So, yes. Realms of Fantasy has reopened to submissions as of ...now. :)
I know my last post on this subject indicated that it would probably be a few more months before this happened, but I've never been part of the reopening of a major speculative magazine before. My calculations were clearly imperfect. I am sure you will all find it in your hearts to forgive me. Anyway, until our website moves beyond its current placeholder format (no guesses on that, sorry), the only spot to find the latest version of the submission guidelines is here. We've been open to art submissions for a while, but for artists, again, the place to find our art guidelines is here.
Now that we've reopened to submissions, I imagine the number one question floating through the minds of those familiar with our slush process is when Shawna and I are going to do our next slush transfer. I can't answer that at this time, sorry. We're basically building the slush up from zero, and we're doing this via snail-mail as opposed to email submissions, so that does slow things down a bit. How fast the submissions roll in and accumulate will dictate when our next slush transfer will happen and everything that follows before Shawna does her next buying round.
That said, I will confess that I've been secretly fearing getting buried in an avalanche of submissions all along. If that happens, our next slush transfer will be sooner rather than later. Now we shall see if these fears I've been nursing for some seven months (which have been growing with each month) are true. Now, far be it from me to discourage anyone from submitting to the magazine. Shawna and I are excited to open the editorial department once more. We're looking forward to reading your stories. But if the avalanche expectations are correct, do be warned that I wouldn't be at all surprised if competition this time around--not just in quantity, but also quality--is somewhat fiercer than usual. Or maybe I'm wrong, we'll see. I'll be curious to see how everything shakes out.
All right, I think that's everything. If you have any questions, feel free to ask under comments.
Now go send us something! :)
