Submission Guidelines

Why submit a story?

Stories inspired us and free our mind’s to explore the boundless potential of our imagination, and stories help us explore our authentic selves.

Are studying and research giving you headaches? Has the matter anti-matter asymmetry problem scrambled your brain? Is the infinite and meaningless void of space causing you anxiety? Try diverting your attention with the fascinating world of creative writing. We creative non-fiction and fiction, with a strong emphasis on the non-fiction side. Strange Quark Press wants your tales of nightmare supervisors, experiments gone wrong, lab rats run amuck, and research chemicals ingested with your coffee.

It’s true, creative writing doesn’t pay well, but there are no advisors to tell you what to write and no funding agencies waiting to cut you off. Besides, graduate school doesn’t pay well either. Also, hey, it’s therapeutic, and if there’s one thing we all need after spending time in academia — it’s therapy.

Plus, we’ll put your story in print and donate some money to charity! Who doesn’t want to have a print copy of their work to gift to their ungrateful advisor?

Are you funded by the government? Or run by aliens?

Absolutely not! The only aliens involved are the ones sending noise to disrupt our experiments in the lab.

When do submissions open?

Submissions are currently open until November 30th, or when we decide to close! Follow us on Twitter for the latest updates: @StrangeQuarkCat, or on BlueSky at @strangequarkpress.bsky.social

Is this a joke? No, I swear by Marie Curie’s ghost it’s not!

OK, what are the guidelines?

Here at Strange Quark Press we’re looking for…

Previously unpublished creative non-fiction, fiction, science fiction, and poems that explore the world of science, academia, and the science experience. Sometimes these will be funny. Others times they will be anger-inducing, depressing, or horrific. Often they will involve coffee. Be yourself, and write from the heart. If you’re afraid your advisor will find out, use a pen name!
Creative non-fiction, essays, and fiction pieces between 500-3500 words.
Up to three poems, of up to 300 words.
Stories and essays formatted in standard MLA Format – 12 point font, double spaced, with your name and contact info in the header at the top, word count in the header on the right, page count at the bottom, and a break with some space before the title and main text. Try to make this thing easy to read.
Documents sent in .doc, .docx, or as a google docs link with editing permissions. Seriously, make this easy for us if you can. Imagine that there’s an under-motivated and burnt out postdoc that has to read 200 emails and decide the future of your piece.
Submissions emailed to strangequarkpress at gmail.com
Email title format: Author Full Name: “Story/Essay/Poem Title,” ### Words
Be yourself and share your stories and ideas.
Up to two submissions per author
Submissions that fit the most recent theme, which is Gremlin Grimoire – an eerie speculative fiction & science fantasy anthology, with all proceeds to go to charity.

For Gremlin Grimoire, we’re looking for stories, poems, essays and artwork with themes that fit into dark fantasy or dark academia settings, with a touch of science, SciFi, or academia in the themes. We’re looking for tales of lost knowledge, forbidden books, fantastical creations, unusual creatures, and abandoned dimensions… and of course cats, from now through November. Examples of pieces that would fit the theme include Name of the Wind, House of Leaves, or many of the tales or poems by Edgar Allen Poe. If you have questions, comments, or complaints please feel free to reach out via email at strangequarkpress@gmail.com.