CONCLAVE OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS THRU JULY 1, 2009

CONCLAVE OPENS FOR SUBMISSIONS
APRIL 1, 2009 until JULY 1, 2009

Conclave: A Journal of Character is looking for character-driven writing and photography.

Conclave is an annual print journal that focuses on character-driven writing in short stories, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and prose poems. Conclave also includes black and white photographs and excerpts from plays: monologues, scenes, single acts, or one-act plays.

This year Conclave is also awarding the 2009 Conclave Character Prizes in Fiction, Poetry, and Photography. All submissions will be accepted April 1 through July 1, 2009.

For more information, see online submission guidelines at www.conclavejournal.com

We're also on Twitter:
http://twitter. com/conclavejour nal

I hope to see some of your writing!
Thank you.

Valya Dudycz Lupescu, Editor
Conclave: A Journal of Character
http://www.conclavejournal.com

CONCLAVE: A Journal of Character
GUIDELINES
Conclave is an annual print journal that focuses on character-driven writing in short stories, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and prose poems; we also print black and white photographs, and excerpts from plays: monologues, scenes, single acts, or one-act plays.

Conclave seeks writing that centers around well-crafted characters—complex and authentic: like Leopold Bloom, Huckleberry Finn, Anna Karenina, Hamlet, Miss Havisham, Hannibal Lecter, Hester Prynne, and others. Whether you love them or hate them, these characters are unforgettable and infuse their stories with life beyond the page. Those are the kinds of enduring characters we'd like to have populate the artfully crafted stories in Conclave.

What makes a good character?

CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION ABOUT
THE 2009 CONCLAVE CHARACTER PRIZE
GENERAL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

• All submissions must be online submissions. We do not accept submissions by post or email.
• Submissions should be previously unpublished in North America. We do not accept previously published work, this includes work published online.
• Cover letters are welcome but not required.
• Conclave does not usually consider simultaneous submissions.
• You can now check the status of your submission on our online submission manager. We are unable to offer comments or suggestions on manuscripts.
• If a submission is known to be included in a book already accepted by a publisher, please notify us of this fact (and of the anticipated date of book publication) in a cover letter/email.
• International submissions are encouraged, but all submissions must be in English.
• We cannot return submissions--we delete them! So we encourage you to save a copy of whatever you are submitting to us.

PAYMENT:
At this time we can offer one contributor's copy per author for accepted work. We hope that will change in the future. We reserve the right to put your piece on our web site d/or publish it electronically if it has appeared in our journal. If we accept your work, we understand you grant us first North American serial rights (and Conclave anthology rights). All subsequent rights are yours, though we expect any future publication to carry acknowledgment that the work first appeared in Conclave.

FICTION & FLASH FICTION SUBMISSIONS

• Fiction should be up to 6,500 words, double spaced with numbered pages and one-inch margins.
• For short fiction, please submit only one short story at a time.
• Excerpts from unpublished novels will be considered, but they must be able to stand alone.
• Please include name and contact information at the beginning of the work.
• For flash fiction submissions: Please send three to five short-shorts, each less than 1000 words.
• Understand the flash form: flashes should still contain classic story elements: protagonist, conflict, and resolution. However the limited word length dictates that some elements will remain unwritten or implied in the written story. The most famous example is Ernest Hemingway's six-word flash, "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."
• A few tips for flash fiction submissions

CREATIVE NONFICTION & PERSONAL ESSAY SUBMISSIONS

• All submissions should be double-spaced and also up to 6,500 words.
• Personal essays should be 750-1200 words
• Excerpts from unpublished book-length nonfiction manuscripts will be considered, but they must be able to stand alone.
• There is no restriction on topic, but the creative nonfiction must focus around a person or group or people (refer to the works or Gay Talese, Annie Dillard, Joyce Carol Oats, or Truman Capote).

POETRY & PROSE POEM SUBMISSIONS

• Poetry should be single-spaced and include three to five poems per submission, up to ten manuscript pages at a time.

• The poet's name and contact information must appear at the top of every poem.

• We certainly welcome the informal narratives that currently seem to dominate North American poetry, however we are also interested in formal poetry that is character-driven.
• We will also consider English translations of poetry, if a brief biography of the poet is included.

• For prose poems, please send three to five prose poems, each less than 1000 words.
• Understand the prose poem form: the prose poem appears as prose, but reads like poetry. In the first issue of The Prose Poem: An International Journal, editor Peter Johnson explained, "Just as black humor straddles the fine line between comedy and tragedy, so the prose poem plants one foot in prose, the other in poetry, both heels resting precariously on banana peels."

PLAY/SCREENPLAY SUBMISSIONS

• Short one act plays, short scripts or dramatic monologues up to 12 minutes performing time -- no longer than 3,500 words.
• Please submit only one longer dramatic excerpt or three monologues at a time.

PHOTOGRAPHY SUBMISSIONS
What are we looking for in a photograph?

• Submissions should include approximately 3 to 5 high-quality JPEGs of 300 dpi, 5" x 7".
• Because the interior of the magazine is printed in black and white, only black and white submissions may be included.
• Outstanding color submissions as well as black and white submissions will be considered for the front cover.
• Submissions to be considered only for the cover should be marked "Cover Only" in the comments section.

* * *NEW PHOTOGRAPHY SUBMISSION CATEGORY ADDED FOR 2009! * * *
For 2009, we will select one non-news picture story or photo essay on a single theme.

• The story is limited to 8-10 photographs, and must be in black and white with a character-focus.
• We will accept submissions through our online submissions manager, as well as through our flickr site.
• More information will be posted closer to the opening of our submission period.

***TEXT AND IMAGE***
In our 2009 Issue, we will also welcome work from writers and photographers working with both image and text to tell a character-focused story.
More information will be posted closer to the opening of our submission period

Reprinted from http://www.conclavejournal.com/submissions/submissions.html.