"We don't care what the king is doing"

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Dirty Magick Magazine is proud to present some of the best short stories in urban fantasy, sword and sorcery, and gothic horror. Click here to see how to subscribe, so you can get in on the action.

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Submissions

As of August 5th, 2024, Dirty Magick magazine is closed for submissions.

However, read upon the Submission Guidelines page so you are prepared when the reading period starts again.

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Humor is always welcome, especially if it is organic to the storyFresh takes on fantasy races, especially if you can stretch beyond Tolkien/Gygaxian stereotypes Good balance between plot and character-tell a strong story with believable protagonists Strong sense of setting-we believe where a story takes place adds meaning We are not afraid of unhappy endings if they are earned

Dirty Magick Magazine

Bussiness Information

We like a variety of stories but will only publish a few styles. Please read closely as these are the rules and they will not be broken.First and foremost, we are interested in urban fantasy which we define as fantasy adventure fiction which takes place in modern settings. These places can be real or imaginary (although we prefer the former), but the story must have some combination of those typical elements: magic, other sentient races, enchanted objects, and mythical backgrounds. These all may be underground and hidden, but they must play a part in the story.

Next, we want sword and sorcery which we define as fantasy adventure fiction taking place in an ancient or alternative world where the protagonists must use their wits and weapons to survive. We contrast this with high fantasy (which we are not interested in) where quests taken on behalf of the rulers are world shaking. We are much more interested in the street level like the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser tales of Fritz Leiber and the Conan/Bran Mak Morn tales of Robert E. Howard.

Finally, we will consider gothic and supernatural horror. We won’t define this directly, but this is a market to submit vampire, werewolf, ghost, and cryptid fiction. Be warned, it would be best to use these creatures in one of the previously mentioned genres as that would be a quicker path to publication.

What we publish

We offer the best in urban fantasy, sword and sorcery, and gothic horror short stories.

What We Deliver

By subscribing either through Substack or Patreon or by buying or print-on-demand magazine through Amazon, every month you will get three short stories from our writers and an article about forgotten media by publisher/editor C.D. Brown. 

What we are not looking for:

  • Poetry of any kind
  • Novel excerpts
  • Psychological/serial killer horror-even if this has magical elements, it’s not what we’re interested in
  • Science Fiction-our name has magick in it, so we want that
  • Romance-the plot should be adventure not relationship-centric
  • Parody-we might publish satire if it’s very funny, but no direct parody of an existing story
  • LitRPG or gamer fiction where the protagonists are trapped in a game
  • Superhero fiction
  • Any story using elements of established literary/media properties or any kind of fan fiction even if the characters are in public domain

Plots which are a hard sell:

  • Hunters-vampire, cryptid, whatever-stalking their prey and finding them
  • “Chosen one” narratives
  • Court intrigue or any stories about royals
  • Fabulism or re-invented fairy tales unless you have a very modern take
  • “It was all a dream”
  • Any surprise endings should be earned and logical
  • Any story that starts with an info dump instead of in media res will have a long road
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