ZNB Presents

Submission Guidelines

ZNB Presents is currently closed to submissions.
About ZNB Presents

Zombies Need Brains LLC is a small press owned and operated by Joshua Palmatier. It focuses on producing professional-quality science fiction and fantasy themed anthologies, initially funded by Kickstarters. The intent is to produce at least two anthologies a year, then branch out into more anthologies, an online magazine, and other stand-alone books once the press has gained its footing.

At the moment, Zombies Need Brains LLC is not open to novel submissions. However, each anthology will have an open submission window for a short period immediately after the successful funding of its Kickstarter. Keep watch for new Kickstarters (usually starting in August sometime). As soon as a Kickstarter is funded, there will be an announcement about how to submit stories to its open call.

Zombies Need Brains LLC is also open to submissions for our new online magazine ZNB Presents. The official open call is from July 1st-7th, with additional open calls as necessary. Follow ZNB on Twitter (@ZNBLLC) or Facebook for announcements about upcoming additional open calls. Or sign up for the newsletter at the link on the "Developing Projects" page at the Zombies Need Brains website, www.zombiesneedbrains.com.

Zombies Need Brains’ main goals are to provide a new outlet for SF&F short stories through our themed anthologies and the new online magazine, to eventually rescue abandoned and orphaned series that have been dropped by other publishers, and to ultimately print original novels and series from established and new writers.

We thank you for your interest in Zombies Need Brains LLC.

To contact Zombies Need Brains LLC with questions or comments, email contact@zombiesneedbrains.com.

Submission Guidelines for ZNB Presents

Zombies Need Brains LLC accepts submissions to its online magazine, ZNB Presents, (currently being run through Patreon here: http://www.patreon.com/zombiesneedbrains) from July 1st through July 7th each year and then through further open calls if necessary. Follow us on Twitter (@ZNBLLC) or Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/zombiesneedbrainsllc) for notifications of the secondary open calls. Stories must be submitted in electronic format through the submissions management system Moksha here: https://zombiesneedbrains.moksha.io.

· Word count: 2500 to 7500 words. No exceptions.

· Pay rate: 0.08 USD / word (SFWA professional rate), plus royalties for anthologies (see below)

· Simultaneous submissions: No.

· Multiple submissions: Up to three per open call period; please submit each separately. You do not need to wait for one to be rejected before submitting another. “Bonus” submissions will be deleted unread.

· Reprints: No.

· If a story has been previously rejected by ZNB Presents, do not resubmit, even if it has undergone substantial revisions.

· If a story has been previously rejected by ZNB Presents, it is permitted to submit that story to a ZNB Anthology call (if the story is on theme).

· If a story has been previously rejected for one (or several) ZNB Anthologies, it is permitted to submit that story to ZNB Presents (if it fits the above criteria).

· ZNB Presents does NOT accept AI-generated or AI-assisted submissions.

FORMATTING AND CONTENT GUIDELINES:

Manuscripts should be in Modern Shunn format https://www.shunn.net/format/story/, meaning: double-spaced, 12pt font, standard margins on top, bottom, and sides, and pages numbered. Please use Times New Roman font. The first page should include the Title of the story, Author’s name, email, word count, and byline, if different from the author’s name. Italics and bold should be in italics and bold.

We are seeking stories of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, including all subgenres. We welcome submissions from diverse voices. We DO NOT accept anything that includes gratuitous violence or sex. We DO NOT accept stories that are AI-generated or AI-assisted. If you really want to know what we like, read our previously-published themed anthologies.

TIMELINE:

Decisions on stories will be made as soon as possible. You will receive a receipt email from Moksha and will be able to keep track through Moksha. Rejections and acceptances will be sent through Moksha. If you have not received notification of submission, please query after one week; if you have not received a rejection or acceptance notification, please query after 90 days from submission. Send queries to contact@zombiesneedbrains.com.

WHAT TO EXPECT IF YOU’RE ACCEPTED:

If your story is selected, you should expect a revision letter, followed by a copy edit phase. A formal acceptance and contract will follow after completion of copy edits.

Stories will be posted to the online magazine during a selected month and will remain up on the site indefinitely. Zombies Need Brains LLC is seeking exclusive world anthology rights (including electronic rights) in all languages for the duration of one year after publication at the online magazine. Your story cannot appear elsewhere during that first year.

All stories posted between July and June of the following year will be collected into an annual anthology and released in both ebook and trade paperback formats. Once the stories for a specific year have been collected for the anthology, there will be a page proof phase. Advances would be immediately earned out upon publication at the online magazine. Royalties on additional sales of the year’s anthology (not including patron rewards given out as part of the Patreon) will be 25% of ebook cover price and 10% of trade paperback cover price, both split evenly (not by word count) among the authors in and editors of the anthology.

A sample contract can be found at: https://www.patreon.com/posts/66268880/

Authors who have had a story accepted for ZNB Presents can always submit additional stories to an open call (if they fit the above criteria), even if their accepted story has not yet been published in the online magazine.

Questions regarding these submission guidelines should be sent to contact@zombiesneedbrains.com. Thank you.

ZNB Presents is currently closed to submissions.