Wow! We're excited about all the great stories we got for the marvelous May 2024 issue of Electric Spec! Submissions for this issue are now closed. Since we get so many stories, there's an easy way you can give your story the best possible shot at publication: obey our submission rules. Recall, these submission rules are listed on our Submission page. The main items are: between 250 and 7000 words traditional manuscript format: indented paragraphs instead of left justification and double-spaced include the title, your name, address, and word length on the first page of your story attachment i ..read more

The next submission deadline is fast approaching: April 15, 2024. We've already received a lot of great stories for the marvelous May 2024 Electric Spec Issue! If you've submitted: thank you! Our large number of stories means we get to be very selective about which we ultimately pick. Competition is stiff. For authors, this means you will be better off if you grab the reader on the first page. You will be even better off if you grab the reader in the first paragraph. There are many ways to do this including unique characterizations, dialogue, and/or descriptions, dramatic problems, dialogue an ..read more

Phew! We're still basking in the glow of the fabulous February 2024 issue of Electric Spec. We're so proud to present our stories: "Artifacts" by Christian H. Smith--There's a secret way to bring wonders from dreams into the waking world, but some dreams turn into nightmares. "Family Roots, Family Thorns" by Brian D. Hinson--The heir apparent to a spacefaring agricultural dynasty faces the dangers of ambition, betrayal, and DNA splicing. "Neither Snow nor Rain nor Gloom" by Kathryn Yelinek--Delivering mail in faerie tale land takes muscle and determination... and a bit of sass doesn't hurt ..read more

Many of the Electric Spec editors have been, or are, members of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers (RMFW). We are excited about the 2024 anthology "Without Brakes, Fingers Crossed" which will be published September 7, 2024 and will include a story by the fabulous Paolo Bacigalupi! Read all about it on the March 8 RMFW blog ..read more

We are pleased the author of "Family Roots, Family Thorns," Brian D. Hinson, in the fabulous February 2024 issue of Electric Spec sent us some comments about the story: A woman walks into a bar in New Taichung, Callisto… Mirjana settled in at the Jammed Neck Ring, where a human bartender served. His braided red-blonde beard reached his belt. As she sat, he asked, “Perhaps you would like to try Quevedo Reposado Tequila?” A group of New Mexico professional SFF authors, under the banner of Turquoise Apocalypse, meet once a month to critique. The quote above is from my novel that’s currently in se ..read more

We are pleased to announce one of our featured stories in the fabulous February 2024 issue of Electric Spec is "Neither Snow nor Rain nor Gloom" by Kathryn Yelinek. Kathryn was kind enough to send us some comments about the story: Back when I was in college, I studied French. Now that I've been out of college for a number of years, I wanted to pick up the language again. There's a magazine that specializes in easy articles in French for native English speakers. Each issue focuses on a specific region of France or overseas French territory. One issue focused on Réunion, an island in the Indian ..read more

In our upcoming fabulous February 2024 issue of Electric Spec we will feature "Jupiter Project" by UK artist and science fiction fan Andrew C. Stewart. About his work, Andrew says: I am a airbrush artist based in Nottingham UK. I like to experiment with different Airbrushes. I like to use a Paasche 1934 vintage Airbrush. My work has evolved over the years and I enjoy experimenting different techniques with the Airbrush. Without further ado, let's take a sneak peek at the piece ..read more

At the recent production meeting we had a discussion on ambiguous endings. Some editors like everything tied up in a neat little bow. Some editors like readers deciding for themselves how the story ends based on the author's clues. It's actually not the first time the topic has come up. One of our retired editors often lobbied for stories that let the reader decide; she said it was more literary and sophisticated. So, anyway one of our editors is currently working with one of our authors on a story ending. We'll see what they come up with... What's your preference for a story ending ..read more

Woo hoo! We had a successful Electric Spec production meeting for the fabulous February 28, 2024 issue! If you submitted art or fiction for this issue: Thank you! We appreciate your efforts! Authors should hear back from editors with a yay or nay this week. (Many of these emails have already gone out.) Please check your spam or junk folders. If you got an acceptance, please email us back ASAP because the February issue has a short turn-around. Once we hear back, we will start editing stories. This may involve multiple back-and-forths with authors. After we get a final story version with the au ..read more

The Editors of Electric Spec are hard at work reading scads and scads of slush. If you submitted: Thank You! We appreciate our authors and our aspiring authors. It's getting to be crunch time as our production meeting occurs in the beginning of February. So, next time, I'll report on that meeting. In the meantime, here are some takeaways from our recent slush pile... Do include some showing within your first 500 words. I saw a lot of telling. Other markets may like 100% telling; we do not. Do earn your death. I saw a lot of people die. I get it; death is very dramatic. But authors should make ..read more