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City Street

Details

Who Can Submit?

Kaleidocast Submissions are open to any active BSFW member. Active is defined as any member who has attended at least one non-social BSFW meeting. This includes:

  • Novel Critique Session

  • Short Story Critique Session

  • Writing Room

  • On-the-Spot Critique Session

  • Writing for Comics & Graphic Novels

  • Guest Lectures, Interviews, and Q&As

What We Want

Kaleidocast, the annual audio magazine, aims to present the full spectrum of what speculative fiction has to offer from Brooklyn and beyond. We’re looking for stories across all genres and sub-genres. We want science fiction, fantasy, magical realism, surrealist stories, urban fantasy, slipstream, steampunk, supernatural horror, and everything in between.
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Content:

  • When choosing a story to submit, please be aware that we are a podcast, not a print magazine. Most of the stories we accept will be with an audience in mind that appreciates a plot they can follow while at work, on the subway, etc.  So, consider stories that have strong characters, clear pacing, excellent dialogue that is engaging (even funny), as well as beautiful descriptions.

  • We like stories with diverse casts that expand our world-views, even in our made-up worlds.

  • ​Stories with sexual and graphic content are accepted, but we will pass on erotica, or really anything that only shocks while adding little to the actual story.

   Brooklyn Themes We are Looking For:

  • immigration

  • Black lives

  • interactions of different cultures

  • toughness and the hustle 

  • crime (noir)

  • amazing food and the people who make it

  • public transportation

  • intergenerational change

  • community changes over time

  • gentrification

  • living in the shadow of icons

  • feeling lost in sea of people

  • street art

  • mermaids

  • the high cost of living

Length

  • Flash: 500 to 1500 words. These are stories that when read aloud run between 5-10 minutes. Flash pieces should stand out immediately for its evocative imagery, and emotional content.

  • Full Length:  Up to 5,000 words.  (We will look at pieces longer than 5k, but query first. They should be epic in quality as well as length.)

Examples of Brooklyn Stories from Previous Seasons

 The stories below are examples of Kaleidocast stories from seasons past that had something that would make it a  Brooklyn story in Season 4.
     Some of the stories included have setting that work well, like "Not That Kind of Dream Girl,"  "Squeeze," or "The Verge of Utopia."  The story can be set in a made up city as well, like in "The Kleptographer."
    We also like urban oriented  subgenres like the noir stories, "Homo Homini Lupis,"  "Sustenance," "Playing Nice with  God's Bowling Ball,"  and "Appointment at Titlanitza." 
      Then there are stories where characters must adapt to new cultures or new people, like "Cimmeria," "My Shaigetz," and "Sabbath Wine."  
      Stories  like "Centaur's Lament," "Summer Skin," and "Bilaadi"  take the perspective of the hidden beings that live amongst us city folk. 

Submission Process

Submissions: Submissions follow one of two paths depending on whether or not they have already been published.

  • Unpublished:  Once submitted, the story goes to the editors. If they like it, it will go to the story runner for final approval. All final decisions for publication to the Kaleidocast will be made by the story runner.​

  • Reprints:  If the reprint came from a pro-paying market (print or online), your work will go right to the story runner. If your story has been published in a semi-pro or token-paying market, it will go to the editors for review before going to the story runner. All final decisions for publication will be made by the story runner. Reprints cannot be resubmitted if rejected. 

  • Multiple and Simultaneous Submissions: We will accept multiple submissions. However, keep in mind we will only produce one story from an author per season, so your second will be produced the following season.  We do accept simultaneous submissions as long as the other place you are submitting to is not asking for exclusive or first audio rights.

  • Our response time is fast, typically not more than three weeks.  Still, please let us know if a story is being considered elsewhere.

  • Response Time: Once you have submitted your story, please wait at  least three weeks before querying us about your story’s status.

Preparing Stories for Submission

  • Please email your story to KaleidocastSubmissions@gmail.com as follows:

    • SUBJECT: "The Title" - Your Real Name.

      • EXAMPLE: "Death to the Weasel" - Seymour Aliens

      • If the story is a resubmission, write Resubmission in the subject line.

    • MESSAGE: Your Name, Title, and Word Count, Any additional info.

      • If it’s a reprint, then please direct us to the original publication and any audio rights we should know about.

      • EXAMPLE: Rob Cameron, Death to the Weasel - 5,000 words. This is a supernatural horror. It was originally printed in Thejournalthatneversleeps.com/countingsheepsheepsheep

    • COVER LETTER: Give us a brief description of what makes your story a Brooklyn Centered story.

      • EXAMPLE COVER LETTER:

        • When you move into a new community, there are things you need to learn to belong. This is a story about a character who learns to adjust to a new world, one where dream weasels teach her how to navigate the various complications of her new fairy realm home. It's not an easy adjustment and dream weasels don't work for free.

    • FORMATTING YOUR MANUSCRIPT

      • TAKE YOUR NAME AND CONTACT INFO OFF OF YOUR MANUSCRIPT.  The editors will receive your story anonymously

    • Attach your document. RTF, .DOCX, and DOC are preferred. Please, NO PDFs.

      • We only accept attachments, not stories in the text of the email.

    • Do not include: pictures, reviews, audio of yourself reading the story, or a summary of the story.

What to Expect

You will receive an email confirming we got your story. Your story will be sent to the editors . After that, you should receive an email back from us within three to four weeks. It will be either “Yes”, “No,” or “No, but with changes can resubmit.”

  • If the answer is yes: We love it as is and will be in touch with you for possible minor edits, biographical information, and the contract.

  • If the answer is no: Either we feel your story is not right for the Kaleiodcast or we already have a story that is similar to yours. Either way, we wish you good luck in publishing your story. This is a tough market.

  • If the answer is no with changes: We will send you the panelists’ feedback and you are welcome to resubmit. We strongly suggest going through a critique session with BSFW before your submission or resumption. Your re-submission will be read by the story runner.

Reprints & Second Submissions

  • Reprints: If your story has already been published in a paying market, then the Kaleidocast will be a secondary market for you.  Your story goes directly to the producers who will make a final decision on your story. If you truly want a critique of your work, then you are always welcome to submit it to a BSFW critique session.

  • ​Second Submissions:  If your non-published story is rejected with a "No-But," you can resubmit once. Therefore taking your story through a critique session is strongly recommended before submission.  

  • One of the goals of the podcast is to motivate our writers to attain a higher level of art. The well known writers from whom we have bought stories set the bar. We want your stories that reach that level. Therefore, it’s strongly suggested you should bring your story to a critique session before submitting. Even if it's been published. At the very least, everyone who attends will learn something.

Payment

  • If your story is selected you will be paid upon publication.

  • .08 per word for unpublished stories

  • $20 for flash fiction reprints

  • $70 for full length reprints.

The Small-Print Legal Stuff

PLEASE BE AWARE: when your story appears in ANY public media, including this podcast, it is considered published, so you will no longer be able to sell first North American serial rights to your story. The best works for this podcast will be either already published, or written for this podcast. If you plan to self-publish later, this won’t matter, but if you’re planning to submit to magazines, agents or publishers, you need to know.

 

Stories will be protected under a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives 3.0 Unported license, which would only allow others to download your works and share them with others as long as they credit the author, but they can’t change them in any way or use them commercially.

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By sending us your story you understand and agree that:

  • You are the original creator of the work submitted to us.

  • You are the copyright holder of the work.

  • You are not prohibited by any prior agreement from the transfer of non-exclusive electronic and audio rights to the work.

  • All information in the contact sections of your submission is accurate and truthful.

  • You accept sole responsibility for any false statements or encumbrances upon rights not disclosed to us.

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