Submission Guidelines

Why submit a story?

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.

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 closed. Follow us on Twitter for the latest updates: @StrangeQuarkCat

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…

1. Previously unpublished creative non-fiction, fiction, science fiction, and poems that explore the world of science and the science experience. Sometimes these will be funny. Others times they will be anger-inducing, depressing, or horrific. Be yourself, and write from the heart. If you’re afraid your advisor will find out, use a pen name!
2. Creative non-fiction and fiction pieces between 500-3000 words.
3. Poems up to 300 words.
4. 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.
5. Documents sent in .doc or .docx format, or as a google docs link. Seriously, make this easy for us if you can. Imagine that there’s an under-motivated and burnt out postdoc that has to read this and decide the future of your piece.
6. Submissions emailed to submissions at strangequarkpress.org
7. Be yourself and share your stories and ideas.
8. Submissions that fit the most recent theme, which is The Ghost in the Academy.