Guidelines

Update (December 3, 2009) - Submissions are temporarily closed. We will respond to unanswered submissions soon.

We are seeking stories (and prose poems) of an absurdist and/or surrealist nature for our next online issue. They should be under 2000 words. YOUR STORY WILL BE REJECTED IF IT DOES NOT MEET THIS REQUIREMENT (although being a couple of hundred words off is permissible).

The stories should not fit comfortably within any genre. We have peculiar tastes and recommend you read an issue before sending in your work (issue 7 is available as a free PDF here). You may submit more than one story at the same time, but please keep the combined word total under 2000. No previously published material. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but let us know the moment that your story is accepted elsewhere. Use line spaces for paragraph breaks rather than indents. Underline all italicized words. Include a bio with your submission. We ask for First North American Serial Rights and the copyright reverts back to you upon publication. We cannot pay at this time (which will change upon our return to print). We reserve the right to make minor editorial changes.

We prefer fun, humorous stories where impossible things happen. It must be able to grab our attention from the very first line. And make every word count.

Our favorite authors include Steve Aylett, D. Harlan Wilson, Steve Erickson, Mark Leyner, Russell Edson, and James Tate (more recent work).

What we are not looking for

No poetry in form.

We are unlikely to accept horror stories. But if you do send one, make sure it's unconventional. The stories of Thomas Ligotti would be a good example of the sort of horror that we enjoy.

No stories with overused concepts that are central to the plot - such as zombies, vampires, ghosts, demons, werewolves, space aliens, God(s), or any Dungeon and Dragons-type of characters.

No stories that would be a good fit for any existing genre magazine.

No extreme horror/splatterpunk. Although there are no restrictions regarding content, we find wall-to-wall sex and violence extremely boring. But it's ok to use elements from this sub-genre.

No accounts of all the zany things that a character does after getting drunk and/or stoned.

No stories with endings that MAKE the story. In other words, when the story is mediocre up until the ending and the ending is so good that it enhances the quality of what has come before it. Also, no stories that are setups for jokes, with the ending being the punch line. We would prefer many different jokes throughout the story.

No stories that feature a protagonist who is a writer.

No passive protagonists. The protagonist must do something rather than have something done to them.

Response time is six weeks or less

Send submission as an attachment - either a Microsoft Word or Rich Text file. Email to bust_submissions@hotmail.com.
Email queries and questions to bradleysands@comcast.net.