What is Eternal Haunted Summer? EHS is an ezine dedicated to 1) original poetry and 2) short fiction about the Gods and Goddesses and heroes of the world’s many Pagan traditions. We feature 3) reviews of books, graphic novels, academic journals, magazines, movies, plays, and so forth which have a Pagan focus, or which otherwise might interest our Pagan readership. And 4) interviews with established and new Pagan authors, or authors of texts that interest a Pagan audience. And finally, 5) essays concerning the Gods, Goddesses, heroes, myths and folklore of the world.
What do we mean by “original?” The submission must not have been previously published in hardcopy, or on another ezine, or website, or blog. Since people often discuss their writing on email lists and messageboards, we do not consider that previous publication. That is, if your poem or story or review has only appeared on email lists or messageboards, we still consider it original.
What are the Submission Guidelines? We’re looking for hymns to Odin and Inanna and Sekhmet. Prayers to Hermes and Brigid and Asherah. Short stories featuring (or otherwise referencing) Lugh and Yinepu and Hekate. Every poetic form, from sonnet to rhyming couplet to free form, is acceptable. Any genre of short story is welcome, from mystery to fantasy to true lifeish to reimaginings of classic myths, provided the Deities and heroes are treated respectfully (no bashing someone else’s Gods, please!). There is no length limit, but if you are planning to write a novella, please discuss that with the editors of EHS in advance.
Poems or stories that feature Deities from pantheons generally considered to be outside the Pagan umbrella, but which are still from polytheistic traditions — such as a poem to the Hawaiian Pele or a short story focusing on the Shinto Amaterasu-omikami — are absolutely welcome. The wider the diversity of traditions represented, the happier the editors are.
We are also interested in reviews of: classic works of literature (such as new translations of The Eddas or The Iliad); books about the ancient world; books by modern Pagan authors about contemporary Paganism/s; academic journals and popular magazines that deal with Pagan themes or issues of interest to Pagans, such as The Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Biblical Archaeology Review and witches&pagans; and comic books and graphic novels.
We are also interested in essays which address the nature of the Deities, the mythologies of the various pantheons, folklore, ritual, et cetera and et cetera. So, for example, we would be keen to read your essay on Hermanubis and how He relates to Hermes and Anubis. Or, your essay examining primary sources for The Cailleach. Or, a discussion of the evolution of Veles from (benevolent) God of the Underworld to (Christian) demon and how Polish and Slavic Pagans are resurrecting His worship.
What we do not want: anything about Atlantis, Mu, UFOs, aliens or subterranean civilizations. No gore or excessive violence. Sexual content will be judged on a submission by submission basis. No plagiarism. We trust you to be honest. If we discover that a submission has been plagiarized it will be rejected; if the discovery is made after publication, the submissions will be removed and payment must be refunded to EHS. And be prepared to be stomped by the Fates for your poor character.
While we have no doubt that everything you have written is absolutely amazing, please limit yourself to three poems; or one short story; or three reviews per acceptance period. Please send all submissions as a .rtf or .txt attachment, or in the body of the email (with Poem or Fiction or Review in the subject line), to us at lyradora@yahoo.com during the acceptance period. That is
Summer Solstice 2012 issue: 1 April through 1 June 2012
Autumn Equinox 2012 issue: 1 July through 1 September 2012
Winter Solstice 2012 issue: 1 October through 1 December 2012
Spring Equinox 2013 issue: 1 January through 1 March 2013
Summer Solstice 2013 issue: 1 April through 1 June 2013
Please know that if we receive a lot of submissions for a particular issue, we may move your piece to the next issue down the line. So, you may submit it during the acceptance period for the Spring Equinox issue, but it might actually run in the Summer Solstice issue. (Don’t worry, we’ll let you know if that happens.)
Now for the itty-bitty disclaimer: we reserve the right to edit accepted pieces for clarity. In other words, we’ll correct any misspellings or other typographical errors, and occasionally break up run-on sentences. If we have to make any such editorial corrections, we will send the piece back to you for approval before it goes live.
Do we pay? You betcha. EHS will pay a flat rate of $5 for an original piece. We retain first electronic publishing rights. After the piece moves to the archives and the new issue is posted, all rights revert to the author. (Although, don’t you think a hardcopy omnibus edition a year down the road would be pretty cool? Keep that in mind.) Payment will be made via PayPal. No checks or cash. If you do not have a PayPal account, payment may be made in the form of an online gift certificate to the merchant of your choice.
If your submission is long enough that it must be run across several consecutive issues, it will be treated as distinct pieces. That is, if it runs across three issues, you will be paid $15 total. If you would like to run a serial piece, please consult the editors ahead of time; we prefer to have the entire piece completed before the first part appears.
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