Issue 4 - Queer & Loathing in Wonderland - COMING SOON!

Issue 5 - A Steampunk Orange - SUBMIT!

Issue 4 was: Think about the body and gender; think about sex; think about the landscapes we live in, the ideals we strive for and the utopian dream; think about urban existence and disaffection; think about gonzo journalism and the collapse between fiction and non-fiction; think about weird places and strained interactions in a place full of strangers. [NOW CLOSED!!!]

All submissions must have a countercultural element. By this we mean an enagagement with, challenging of or subverting of popular cultures and ideologies. Many submissions lack this important point. Remember: we are 'The Anti-Pop Culture Journal'. If you want to know what that means, pick up a copy and see how our mission statement and our themes come together. Read the editorial introduction. Read the stories. Read the poems. Look at the art. Read the columns. Then ask yourself, 'Can I really imagine myself alongside these works?' If you can, then submissions should be sent, as always, to editor@polluto.com. Deadline: October 15th, or when filled. Payment will be £5.00 as an advance on 50% shared net royalty, with a comp copy thrown in. Payment to non-UK residents is by PayPal ONLY. We cannot send foreign bankers drafts or send foreign currency.

Issue 5 will be 'A Steampunk Orange'. Consider the following:

The rebiirth, evolution and destruction of language; future worlds and the people who live in them; dystopia, utopia and heterotopia; masculinity, posturing and power; anarchy, discord and libertinism; capitalism, the individual and economies of exchange; the consumer-savvy subject and cohesion of the self; life after technology; fruit, knowledge and the machine; order, nature and artifice; ultraviolence and free will.

We're looking for angry voices, new voices, voices that want to toy with the reader and teach them something new and exciting. Take us dark places, dirty places, and show us things to make us giggle, gasp or gag. Deadline: December 23rd, or when filled.

We accept the following:

fiction (up to 10,000 words, with preferred length of <4,000 words);
drama (up to 30 mins' worth, or a max. of 6,000 words);
poetry (send no more than five poems);
non-fiction, including but not limited to reviews, essays, criticism, skits, travel writing with a twist, interviews and biographies of notable pop or anti-pop figures;
podcasts for our upcoming Dogcast Central (we're especially hungry for more of these!);
artwork (black & white, colour, line drawings);
comic strips (self-contained excerpts, one-offs and serials);
online miscellanea, including videos, flash items, photography, music, etc.

General tips:

DO read a copy of the magazine first.
Send ONLY .doc files or .jpegs. Query for anything else.
Query before sending multiple submissions or reprints.
Absolutely NO simultaneous submissions.
Do NOT chase up submissions until exactly three calendar months have elapsed.
DO send us your absolute best work.
We PREFER you to use closed em-dashes and space out your ellipses, but this isn't essential.
Use quotation marks consistently. Either use single or double quotes and only mix quotes when there is a quote-within-a-quote.
Include a 50-100 word bio with your submission.

Fiction tips:

Workshop, workshop, workshop! Peer review is the best way to improve your craft. We recommend Hatrack River, Imaginaries, the Internet Writing Workshop and Critters.org.
Strong characters and believable dialogue is a must.
Use the best POV character to tell the story.
Understand the rules before you break them. You're not James Joyce.
Don't rush the ending or pad out the story.

Online content tips:

Try to keep articles short (preferrably under 2,000 words but DEFINITELY under 3,000 words).
Try to include images if you can.
You may DESIGN/LAYOUT your own work, and send it both as a .doc and a PDF. If we like your suggestion, we'll use it. We prefer single spaced Arial size 10.

And as C. S. Lewis once muttered under his breath during a reading by Tolkien, 'Not another fucking elf.'

Query if you are unsure about anything or would like to suggest a project not covered here. Payment from Issue 5 onwards will be 0.5p/word (approx. 1c/word) + royalties, with reduced rates for online content and reprints. Max. payment: £25 ($50).