What we’re looking for

WCP is looking for stories to publish in its magazine, Weird City. These stories should…

1. Be about “strange things in dense places”. While we’re flexible with definitions of “strange” and “dense”, there needs to be a general fit to our magazine theme.
2. Be well-written and carefully proofread. We want the pieces you’re truly proud of.
3. Be original works — no copied works, fanfics, or reinterpretations. We also discourage incorporating distinct elements from other works into yours (e.g. We don’t want to see Cthulhu stories).
4. Be self-contained, standalone stories. No chapter excerpts please.
5. Be between 1500 and 7500 words.

In case you’re wondering: YES, we do accept simultaneous submissions.

What we’re NOT looking for

1. Multiple submissions. Submit one story at a time, please.
2. Reprints. We’re buying first publication rights only.
3. First drafts. We are not your personal editors; show us respect by respecting your writing with proofreading and the necessary edits/revisions.
4. Cliches. We agree that it’s all been done, but some things have been done dramatically more often than others. Our readers have been asked to stop reading if they sniff a cliche-heavy story.
5. Smut. We at WCP have nothing against erotica, smut, or dirty writing, but we’re not buying it.
6. Offensive material. That includes everything you think it does: racism, bigotry, sexism, etc. Yes, a character in a story may be a racist (for example) but know the difference between this and ideology pushing.
7. That one story you just couldn’t get published anywhere else. Don’t make us your safety school.

Rates & Rights

At this time, WCP is paying 1.25 cents per word for accepted submissions. This payment is for first publication, English language rights under a limited contract.

Formatting

We strongly urge you use some sort of standard formatting for your story, such as William Shunn's Manuscript Format.