BLACKLIGHT STORIES SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Telling stories about your experiences with magic is difficult and liberating. Sometimes it's hard to know exactly what to say and how to say it. These guidelines will help you to frame your story and give it a better chance of being included in Blacklight.

Your story should be a true story about you (written in the first person) and how you felt about what took place. Ideally, your story should in some way ask, relate to, or attempt to answer one of the "big questions" in life that come up when you accept a magical world view, for example: "What really exists beyond everyday perception?" "Does magic really work?" "What happens to us when we die?" We strongly encourage you to read the stories already online to get an idea of the kinds of pieces we publish.

Your story should be between 500 and 1,000 words long. A title is not necessary or even desirable. You should submit it in the body of an email message (not as an attachment) and the theme that you're submitting in should be in the subject line of the email message.

Blacklight Stories follow themes that change every month. Again, you are encouraged to read the stories in your chosen theme before submitting.

April-May: Trees—Renowned for their place in the magical world, trees are extraordinarily sensitive and responsive to human beings and their magic. If you've had experiences with trees in a magical context, we'd like to hear your story.

• Submission deadline: 5/25/00
• Stories online from 4/1/00 through 5/31/00

June-July: Ocean—The primordial deep is the source not only of bodies and life blood, but also the fluid realm of our subconconscious and dreams. We'd like to hear your stories of magic involving the ocean.

• Submission deadline: 7/25/00
• Stories online from 6/1/00 through 7/31/00

August-September: Gardens—Findhorn and Perelandra are famous magical gardens — filled with devas and helpful elementals. Have you experiences these beings or had other magical experiences in your garden? If so, we'd like to share your story here.

• Submission deadline: 9/25/00
• Stories online from 8/1/00 through 9/30/00

STORIES FROM THE WHEEL OF THE YEAR

Beltane

• Submission deadline: 4/30/00
• Stories online from 4/1/00 through 5/7/00

Summer Solstice

• Submission deadline: 6/23/00
• Stories online from 5/8/00 through 6/30/00

Lammas/Lughnasad

• Submission deadline: 7/30/00
• Stories online from 7/1/00 through 8/7/00

Fall Equinox

• Submission deadline: 9/23/00
• Stories online from 8/8/00 through 9/30/00

Halloween/Samhain

• Submission deadline: 10/30/00
• Stories online from 10/1/00 through 11/7/00

Winter Solstice

• Submission deadline: 12/23/00
• Stories online from 11/8/00 through 12/31/00

Candlemas/Imbolc/Oimelc

• Submission deadline: 1/30/00
• Stories online from 1/1/00 through 2/7/00

Spring Equinox

• Submission deadline: 3/23/01
• Stories online from 2/8/01 through 3/31/01

Submit your story.

THE FINE PRINT

Only stories considered appropriate to the theme, intent, and quality of Blacklight Stories will be accepted.

Your email address will be printed with your story unless requested otherwise.

You retain all copyrights to your work. We do ask that you not publish your story elsewhere online while your story theme is still active.

We do edit obvious spelling and grammar inaccuracies. For anything more complicated, we'll ask you.

Your story will be archived online with the other stories in the same theme unless requested otherwise.

Please do not submit fiction or poetry to Blacklight Stories. To submit these to our print magazine, see our magazine submission guidelines.

If you have any question, please ask.