THE MARKET

• Zine: Basement Stories Magazine
• Editor(s): Carol Kirkman and James Dent
• Pay Rate: 1¢ / word (fiction and nonfiction), $10 flat (poetry)
• Response Time: Hopefully less than 30 days. Query if longer.
• Reading Period: Reading period for Issue 2: July 1 – September 1
• Description: A science fiction, fantasy, and horror ‘zine about the extraordinary in the ordinary, the wonderful, and the fantastic. (More in guidelines.)
• Submission Guidelines: basementstories.org

NOTE: Horror author D.L. Snell conducted the following interview to give writers a better idea of what the editors of this specific market are seeking; however, most editors are open to ideas outside of the preferences discussed here, as long as they fit the basic submission guidelines.

THE SCOOP
1) What authors do you enjoy, and why does their writing captivate you?
I am in awe of short fiction writers like Ted Chiang and Tim Pratt who, in a very limited space, are able to create memorable characters and settings while still saying something significant. The short story “Impossible Dreams” by Tim Pratt made me look at movies in an entirely different way. But I also like stories that are just beautifully weird, like anything by Becca de la Rosa, and some of Neil Gaiman’s short stories – that kind of thing isn’t necessarily sustainable over a whole novel’s length work, but in short doses lyrical madness is amazing.

2) What are your favorite genres? Which genres would you like to see incorporated into submissions to this market?
I’m a fan of all the subgenres under the umbrella of Speculative Fiction – cyberpunk, urban fantasy, space operas, whatever. The only genre I really can’t stand is Sword and Sorcery, or at least, those stories and books that seem to be copy/pasted from Mr. Tolkein. I don’t know if I wasn’t exposed to Lord of the Rings young enough or if I’m just too impatient to keep all of the different clans in The Game of Thrones straight, but S&S just never rubbed me the right way. I think there are ways to do great big, sweeping, epic fantasy right – examples would be N.K. Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, or Scott Lynch’s The Lies of Locke Lamora.

I’d really like to see – and I’m not entirely clear if this is a genre or not – more time travel stories, because I love love love time travel, as well as more hard science fiction.

3) What settings most intrigue you? Ordinary or exotic locales? Real or fantasy? Past, present, or future?
I tend to not like any fiction in historical locales, if only because I’m an amateur history buff and my inner know-it-all starts searching for historical inaccuracies, which can really impede my enjoyment of the story. By all means, though, give it a shot if you think you’ve got your facts straight.

Beyond that, I’m game for pretty much any setting. I love both fantastical and ordinary locales, set in both the present and the future, though I’m always really interested to see what people are going to do when they set their stories in the future. A concrete setting can really make a story feel richer and more exciting.

Read the full interview at D.L. Snell’s Market Scoops!

Share this on