Art Submission Guidelines

We are currently accepting art submissions for our 2010 issues.

Please do not submit the same artwork more than once.

Please submit artwork separately from stories.

We will consider any picture with a speculative fiction element for issue cover art. Look at previous covers to ascertain our tastes. We prefer energetic pieces that narrow the boundary between realism and fantastical, both in genre and style. Consider that our readers come to Electric Spec for stories; we want to see story portrayed by your imagery. Art may be re-sized to fit standard browsers; we will not crop or alter the piece without your permission.

No over-the-top sex or violence, or fan fiction characters or settings, please. Though we appreciate the form, we don't use caricature or graphic novel style art for our covers.

We pay $20 for each piece of artwork we publish. We buy first-printing world exclusive rights for four months and non-exclusive rights thereafter. Please note this means we want art that has not been published elsewhere. Payment will be made shortly after publication using PayPal.

To submit your art to Electric Spec, e-mail it as an attachment to submissions at electricspec (dot) com. Use the following subject line: ART SUBMISSION: Title by Artist's Name. We prefer standard electronic formats such as jpeg or gif files.

Unless you receive a note indicating otherwise, your work may be considered for any future issue. We have, rarely, commissioned original artwork for the cover; if we ask, please be honest about how fast you can work. We operate under tight deadlines for publication.

We respond to most submissions within a month. Because we are a quarterly magazine, it may take us up to three months. When you send in your submission, you will receive an automated e-mail message to let you know that we received it. Please make sure your spam filter doesn't block our message (we will not resend spam-filtered messages). If you don't receive an e-mail within three days of submission, please re-submit.

If you have questions or comments, please e-mail us at submissions at electricspec (dot) com.