Flash Fiction Online is currently seeking submissions for our “Rural Fantasy” issue, scheduled for November 2024. Guest editor for this issue is Jason A. Bartles.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR: Rural Fantasy might at first sound redundant. The Hero’s Journey, for example, begins with a farm boy or a hobbit in a pastoral setting, but those stories see the hero leave the rural setting to venture into the larger world beyond. When they return, they tend not to fit into their small town. 

Urban Fantasy, in contrast, often takes fantasy into contemporary cities, though wider definitions allow for any settings, rural or urban, within a world that has undergone urbanization or technological development.

For this call, we are interested in fantasy stories that remain within rural spaces. What epic plots, magical mishaps, or fantastical situations play out in small towns, along country roads, in the deep woods or vast deserts? These stories will also push back against harmful tropes that paint rural places as immovable regressive strongholds, as some essential wellspring for a national identity, or as an antidote against the harms of the cities.

Instead, send us stories that show the complexities of rural places and the characters who live there. These might include power struggles against dominant forces or even a fantasy of what a rural location might become. Stories may be set in any time period, on Earth, or on secondary worlds. The tone might range from optimistic and comedic to dark and brooding. 

Remember: at FFO, we prefer complete stories, complex characters who undergo transformation, worldbuilding that blends seamlessly into the narrative, and for the action to start happening right away.

Certain stories, however well done, are unlikely to be selected in this call. They include:

• Werewolves, vampires, or cryptids
• Rewritings of fairy and folk tales
• Horror, gore, or excessive violence
• Cozy stories without much plot
• Stories written from the 2nd person POV

The following stories include different aspects of what we’re looking for:

• “If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again,” by Zen Cho in Best of World SF Vol. 1
• “Yo y los intrusos” by Juan Filloy in Yo, yo y yo
• “One Easy Trick” by Hiromi Goto in New Suns
• “The Gaia Stones” by David Kernot in Gaia Awakens
• Black Swan Green by David Mitchell
• Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• “Together Like Hands on a Clock” by Jo Telle in FIYAH

All stories submitted through this page must fit the theme! 

If you have a story that doesn’t fit this theme, please submit during one of our regular submission calls. That said, if there’s a strong fantasy element and a unique rural location, send it over!

GUEST EDITOR: Jason A. Bartles is a queer SFF writer and academic. He grew up in West Virginia but now calls Philadelphia home. He is a scholar of Latin American fiction and film. His debut novel, A Valley to Harness, is forthcoming in 2024 with Two Doctors Media Collaborative as part of the World’s Revolution series.

WORD COUNT: 500-1,000 words. Because we are focused on flash fiction, this word count is firm.

ANONYMOUS SUBMISSIONS: Do NOT include your name, address, email, or other identifying information on your manuscript (header, byline, file name, etc). This allows our First Readers to evaluate your story based on the work alone.

MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS: Multiple submissions are NOT allowed for this special call. Only one story per author. Please do NOT submit stories that have been previously rejected by Flash Fiction Online; they will be rejected unread. If you have a story currently pending under one of our other calls, you may still submit to this call for Rural Fantasy, but it must be a new story we have never read before.

SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS: We will accept simultaneous submissions for this special call, meaning you can send the story to other magazines while it is with us. We ask that you withdraw the submission as soon as you learn that it has been accepted elsewhere.

AI-GENERATED SUBMISSIONS: We are committed to publishing stories written and edited by humans. We reserve the right to reject any submission that we suspect to be primarily generated or created by language modeling software, Chat GPT, chat bots, or any other AI apps, bots, or software. We reserve the right to ban submissions from accounts, emails, or users who we believe or suspect have submitted AI-generated content.

SCHEDULE: 

Submissions will be open from May 1st through May 31st. The submission window will close early if we reach our cap of 150 submissions. We may reopen to additional submissions once those first 150 are evaluated.

Submissions will be evaluated concurrent with other submissions. This call will be open at the same time as our call for reprints. FFO reviews stories in two stages – a slush stage and a winnowing stage. In the slush round, first readers vote on stories to be passed forward. These top-tier stories are reviewed once a month in our Winnowing round. Final decisions on these second-round stories are generally made within 12 weeks from the date of submission. The guest editor will also read all submissions for this special call.

PAYMENT & RIGHTS FOR ORIGINAL FICTION: For original (previously unpublished) fiction, Flash Fiction Online pays $100 per story for first electronic rights, with six months exclusivity, as well as a non-exclusive one-time right to publish the stories in an anthology. The author retains all other rights. Original stories must not have been previously published anywhere, including a blog or on Patreon. Payment is made via PayPal (preferred) or mailed as a check.

QUERIES: You can check on the status of your submission at any time via your Submittable account. If, after 8 weeks, your submission is still marked as "in-progress," you may email flashfictiononlineeditor@gmail.com with QUERY in the subject line for an update on its status. (Submissions sent to this address will be deleted unread.)

COMPENSATION: Our 2024 rate is $100 for each original story.

We are unable to provide personal feedback or critiques.

We do NOT accept resubmissions of stories previously rejected by Flash Fiction Online, unless requested by the editorial team.

We will NOT consider stories that promote or affirm hatred, prejudice, or violence toward any group of people based on age, race, nationality, religion, sex, gender, political affiliation, disability, neurodiversity, or other social identity.

Love what we publish? Flash Fiction Online is funded entirely through the generosity and support of our readers! Check out our Patreon here.

Reprint submissions do not need to be anonymized.

IMPORTANT: Original/unpublished stories submitted through this portal will be declined unread.
PAYMENT & RIGHTS FOR REPRINT FICTION: Our 2024 rate for reprints is $36 for non-exclusive electronic rights for previously published stories which are no longer bound by contractual obligations to a publisher. The author retains all other rights. We do not consider stories that were originally self-published, including on a blog or Patreon. Payment is made via PayPal (preferred) or mailed as a check.