, but if we answered everyone individually we’d never have time to put the magazine out! :)
romance
Size limit: Flash/short stories (15k limit)
Avoid cliché, fantasy, and patriarchy!
mixer romance should avoid the clichés and patriarchal ideology of the popular romance novels, like Harlequin romances. So men—especially archetypes of idealized masculinity—should not be saving women from lives of unfulfilling independence. Authors can avoid cliché by painting a more complex and less fantastic portrait of romantic love.
mixer style and tone -- realist, tragic, cynical, surreal, quirky, absurdist, satiric, and/or darkly comic romance!
Many stories that are typically considered realist or simply "literature" can be seen more specifically as a species of romance—that is, literary romance—e.g., The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, The Great Gatsby, The Remains of the Day, Brokeback Mountain, Jane Austen. Some of these are tragic romances, or even negative, ironic, comic romances. mixer appreciates diverse approaches such as these, but we're also interested in anything that defamilarizes traditional assumptions about romance and love--the quirky, the surreal, and dark humor are welcome here!
Subvert, subvert, subvert -- poke fun at the traditional tropes of romance!
Parody and satire of romantic conventions are some of the primary qualities that mixer is looking for—beyond our general aesthetic of mixing genres together (e.g., romance and horror)—stories that intentionally parody or satirize the typical conventions and motifs of romance (Fay Weldon's The Life and Loves of a She Devil is an excellent example). Men do not save women from themselves or make them “real” women. Women are not Sleeping Beauties that need to be woken up to their burgeoning sexuality, or Eves that need to be tamed--unless, perhaps, these Eves are men. Gender deconstruction is always welcome at mixer!
It is also highly recommended that you read about mixer's general aesthetic of "literary genre": http://mixerpublishing.com/?page_id=262
Payment: $25-$100 for online (i.e., Website) publication, depending on length and quality; $25-$100 for print publication, based on the same standard--some stories will be online only while others will be chosen for online and print publication; and at the end of each year, an additional $500 will be paid to the story that best represents Mixer's aesthetic of literary genre--i.e., The Focus Story.
Electronic Publication (Kindle, iPad, and eBooks): 50/50 split of sales.
Important! *Advice on the submission process*
Please do not query us on the status of your submission. Response time on short stories and poems usually takes 3-4 months (sometimes earlier), but will fluctuate to 5-6 months if the submissions level is high. Novels and novellas are different: 5-6 month response time is normal but that can extend during busy periods to 10-12 months.
Queries are acceptable only if submissions pass the 6 month mark for short stories/poems and the 12 month mark for novels and novellas.
It’s not that we don’t like chatting with you, but if we answered everyone individually we’d never have time to put the magazine out! :)
noir
Size limit: Flash/short stories (15k limit)
Explore our dark yearnings, instincts and (unconscious) psychological motivations!
mixer noir should explore the dark yearnings and instincts that drive human choice. We are especially interested in the ethical ambiguities, cultural deviations, and psychological motivations--especially the epistemological gaps--behind crime, or perceived crimes. We like labyrinthine detective stories such as those by Borges and Evenson; or chilling portraits of the sociopathic mind like Thompson's The Killer Inside Me. Dislocation, confusion, and mystery (especially the unsolvable kind) are essential elements to mixer noir.
mixer wants postmodern noir!
While mixer appreciates classic noir, we're looking more for stories that mix in elements from other styles or genres: comedy, black comedy, satire, parody, farce, surrealism, noir, sc-fi, etc. We typically do not want straight/traditional approaches to Noir. postmodern noir would probably be a fair, if somewhat general, term. However, something along the lines of Winter's Bone would be more than acceptable: a young female protagonist seeks to investigate the disappearance of her father, and descends into a world of darkness aligned against her (including the law). A mix of Southern Gothic, detective noir, and coming of age story, Winter's Bone tweaks the traditional formula just enough to make great literature.
Non-traditional protagonists/anti-heroes are welcome!
Detectives are best if stupid, confused, deluded, or non-traditional (for example, not a literal detective, but someone investigating a mystery or crime). We want the stories of victims, suspects, and perpetrators--anti-heroes of any kind!.
It is also highly recommended that you read about mixer's general aesthetic of "literary genre": http://mixerpublishing.com/?page_id=262
Payment: $25-$100 for online (i.e., Website) publication, depending on length and quality; $25-$100 for print publication, based on the same standard--some stories will be online only while others will be chosen for online and print publication; and at the end of each year, an additional $500 will be paid to the story that best represents Mixer's aesthetic of literary genre--i.e., The Focus Story.
Electronic Publication (Kindle, iPad, and eBooks): 50/50 split of sales.
Important! *Advice on the submission process*
Please do not query us on the status of your submission. Response time on short stories and poems usually takes 3-4 months (sometimes earlier), but will fluctuate to 5-6 months if the submissions level is high. Novels and novellas are different: 5-6 month response time is normal but that can extend during busy periods to 10-12 months.
Queries are acceptable only if submissions pass the 6 month mark for short stories/poems and the 12 month mark for novels and novellas.
It’s not that we don’t like chatting with you, but if we answered everyone individually we’d never have time to put the magazine out! :)
media
Size limit: Graphic Novels/Novellas
Mixer is seeking multimedia narratives. Photography and graphic art, word and image, text and hypertext, art and entertainment. A realist graphic novel (Ethel and Ernest) or illustrated poetry. Short films, animation, comics that incorporate sound. Multiple genres and styles: horror, noir, sci-fi, realism, romance, comedy, farce, satire, surrealism, expressionism, 'isms.
Payment: $25-$100 for online (i.e., Website) publication, depending on length and quality; $25-$100 for print publication, based on the same standard--some stories will be online only while others will be chosen for online and print publication; and at the end of each year, an additional $500 will be paid to the story or multimedia piece that best represents Mixer's aesthetic of literary genre--i.e., The Focus Story.
Electronic Publication (Kindle, iPad, and eBooks): 50/50 split of sales.
Important! *Advice on the submission process*
Please do not query us on the status of your submission. Response time on short stories and poems usually takes 3-4 months (sometimes earlier), but will fluctuate to 5-6 months if the submissions level is high. Novels and novellas are different: 5-6 month response time is normal but that can extend during busy periods to 10-12 months.
Queries are acceptable only if submissions pass the 6 month mark for short stories/poems and the 12 month mark for novels and novellas.
It’s not that we don’t like chatting with you, but if we answered everyone individually we’d never have time to put the magazine out! :)
novels and novellas
Size limit: None
mixer is interested in novels and novellas that fit within the above-specified guidelines for our genres of interest: Realism, Romance, Horror, Science Fiction, and Noir.We are interested in both literary genre _and_ genre work: the former being a work that transcends genre while also working within it (a mix of art and entertainment); the latter being a well-written piece of genre work, focused more on entertainment than innovation, experiment, or subtlety. Think of it this way: if literary genre can be defined by a mix of the sensational and the subtle ("the literary"), then pure genre cares more about sensation. In terms of genre, for example, a good horror novel/novella cares more about scaring us than does literary horror, which may be more concerned with exploring epistemological gaps in human perception, or experimenting with language or point-of-view. A good romance novel/novella would care more about making the reader feel various sensations of love (romantic, erotic); and so on (Noir, Science Fiction). However, although mixer is interested in publishing pure genre works, the writing and storytelling must still be exceptional even if the work is still largely following traditional methods and formula.
The Immersion Novel...
One of the innovative imprints mixer will be offering is The Immersion Novel. This will be a novel or novella that uses the second person perspective to immerse the reader in the sensations of genre (Horror, Noir, Romance, Science-Fiction, Realism). Inspired by the Choose Your Own Adventure books of the 80s and 90s, mixer wants adult-oriented narratives that provide the reader pivotal opportunities of choice that will lead them through a labyrinth of sensation. The Immersion Novel will have longer character arcs and fewer endings (3-5) than the Choose Your Own Adventure books, which means that decisions will be of greater importance. Immersion Novels can be either literary genre or pure genre.
Payment: 50/50 split of sales; publication will be predominately on Kindle, iPad, and eBooks; print publication will occur only once or twice a year (at most) for limited first edition runs of the best literary genre.
Important! *Advice on the submission process*
Please do not query us on the status of your submission. Novels and novellas response time is about 5-6 months and that can extend during busy periods to 10-12 months.
Queries are acceptable only if submissions pass the 12 month mark.
It’s not that we don’t like chatting with our submitters, but if we answered you all individually we’d never have time to put the magazine out! :)
essays, blog articles, book reviews
Size limit: none
mixer seeks essays, articles and book reviews that are concerned with our aesthetic of literary genre, literature that breaks down the arbitrary boundaries between genre and art.To best understand our literary perspective, please read our about us section: http://mixerpublishing.com/?page_id=262
We're interested in critical work that:
1) Explores literature that subverts, innovates, or transcends genre.
2) Explores the generic qualities and cliches of realism.
3) Explores the generic qualities and cliches of romance, horror, noir, science fiction, or poetry.
4) Explores the ideologies behind all genres.
5) Explores literature from a postmodern (e.g., deconstructive, feminist, queer, post-colonial, Marxist) or atheist perspective while still focusing on specific genres.
6) Investigates atheist fiction as a genre, historically and its future potential
$100 for scholarly essays; $25-$75 for blog articles or book reviews.
Important! *Advice on the submission process*
Please do not query us on the status of your submission. Response time on short stories and poems usually takes 3-4 months (sometimes earlier), but will fluctuate to 5-6 months if the submissions level is high. Novels and novellas are different: 5-6 month response time is normal but that can extend during busy periods to 10-12 months.
Queries are acceptable only if submissions pass the 6 month mark for short stories/poems and the 12 month mark for novels and novellas.
It’s not that we don’t like chatting with you, but if we answered everyone individually we’d never have time to put the magazine out! :)
your editor -- affordable editorial services for writers! - $35.00
Size limit: none
your editor provides affordable editorial response, advice, and revision for your short stories, poems, and essays with the goal of helping writers to refine their work and improve their chances for publication. We offer experienced and professional responses to individual pieces so writers can gauge industry reaction to their craft.Basic Editorial Package -- $35.00
(1) provides two pages of response and advice for improving your short story, poem, or essay
(2) will reference issues on specific page numbers or poem lines in response, but will not make in-line comments via Word Doc Track Changes.
http://www.yourstoryeditor.com/Basic.html
Advanced Editorial Package -- $50.00
(1) provides two pages of response and advice for improving your short story, poem, or essay
(2) provides in-line comments in Word Doc Track Changes that aid Author to address specific issues on a textual level.
http://www.yourstoryeditor.com/Advanced.html
Premium Editorial Package -- $75.00
(1) provides three-four pages of response and advice for improving your short story, poem, or essay (longer responses will be provided if necessary)
(2) provides in-line comments in Word Doc Track Changes that help Author to address specific issues on a textual level
(3) will edit and revise specific problems identified in the text (e.g., revise flat dialogue, revise scenes for tension and dramatic action, adjust meter and rhythm in poems).
http://www.yourstoryeditor.com/Premium.html
Novella/Novel Editorial Package -- $300.00
(1) provides at least five pages of response and advice for improving your novella or novel
(2) provides in-line comments in Word Doc Track Changes that help Author to address specific issues on a textual level
(3) will edit and revise specific problems identified in the text (e.g., revise flat dialogue, revise scenes for tension and dramatic action, adjust meter and rhythm in poems).
http://www.yourstoryeditor.com/Novel_NovellaPackage.html
You can either click one of the links to the editorial packages above, or you can submit your work here. If you submit your work here please indicate in your bio and subject line which editorial package you want. We will respond to you with the appropriate Paypal link for further payment if you choose a larger package.
Or just head over to the main Your Editor site and choose the package you want there: http://www.yourstoryeditor.com/Home_Page.html
damned books! -- atheist fiction
Size limit: short stories, essays, novellas, novels
damned books! seeks to lead the literary world in expanding the market for atheist fiction.We're looking primarily for three kinds of narratives (books and short stories):
1) Humorous, questioning stories that poke fun/critique traditional theist, transcendental, supernatural ideas. For example, stories that make fun of ritual, the problem of the interaction between the non-physical and the physical, trinity, angels, demons, grace, salvation, or "god."
2) Realist stories of the everyday world that illustrate how religion harms people, causes social problems, or acerbates societal problems. This could be anything from the memoir of a child's fear of hell growing up to a story of how Christian politics adversely affects our culture.
3) Speculative stories of the supernatural that illustrate how a world with "god" (or any other supernatural entity) would be a scary, immoral place. Just think of "god" killing non-believers in the Old Testament or approving of the murder of rape victims. If "god" were real, would moral people really approve of this?
damned books! is also seeking essays:
4) Essays/articles/book reviews that critique literature from an atheist perspective. For example, what are the ideological assumptions or implications of traditionally accepted literary concepts like the epiphany or grace?
Payment: $25-200 for short fiction ($500 if story selected as Focus Story); 15$-150 for Poetry; $100 for scholarly essays; $25-$75 for blog articles or book review; novels & novellas 50-50 split of sales
Important! *Advice on the submission process*
Please do not query us on the status of your submission. Response time on short stories and poems usually takes 3-4 months (sometimes earlier), but will fluctuate to 5-6 months if the submissions level is high. Novels and novellas are different: 5-6 month response time is normal but that can extend during busy periods to 10-12 months.
Queries are acceptable only if submissions pass the 6 month mark for short stories/poems and the 12 month mark for novels and novellas.
It’s not that we don’t like chatting with you, but if we answered everyone individually we’d never have time to put the magazine out! :)