Submission Guidelines

Genius Obscura

Welcome to Genius Obscura, a newsletter that highlights writers of absurd, experimental, strange, or satirical fiction. Within that niche, authors might consider their work to be a blend of numerous genres: fantasy, horror, sci-fi, historical, literary, humor—or something else entirely. If you’re a storyteller who has difficulty categorizing your fiction, we want to hear from you. Just like you, Genius Obscura aims to do something different. There are many blogs and zines dedicated to reviewing authors’ work; their focus is ultimately on evaluation based on personal taste. Through interviews, author biographies, guest posts, and excerpts from completed and unfinished works, Genius Obscura seeks to know what is unique about you and what inspires you as a writer. Genius is not a quality that is limited to a select few people. We all possess a hidden genius. Let’s discover and celebrate the qualities that lead to the creation of strange, bizarre, haunting, visionary fiction. Join the community by subscribing. We welcome your submissions, your participation, and your feedback. Please see below for submission guidelines. Thank you.

Genius Obscura Submission Guidelines

1.       Subscribe to Genius Obscura on Substack

2.       Send a 500-word writing excerpt (either as a Word file or in the body of the email please), author photo, and please answer the survey questions below.

Survey questions:

1.       Who/what are some of your influences as a fiction writer?

2.       In 400 words or less, what is it that makes your fiction strange, bizarre, and unique and why should we feature you as an author?

3.       Please tell us how you would like to participate in Genius Obscura: an author biography, author interview, or guest post. Which would be your first choice? If you wish to submit a guest post, please describe your idea in detail.

Email submissions to: geniusobscura@gmail.com

Authors who are selected for publication will receive further instructions with guidelines for interview questions, biography prompts, fiction excerpts, etc. The biography guidelines, prompts and questions are candid; they exist mainly to assist with organizing and structuring your thoughts as well as for maintaining some semblance of order within the publication. Please view them as tools to assist you, not rules that must be followed. Feel free to add to them, change them and do what works for you. We want the process of telling us about yourself and your work to be a joyful, engaging, illuminating process—not drudgery. Word limits are strictly adhered to. If you would like to write a guest post, please email me your ideas. I’d love to hear them. Unfortunately, we do not offer payment at this time.

**All submissions are subject to editorial review and revision for length and clarity. By submitting their work, authors grant Genius Obscura one-time rights to publish it in the Genius Obscura newsletter. Submission is not a guarantee of acceptance. Submissions will be accepted on a rolling basis if they meet the needs of the publication.**