Submission Guidelines

Stormgate Press is launching full-swing into publishing. It was our dream when Stormgate was created over ten years ago to seek out the best writers of Pulp - Science fiction - horror and more to come on board as contributing authors of novellas, novels and anthologies. We allowed this to happen organically not rushing into it unprepared. Currently Stormgate publishes the works of Charles F. Millhouse who is acting as publisher and will continue to publish his own works under the Stormgate umbrella.

Below is a list of guidelines to prepare your work to submit to Stormgate. Currently we are excepting manuscripts for two planned anthologies  A Pulp Adventure Magazine and a Horror Pulp in the vain of EC Comics but told in prose style.

Below are the guidelines for authors and artists. Have a look, contact us with questions via Publisher Charles F. Millhouse on Facebook (www.facebook.com/writermillhouse) and get to writing. There is also a private FB group for writers and artists and once interested in writing for us, you will be added among some pretty amazing creators.

GUIDELINES FOR CONTRIBUTORS.

(Original: 03/29/2020)
(Update: 3/30/2020)

(Update: 6/9/2020)

Firstly, thank you for your interest in contributing to Stormgate Press Our goal is to create a catalog of well told prose with strong characters and entertaining stories with well thought out plots with a strong beginning, middle and end.

·         Stories should feature strong characters, without characters there is no story.

·         We accept stories in the science fiction and pulp genres, including, but not limited to: Space Adventures, Westerns, Detectives, Pirates and more.

      We are not excepting Romance, or Poetry or flash fiction at this time.

·         The standard length for a short story shall be 1,000 – 7,500 words.

       Length for Novellas should be between 17,000 - 40,000 words 

       Length for Novels 41,000 words and over

·         

      All stories will be written in good taste, keep it on a PG-13 level. Some mild swearing will be allowed which means no F-bombs. Sexual encounters may be conveyed but with style and good taste—think mild titillation, innuendo, and suggestiveness, not hardcore porn—while excessive gore is to be downplayed if not totally ignored.

·         All submitted stories will be self-contained, no cliffhangers or multiple part stories (at least not at this point).

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

How to Format Your Manuscript the Stormgate Press Way

We ask that you send a completed polished (to your best ability) story, along with a three paragraph pitch, (an elevator pitch you can do that through private message on FB) hitting the high points of your story, keep it short but grab our attention. Send your completed work via email stormgatepress@gmail.com. If you have questions feel free to contact Stormgate Press via Publisher Charles F. Millhouse on facebook, www.facebook.com/writermillhouse and he will reply asap.

In thirty (30) days of receiving your work you will receive an email if we have excepted or rejected your story. If we have excepted it, there may be a list of changes required before publication. (See below).

Not every story we receive will be accepted, or we might ask you to resubmit it or postpone it for a future issue.

All final stories submitted will be those that are edited to your utmost ability. This includes checking spelling, punctuation, flow, internal consistency, etc.

If a final submission requires extensive editorial work, it will be returned to you for further rewrites in which you will have 30 days in which to do so, or it may be pushed to a forthcoming issue, to be determined by the publisher.

Minor corrections of spelling, punctuation, and phrasing will be undertaken by Editorial without consultation.

Once the story is fully accepted by Stormgate Press, we will need a 250-word bio for inclusion on the website or any publication.

The final assembly of any given magazine, or book including story order and any visual elements of the book, rest in our hands.

If an anthology doesn't receive the sufficient number of submissions, or a story falls through, the magazine may be shelved for a while until we can generate sufficient stories from other writers.

By submitting your work to Stormgate, you give us permission to exploit your good name (and in some cases, your likeness) in all advertising and promotional campaigns and to use your name on our covers to attract readers.

RIGHTS

Stormgate Press reserves the right to any given story for five years. In that time, we hold all reprint rights of any accepted stories. (Without compensation.) That includes but is not limited to: best of anthologies of the magazine, digital & website presentations, with full credit and links to the writer’s other work.

The writer may not reprint the published story in any form including but not limited to digital, paperback, websites etc.

After the five-year period all rights to the work will revert back to the writer or his or her estate with the insistence that once printed in another form, credit to the original publication is sited and Stormgate Press credited*.

*{NAME OF STORY} originally appeared in {NAME OF MAGAZINE & ISSUE}, Stormgate Press, {PUBLICATION/COPYRIGHT YEAR}.*

If an author, writes a character owned by Stormgate Press, including but not limited to Captain Steven Hawklin, Zane Carrington or any associated characters, those stories, situations or originally created characters for the story in question, become property of Stormgate Press, unless other arrangements have been negotiated.

ART

Artists are encouraged to send work to appear throughout our anthologies/magazines, or for an issue’s front or back cover. Artists retain all rights to their work, but Stormgate Press insists that credit is given to the said art’s first published appearance*.

**{NAME OF STORY} originally appeared in {NAME OF MAGAZINE & ISSUE}, Stormgate Press, {PUBLICATION/COPYRIGHT YEAR}.*

All art will be considered for internal appearance throughout the magazine, but only selected or commissioned art will be considered for the front and back cover of our publication.

Artists, feel free to contact us through Stormgate Press Publisher Charles F. Millhouse’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/writermillhouse or via email stormgatepress@gmail.com if you would like to contribute.

Those commissioned to do work for covers of Novels, or other works will be compensated and arrangements of the art on an artist to artist basis.

PAYMENT

Upon publication, you will receive three (3) contributing issues (copies) of the anthology your work appears in. (reprints, anthologies, digital etc not included). You are welcome to do with your copies as you will.

Sorry to say, no advances or other cash payments will be made at this time.

Those who have published short story collections, novellas or novels will be compensated 20% of each sale after cost of publishing and can obtain copies of your work for book shows or personal distribution at wholesale rates. There will be a ten (10) copy minimum for orders and drop shipped to you. You will be billed the cost of the books, plus postage, rounded up to the nearest five dollars. For example, an order that comes to $37.49 would be charged to you at $40.00 in U.S. dollars.

You may order anthology copies from Stormgate Press at wholesale rates too. There will be a ten (10) copy minimum of any single issue (no mixing quantities between issues). You will be billed the cost of the books, plus postage, rounded up to the nearest five dollars. For example, an order that comes to $37.49 would be charged to you at $40.00 in U.S. dollars. This is to help Stormgate Press pay for pre-production expenses.

Place all orders via Private Messaging on Facebook. Once you've been told the price (which will include postage), all payments shall be made to charles_millhouse@yahoo.com at PayPal.com. Please designate all payments as "gifts" so we both avoid processing fees from the site.

All drop shipments will be sent via the printer's selected delivery service, over which we have no control, at the most economical rate offered to Stormgate Press. If you need copies faster, be aware the added expense will be passed on to you.

Orders would be drop shipped from the printer to a mailing address of your choosing to keep your costs low.

THESE TERMS MAY CHANGE at our discretion. We will do our best to communicate with you about any major changes in policy or sales tactics.

If future policy changes do not meet with your approval, for whatever reason, please talk to us via private messaging or e-mail so we can resolve our differences to our mutual satisfaction.

Suggestions are always welcome and probably needed.

If you've stuck with us to this point in the document, we appreciate your faith in us, to say nothing of your patience. Thank you for considering Stormgate Press.