Word Counts
Stories can run anywhere from 2,000-12,000 words. We also publish a four-part serial (10-20K per issue) on a yearly basis. See guidelines for the serial below.
Submission Guidelines
As with the requirements and restrictions, please follow these guidelines carefully. Failure to do so could keep your work from being considered.
Also, please remember we require a story treatment prior to submission of your manuscript. Treatments consist of a description of 250 words or less, which explains the basic premise and confirms that your story meets our requirements and restrictions. Send treatments to info@piquezine.com for our review as soon as you have your idea solidified. Treatments must be approved before the manuscript deadline.
Condition of the Manuscript:
- The manuscript you submit should already be edited. We will review final manuscripts and work with authors to make any necessary edits. Manuscripts that do not meet a basic standard of spelling, grammar and punctuation at the time of submission will not be considered.
- Save yourself some time and don’t over-format your submission. We will strip fancy fonts and formatting out when we begin the editing process.
Method of Submission:
- Ideally you should submit your manuscript as a Google document. Learn more about it at Google. Submissions can be shared with piquezine@gmail.com.
- Otherwise you can email us manuscripts at info@piquezine.com. Your email should have a subject line that begins with “SUBMISSION.”
- Attach the manuscript to your email as a .doc, .docx, .txt, or .rtf
- No HTML links or web addresses are allowed within stories.
Following submission:
- We will contact you via email to let you know if your story has been accepted or rejected.
- Upon acceptance we will send you a release form to fill out, sign and return to us. The release grants us permission to post your story on Pique. You will always retain complete ownership of your manuscript.
- At this time, Pique does not compensate authors/artists for accepted stories/artwork.
Guidelines for Submitting a Serial Work
At this time, Pique runs one four-part serial story per year. Submissions must:
- Be roughly 45-60K words in total length.
- Be easily divided into four chapters of equal, or almost equal, length.
- Be complete prior to submission.
- Maintain strong sexual tension throughout.
- Be plot- and character-driven. (Overwritten sex, or sex with no purpose to the plot or character development, will not be accepted.)
Previously published material will not be considered for this department. Submissions are open from January 1-August 1, with final decisions being made by October 31. The the first installment of the selected manuscript will be released in our February issue. We welcome query letters for works in progress but we will only accept finished manuscripts for publication. If you have an idea that you love and want to see if we do, too, feel free to get in touch.
To submit a query or manuscript for consideration using the general instructions above. Please include:
- A one-page query letter that specifies the the title, word count, a brief blurb about the story, and any pertinent writing credentials you may have.
- The first 10k words of the manuscript
- Where we can find you on the web (Though we don’t publish fanfiction, we’re happy to consider submissions from fanfiction writers. Don’t hesitate to include links to your fanfiction as a means of credentialing.)
We will contact you via email to let you know if your story has been accepted or rejected. Upon acceptance we will send you a release form to fill out, sign and return to us. The release grants us permission to post your story on Pique. You will always retain complete ownership of your manuscript.
At this time, Pique does not compensate authors/artists for accepted stories/artwork.
