Necrography : Weblog

Necrography is primarily a horror fiction magazine. Specifically though, we're looking for stories with death, dying, the undead, spirits, ghosts, etc... as central themes. The fiction (and non-fiction) we pay the most attention too (and the most money for) are those that put us next to that rotten corpse; with all the pungent stench penetrating our nostrils and the moist, soggy, sticky sucking sounds of maggots feasting on the carrion flesh perforating our ears.

Those works that put us in the middle of a cold, clammy mist with faces of the long dead peering hungrily out at us send us clamoring to buy publishing rights. We want to feel that your characters are near us, behind us, on top of us while we sleep. We want (and are scared) to know that those we read about, who go through unspeakable horrors, could just as easily be us.

Necrography is primarily a horror fiction magazine, but it is the dead writing that sets us apart. Make us feel it and we're certain our readers will beg you for more!

I don't like the word "rejected." I think it's rather ugly and has bad connotations - especially in relation to writing, art and photography submissions. Necrography receives so many submissions everyday and I like to think we don't "reject" any works at all.

I'm always impressed by the quality and workmanship of the writing we receive. If I were to quantify it, I'd say that less than five percent of our submissions are returned because of problems with quality. This seems to be a statistical norm and one that certainly holds true for writing submissions.

In general, when we choose not to publish a piece of writing (or art, or a photograph), we make this choice specifically because we feel the subject matter isn't precisely inline with the Necrography theme. Necrography is very narrowly focused on a specific theme and this doesn't leave much room for deviation. The same stories we return to authors will very easily find homes in one of many other paying markets.

It is with this understanding that I say we don't "reject" any work at all. In fact we only return work because it could be better utilized and highlighted in a market other than Necrography; and this is not a comment on quality whatsoever.

If your work isn't published by Necrography or any other market for that matter, don't think of it as being rejected. This is not rejection, but merely a small part of the business of writing; and one that should be taken with a grain of salt.

When we get submissions from amateur horror writers, artists, and photographers we do multiple reads and viewings before we make a determination on whether we want to buy rights to the work or not. Horror and deathly subjects, such as what Necrography will publish, can often be subtle in the way they play with the mind. I find that this subtlety is sometimes missed on a cursory read.

We feel it's incumbent on us as publishers to give your work our full attention, multiple times (and let it soak in) before making a determination on whether or not we want to publish it in Necrography. Because of this attention, we end up being a little backlogged depending on how many submissions we're getting.

Since we've had so many great pieces sent to us lately, we're in a backlog situation now. Our response time is out to about a month now. So, if you've recently submitted, don't worry, we'll get to you. Just be patient with us for a little while and rest assured we're giving the time and attention to your work that it deserves.

If you haven't submitted anything but are planning to, don't hesitate to do so. Just be aware that it will take us a few weeks, or more, to get back to you.