Deadline: none given - to be published January 2023
Submissions are now open for Issue 13 to be published January 2023. There is no submission fee. There is no remuneration for work we publish, either, but what the heck, you're going to be famous! We'll get back to you in about 30 days, hopefully sooner.
Fiction: Up to 5000 words. Length is less important than quality. For works longer than 5000 words query the editors about possible serialization.
Plays: Any style up to five acts.
Submissions should be on a Microsoft Word doc or docx file. Use a sensible font. Double space format. Stuff like grammar and sentence structure is important unless your work deliberately exploits bad grammar and lack of structure. (We can tell the difference.) Include a brief bio with your submission and publishing credits, if any. Send your submission as an e-mail attachment to editors@fleasonthedog.com (or type in the link in the email address).
Include the genre (fiction, poetry, or play) and title of your work in the subject bar. Simultaneous submissions are okay, just let us know when your work is accepted elsewhere. Multiple submissions are not okay unless solicited. Submit to only one category per issue. We retain the first rights of your work for a period of three months. After this time rights revert back to the author. If you should republish the story/article please acknowledge that it was first published by www.fleasonthedog.com
For the Playwrights:
All of the plays you’ll find in each issue of Fleas On The Dog are considered primarily as pieces of dramatic literature, living their lives, for the moment, strictly on the page. Some pieces are more or less finished, some will probably see additional revision but everyone involved the making theatre – especially playwrights and directors - know that a script is only the pretext for an embodied life on stage or film. And as theatre-making is a collective effort, scripts in production often go through a long revision process informed by directors, actors, technical theatre specialists, et al. Every bit of dialogue you’ve written, every cue, pause or note on stage logistics, and the minute details of your take on sets and lighting, as well as casting preferences, will be run through the sieve of multiple points of view and aesthetic perspectives – all in the service making your play as structurally solid and emotionally affecting as possible.
So why do I feel the need to reiterate things (truisms / platitudes) that are this obvious? Because being finished is an elusive goal and it’s vital that you never close your work off from the possibilities of yet another revision, or incorporating comments or suggestions from anyone whose intentions and acumen you trust. You never know when some of these observations might catalyze a seismic transformation and your play will just “burst into blossom.” And good luck to all of you in getting your opus up on its feet, on a live stage, before a live enthusiastic audience (stay away COVID, please), or safely in the can.
For playwrights whose work didn’t appear in FOTD: I’ve been declined a bunch myself (x 10n times, I reckon) and mostly without a word regarding why. I really do hate to continue this tradition but the time and perspective-shifting gymnastics involved in reading and synthesizing so many diverse submissions inveighs against that extra level of feedback courtesy. We receive vignettes, 5-10 minute plays, monologues, one acts, full-length plays and performance scripts for every issue and the differences in pacing, rhythm, structural characteristics, levels of complexity (usually a function of length), and artistic intentions really complicate the decision making process. And, of course, time – the ultimate parameter that “rounds our little lives” with the blaring of alarm clocks.All I can say is don’t be fazed, don’t give up: my (our) opinion, while informed and considered, is only my (our) opinion. Keep submitting – but do some research on where you may find your best shot. And you can always send us your revised version of the original or a completely new play.
Submissions should be on a Microsoft Word doc or docx file. Use a sensible font. Double space format. Stuff like grammar and sentence structure is important unless your work deliberately exploits bad grammar and lack of structure. (We can tell the difference.) Include a brief bio with your submission and publishing credits, if any. Send your submission as an e-mail attachment to editors@fleasonthedog.com (or type in the link in the email address).
Include the genre (fiction, poetry, or play) and title of your work in the subject bar. Simultaneous submissions are okay, just let us know when your work is accepted elsewhere. Multiple submissions are not okay unless solicited. Submit to only one category per issue. We retain the first rights of your work for a period of three months. After this time rights revert back to the author. If you should republish the story/article please acknowledge that it was first published by www.fleasonthedog.com
For the Playwrights:
All of the plays you’ll find in each issue of Fleas On The Dog are considered primarily as pieces of dramatic literature, living their lives, for the moment, strictly on the page. Some pieces are more or less finished, some will probably see additional revision but everyone involved the making theatre – especially playwrights and directors - know that a script is only the pretext for an embodied life on stage or film. And as theatre-making is a collective effort, scripts in production often go through a long revision process informed by directors, actors, technical theatre specialists, et al. Every bit of dialogue you’ve written, every cue, pause or note on stage logistics, and the minute details of your take on sets and lighting, as well as casting preferences, will be run through the sieve of multiple points of view and aesthetic perspectives – all in the service making your play as structurally solid and emotionally affecting as possible.
So why do I feel the need to reiterate things (truisms / platitudes) that are this obvious? Because being finished is an elusive goal and it’s vital that you never close your work off from the possibilities of yet another revision, or incorporating comments or suggestions from anyone whose intentions and acumen you trust. You never know when some of these observations might catalyze a seismic transformation and your play will just “burst into blossom.” And good luck to all of you in getting your opus up on its feet, on a live stage, before a live enthusiastic audience (stay away COVID, please), or safely in the can.
For playwrights whose work didn’t appear in FOTD: I’ve been declined a bunch myself (x 10n times, I reckon) and mostly without a word regarding why. I really do hate to continue this tradition but the time and perspective-shifting gymnastics involved in reading and synthesizing so many diverse submissions inveighs against that extra level of feedback courtesy. We receive vignettes, 5-10 minute plays, monologues, one acts, full-length plays and performance scripts for every issue and the differences in pacing, rhythm, structural characteristics, levels of complexity (usually a function of length), and artistic intentions really complicate the decision making process. And, of course, time – the ultimate parameter that “rounds our little lives” with the blaring of alarm clocks.All I can say is don’t be fazed, don’t give up: my (our) opinion, while informed and considered, is only my (our) opinion. Keep submitting – but do some research on where you may find your best shot. And you can always send us your revised version of the original or a completely new play.