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submission guidelines
find out how to get published in xenith

Once upon a time, Xenith used to print everything it received. As we started getting bigger, we received more and more submissions, enough that it became impossible to accept everything. Today, Xenith has an acceptance rate of about 5-10%. The writer's guidelines were designed to make submitting your writing an easier and more successful process. Please take time to understand and follow the guidelines before submitting.

 
The Basics: Length & Types of Writing
All types and genres of writing are accepted: poetry, prose (fiction and nonfiction), articles, plays, rants, essays, mainstream, experimental, sci-fi, whatever. What kind of writing it is doesn't matter, but the quality of writing does.

There are mild length restrictions to keep in mind, too. Your writing can be as short as you'd like, but longer pieces like stories with chapters or sections need to be submitted differently. We consider long stories like that to be serial stories--stories that can be broken up into chapters with new chapters being posted on the site periodically (like "The Fall of Areithos" and "Guided By Voices"). Please refer to the below section to learn more about submitting serials.

Nonfiction articles and opinion pieces are in high demand and the acceptance rate is much higher than for most other types of writing. However, articles are not considered for inclusion in regular issues of Xenith or in An Out-of-Xenith Experience. Xenith has a section dedicated solely to articles and opinion pieces--the Editorial section--and any articles will be considered for publication there.

 
How to Submit Your Writing
To submit your work for consideration, just send it to Centaurus7@aol.com. Submissions that are pasted into the body of an e-mail are preferred, but Word and ASCII text attachments are also accepted. Feel free to submit more than one piece of writing at once. PLEASE, NO QUERY LETTERS! (letters asking if it's okay to send a submission) We don't have time to read and respond to queries. Just send your submission.

Please include your full name with your submission. If you'd prefer not to, use a pen name or, at the very least, your first name with your last initial (Kelly P., for example). You may also include a brief bio, if you'd like to. It's completely optional, though.

PLEASE NOTE: Writing posted on the message boards is NOT considered for publication unless the writer follows the guidelines and sends it to me like a regular submission. I have no way of knowing whether a writer wants his or her worked considered unless it is sent to me.

 
What to Expect After You Submit
Due to the number of submissions received, we can only reply to the writing we're interested in. However, it does take a while for us to get through everything. If you haven't heard from us or seen your writing in Xenith yet, it doesn't mean you've necessarily been rejected. Some writing gets published right away and some take much longer to appear--it all depends on our needs at the time. Writing we think would go best in an issue usually takes the longest to appear since our issues are published less frequently. There's generally a much shorter lag time for writing we place in the Editorials section or Out-of-Xenith.

Please do not e-mail us asking if we received your writing--if you didn't get back an error message saying you sent your work to an invalid address, we probably did receive it. Please do not e-mail us asking if your writing is going to be published, because chances are, we don't know ourselves yet.

Also, we cannot critique or give feedback on writing you submit. We just get too much mail and don't have the time. Also, writing you submit should not need critiquing. It should be your final draft and ready for prime time. If you'd like feedback on your work, post it to the message boards. The people there give quick and honest opinions and they're really quite helpful. Feel free to post your writing there and rework it until you feel confident enough to submit it for publication.

 
Hints & Suggestions
There's only one thing that will guarantee acceptance, and that's good writing. There are many more things, however, that will speed you along the path toward rejection. Some of them are basic--bad spelling, horrible grammar, stories that are one huge paragraph--and usually indicate sloppiness and a general lack of caring. Don't send me your first draft!

Things that usually get rejected: cliche-filled writing, love poems, angsty poems and basically anything that deals with love and angst. It's not because love and angst are bad topics to write about, it's because love and angst are written about so and usually quite badly. Love and angst are especially prone to cliches and sappy triteness. I would be really, really happy to publish love or angst writing, but it has to be good. Tell me somthing about love and angst that I don't already know--put a new spin on things, otherwise you'll incite much yawning.

This one's just a pet peeve of mine: people who send in their work and say something like "I know it's not very good, but..." or "It's not my best...". Boy, way to inspire confidence! If you don't even think it's good, why would I? And why would I want to print it in Xenith? Spare me the false modesty, grow a backbone, and send me your writing with confidence! If you truly don't think it's good enough yet, work on it until it is and then send it!

 
Submitting a Serial Story
Serial stories do not appear in Xenith's issues or in An-Out-of-Xenith Experience. They are considered for their own section on the site (see The Fall of Areithos and Guided By Voices for examples).

New serials are considered on a rolling basis. If there isn't currently an opening for a new serial, we will keep your application and enter it into consideration the next time a space opens. Your story should be completed or very near completion before you apply. The writing can be any genre--I only ask for an engaging, well-written story that will entice readers to come back and read another chapter the following week. To apply, please send me the following:

1) Brief bio: Name (pen name or real name, doesn't matter), age, location (that can be vague if you're uncomfortable--a U.S state, or just the country if you're not from the U.S.), hobbies, interests, etc. You know, the usual. Also, if you're a member of the message boards, please tell me the name you post with.

2) Give me a summary and outline (an outline is preferred, but not required) of your story. If you don't include the outline, please be sure your summary is detailed. If you do include an outline, the summary may be brief. Please include the title of your story.

3) And, finally, send me the first 3 chapters of your story. If I'm interested, I'll be asking to see the rest of your story later. Make sure you send me a polished draft, as it will be what I'm using to gauge your writing abilities and storytelling skills.

 

 

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