Incensepunk Magazine: Flash Fiction Free

Length

Under 1,500 words

Pay

$25, plus lifetime “paid” subscription to Incensepunk Magazine. Stories included in annual anthology also receive pro-rata share of 50% of profits (each story’s author receiving a share from that 50% proportioned by the length of their contribution to the total length of the book) and a print copy of the anthology. See the sample contract for details.

Rights

First digital print plus one-time non-exclusive digital and print rights (for the annual anthology).

Formatting

We aren’t too picky on formatting, but don’t try to get clever with it - Substack, where the magazine is hosted, is designed to send posts as emails, which means formatting is more or less barebones. Bold/italics/underlines, special characters, and horizontal rule/divider work fine, but multiple fonts, indenting, tables, etc., are no-go.

What We Want to See

• Sci-fi worlds that embrace the breadth of human religion
• Complex characters that experience doubt as well as faith
• Compelling journeys, whether metaphysical or adventurous
• A light at the end of the tunnel, even if the way there is fraught
• Thoughtful re-imagining of religious aesthetics in future settings.

• Apologetics or sermonizing on any particular faith
• Made-up religions or unstructured spirituality
• Characters who are walking exemplars of their church
• Bashing other religions or the non-religious
• Transparent allegories of contemporary political issues

A few additional tips to keep in mind:

• Read the Incensepunk Manifesto to find out if your story is a good fit.
• AI-generated content is not accepted.
• If you do not hear from us after three months, feel free to send a follow-up query.
• Here’s a preview of our contract. Note that this is just a sample; actual contract may vary slightly.

We cannot pay for flash reprints at this time, but do still offer lifetime "paid" subscription to the magazine for accepted stories.

For reprints, we only ask for one-time digital publication rights. Be sure that you have the rights to republish before submitting.