Submissions are now open for words and visual art for Seven Story Hotel: Issue Three (7SH3), Subtle Body Press’s schizo-philosophical / countercultural journal series.

7SH explores the weird, esoteric, and outsider fringes of contemporary culture, art, and technology through an eclectic mix of interviews, essays, stories, poems, and artwork. We’re looking for original, provocative, and boundary-pushing pieces. We think the DNA of 7SH is fairly unique, so it’s highly advised that you check out our recent issue for the best sense of what exactly you’re getting yourself into here. But by way of example, maybe you have a critical essay on technology as modern magick, a sociological commentary on the religiosity of UFOs, an anti-/pro-issue political treatise, a Jungian analysis of a niche internet subculture, a piece of speculative fiction on the implications of transhumanism or artificial intelligence, an exposé on some conspiracy, or an investigative piece on a new and exciting movement. In short, we seek disruptions and heresies to conventional wisdom and/or the dominant narratives of a culture.

Sound like your work? Let 7SH give it a home. 

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR (in order of need):

Topical, timely, and journalistic essays and nonfiction; visual art (full-color photography, black-and-white photography, illustrations, comic strips, collage art, etc); poetry; flash fiction; experimental prose.

THEME:

Each issue of 7SH, except for its inaugural Issue Zero, has (so far) been loosely themed around one of the seven chakras (but not restrictively). This time around, we’re working subconsciously with Manipura, the third chakra (yellow), and its correspondences with Tiphareth. (Don’t take this too seriously, though—even if you’re not sure your work aligns with this “mumbo jumbo,” submit it anyway.)

DEADLINE:

Submissions are open until we have what we need. That means we could close in days or weeks. Submit sooner rather than later if you don’t want to miss out, as the closer we get to that date, the more likely we are to have already finalized our selections.

WORD COUNT:

For Seven Story Hotel, we are looking for written works of 5000 words or less, but our preference is short- to mid-length pieces. 1350-2700 words is about the sweet spot; the further askew from that average, more or less, the more unlikely we are to take it.

PLEASE REMEMBER: While we do need poetry, flash fiction, and experimental prose… topical, journalistic essays and nonfiction make up the bulk of the page count in 7SH3 that is not reserved for the three interviews conducted by the 7SH editor! Since we receive a copious amount of fiction submissions and have very little space for it, you stand the best chance of acceptance with an essay, etc.

RIGHTS & COMPENSATION:

Subtle Body Press is paying a flat fee of $35 plus one contributor copy per contributor to acquire First World rights for print and e-book/digital. In other words, if you submit multiple pieces and we accept more than one for publication in 7SH, the flat $35 purchases the rights for all your accepted works as a unit. To be clear, we only accept submissions that have not been previously published in any medium.

SUBMISSION:

For written works, send your writings in either PDF or DOCX to:

sevenstoryhotel [at] subtlebodypress [dot] com

We accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know if your work is placed elsewhere before you hear back from us.

For visual works, most common file formats such as JPG, GIF, or PNG are fine for evaluation purposes, but we will want appropriate high-res, high-DPI files to work with in design if your work is accepted for publication.

Shunn format is generally preferred for text, but if your piece is a mix of words and visuals, or has necessary typographic/layout eccentricities, submit in the format that best preserves your vision for our consideration.

NOTIFICATION:

We are a small team and our editor reads everything, there are no slush readers here. Therefore, we do not offer feedback or send rejection emails! (Sorry.)

If your work is accepted, you will be notified by email.

If we begin announcing contributors and you haven’t heard from us yet, it means your work was not accepted.

If your work is not accepted, please don’t take it as a reflection on you or your craft. Submissions are a gauntlet of subjectivity and circumstance—you just might have what we’re looking for next time!