These terms are currently in draft form and under legal review; they have not yet received final legal sign-off.
1. Overview
These General Submission Terms govern the ongoing, open-ended open call for non-contest fiction submissions to the Flash Pot Fiction magazine ("the open call"). The open call is separate from the Flash Pot Fiction contest, which is a paid-entry, judged competition governed by its own Official Contest Rules. There is no entry fee for the open call, no deadline, and no guarantee of publication or payment. Submitting a story under the open call does not enter that story into the contest, and entering the contest does not constitute a submission under the open call.
2. Eligibility
- Open to writers worldwide, 18 years of age or older at the time of submission.
- Submitters are solely responsible for complying with any laws applicable to their submission in their own country, province, state, or other jurisdiction.
- There is no fee to submit. Submitters are never asked to pay to be considered, and will never be asked to pay to be published.
3. How to Submit
- Submissions are accepted by email only, to admin@flashpotfiction.com, with the subject line "General Submission — [Story Title]."
- Stories should be pasted directly into the body of the email or attached as a .docx or .pdf file, with the word count noted.
- Submissions must be written in English.
- Both original (previously unpublished) work and reprints (work previously published elsewhere) are welcome. Reprints must not be currently under consideration elsewhere (see Section 6, Simultaneous Submissions), and the submission email must disclose where and when the story was originally published.
- There is no fixed word limit for the open call, but flash length (under roughly 1,000 words) is preferred; the organizer may decline longer work on that basis alone, at its discretion.
- The open call is ongoing with no deadline. The organizer may pause or close the open call at any time; see Section 9 (Modifications & Cancellation).
4. Editorial Review & Response
- Submissions are reviewed by the organizer's editorial staff. Unlike the contest, review under the open call is not blind and is not judged on a fixed scoring rubric — it is an ordinary editorial acceptance/decline process.
- Typical response time is four to eight weeks from receipt, though this is not guaranteed and may vary with submission volume.
- The organizer's decision to accept or decline a submission is final. The organizer is not obligated to provide feedback on declined submissions, though it may do so at its discretion.
- Acceptance of a submission is not final or binding on either party until confirmed in writing by the organizer and countersigned or otherwise affirmatively accepted by the submitter.
5. Payment & Publication Rights
- The submitter retains copyright of their work at all times, both before and after submission.
- By submitting, the submitter grants the organizer a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to reproduce and review the submission solely for the purpose of editorial consideration. This license does not itself grant any right to publish the work.
- If an original, previously unpublished submission is accepted, the organizer will pay the submitter 12¢ CAD per word (based on the accepted manuscript's word count) in exchange for first publication rights, payable on acceptance.
- "First publication rights" means the exclusive right to be the first to publish the work. Once the organizer has published the work, the author is free to republish or resell it elsewhere at any time, with no waiting period — provided that every subsequent publication, in any format, credits Flash Pot Fiction by name as the story's original publisher. This crediting requirement applies for as long as the work is republished, with no time limit or expiration.
- If a reprint (a submission previously published elsewhere) is accepted, the organizer will pay the submitter 6¢ CAD per word — half the original-work rate — in exchange for non-exclusive reprint rights, payable on acceptance. The submitter must hold the right to grant this license (i.e. their original publication agreement must not have granted exclusive or ongoing exclusive rights to another publisher). The organizer will credit the story's original publisher and original publication date alongside the story, based on the information the submitter discloses under Section 3.
- These rates apply to submissions made through flashpotfiction.com; our sister site, Flash Pot Fiction Canada, runs the same open call for Canadian speculative fiction at 15¢ CAD/word for original work and 7.5¢ CAD/word for reprints, under its own terms.
- Payment terms, exact rights language, and any anthology rights (if offered) will be set out in a separate written acceptance agreement provided to the submitter before payment, and are not automatically included in these general terms.
6. Originality, AI & Simultaneous Submissions
- Each submitter represents and warrants that their submission is their own original work, does not infringe any third party's rights, and — if submitted as a reprint — was accurately disclosed as such under Section 3, with the submitter holding the right to grant the license described in Section 5.
- Submissions must not have been generated, in whole or substantial part, by artificial intelligence. Any determination regarding suspected AI-generated content is made at the organizer's discretion.
- Simultaneous submissions (submitting the same piece to another publication at the same time) are not accepted, whether the piece is original or a reprint. If a piece submitted here is accepted elsewhere while still under consideration, the submitter must withdraw it immediately by emailing admin@flashpotfiction.com.
- Multiple submissions of different stories are welcome, in any mix of original work and reprints; there is no limit, though the organizer asks submitters to wait for a response on a prior submission before sending another.
7. Withdrawal
A submitter may withdraw a submission still under consideration at any time by emailing admin@flashpotfiction.com, referencing the story title and original submission date. Withdrawal is not possible once a submission has already been accepted and confirmed in writing under Section 4.
8. No Guarantee of Publication
Submission does not guarantee review within any particular timeframe, a response, acceptance, or publication. The organizer may decline any submission for any reason, or no stated reason, at its sole discretion.
9. Modifications & Cancellation
- The organizer may revise these terms at any time. The version posted on this page at any given time is the version in effect for submissions received after that revision; submitters are responsible for checking the posted terms.
- The organizer may pause, close, or reopen the open call at its discretion, without advance notice, including while submissions are pending review. If the open call is closed while a submission is pending, the organizer will make reasonable efforts to notify affected submitters by email.
10. No Responsibility for Technical Failures
The organizer is not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, or misdirected submissions or communications resulting from technical failures of any kind, including email delivery failures on either side. It is the submitter's responsibility to retain a copy of their submission and to follow up if they have not received acknowledgment of receipt within a reasonable time.
11. Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, the organizer's total liability to any submitter arising out of or in connection with the open call, for any cause whatsoever, is limited to any payment actually owed to that submitter for an accepted submission. The organizer is not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages arising from a submission.
12. Indemnification
By submitting, the submitter agrees to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the organizer from and against any third-party claims, damages, losses, or expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to the submission, the submitter's breach of these terms, or the submitter's violation of any third party's rights.
13. Governing Law & Disputes
These terms and any dispute arising from a submission are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein, without regard to conflict of law principles.
Placeholder — dispute resolution process (litigation vs. arbitration) to be finalized by legal counsel.
14. General Provisions
- Severability. If any provision of these terms is held to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, that provision is severed, and the remaining provisions continue in full force and effect.
- Entire Agreement. These terms, together with the Privacy Policy referenced in Section 15, constitute the entire agreement between the submitter and the organizer regarding the open call, until and unless superseded by a separate written acceptance agreement under Section 5.
- No Waiver. The organizer's failure to enforce any provision of these terms is not a waiver of that provision, and does not prevent the organizer from later enforcing it.
- Assignment. The organizer may assign or transfer its rights and obligations under these terms, including in connection with a change in ownership or structure of the magazine, without the submitter's consent.
15. Privacy
Personal information collected in connection with a submission (including your name and email address) is handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
16. Contact Us
Questions about these terms or a pending submission can be directed to admin@flashpotfiction.com.