Submissions

Aw, jeepers-rats, it's always something...

In March, our AHOY website briefly crashed. Poof. Kablooey.

Only weeks later did we realize the full extent of the loss:

We believe a month's worth of short story/humor submissions disappeared into the ether. 

If you submitted a story and have failed to hear from us - first, our apologies. But we have no way of accessing your story or even knowing how many of them vanished in the crash.

What we do know is that - due to an overwhelming deluge of submissions before the crash - we have to temporarily close the SHORT FICTION AND COMMENTARY PORTHOLE! Soon, we will soon reopen it. 

In the meantime, please consider our Official Ahoy Short Fiction Submission Guidelines

At Ahoy, we believe our sacred duty is to find new voices and let them scream at the world. Thus, each Ahoy Comics magazine will include at least one piece of short fiction or social commentary. We seek smart, weird, funny articles or stories, which run between 500 and 1,500 words.

Mostly, we want short fiction for mature readers, pieces that uphold the story-telling legacy of comics. It could be a delirious rant, a personal anecdote, a tale of horror or even poetry. It can be about anything, but we have a soft spot for submissions with a dash of humor.

These stories can be political, but they must not be based on events that might be outdated by the time we publish. Whatever the subject, it must still be relevant a year from now. Also, the 1,500-word maximum is pretty much carved into stone. We don’t plan to go above that limit. Our ideal length is about 654.53 words, give or take.

We will pay $200 per story. Writers will retain full rights to their works. We will maintain the right to publish on this site and to reprint the story in a trade compilation or anthology. If we decide to reprint it, we will pay another 25 percent of the original fee. 

We believe this is an opportunity for serious writers to reach the most voracious readers of fiction on this planet: the clear-eyed souls who buy comics. We will do our best to promote our writers and their works.

For short stoy submissions, we don’t suggest pitches. Good grief, these are short stories. We ask writers to upload their work through the porthole below. It will take probably six weeks for us to reply - at times, we've been buried by submissions - but we will get back to you.

We want to build a reputation for quality writing, and for treating our contributors respectfully, the way we’d want to be treated. If you don’t hear from us in, say, seven weeks, something may have slipped between the cracks. Please feel free to send us a reminder. We won't secretly hold it against you (as other publishers do.)  

At times, to stay afloat, we open and close the submissions porthole. Check back regularly. 

Submission Guidelines
By submitting my short story to Ahoy Comics LLC (“Ahoy”) for your consideration I warrant and represent that the material is original with me and that I am the sole author and owner of the material. I recognize that you have access to and/or may create or have created literary materials and ideas which may be similar to or identical to my story in theme, idea, plot, format or other respects. I agree that I will not be entitled to any compensation or credit for the use of any such similar or identical material which may have been independently created by Ahoy or may have come to Ahoy from any other source and I hereby release you from any claims with respect thereto. I understand that such similarity in the past has given rise to litigation so that unless you obtain adequate protection in advance, you will not consider the submitted material. I agree that you have no obligation to return the material submitted to you hereunder. Finally, I understand that if you choose to publish my story we shall first enter into an agreement with respect thereto.
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