Opportunities for Writers and Illustrators at Analog

The pages of Astounding/Analog have been home to many of science fiction’s foremost writers and stories. Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, Poul Anderson, Spider Robinson, Lois McMaster Bujold, and Michael F. Flynn are just a few of the prominent names which have often appeared here, and we have a long tradition of discovering and cultivating new talent.

Story Content	Analog will consider material submitted by any writer, and consider it solely on the basis of merit. We are definitely eager to find and develop new, capable writers. We have no hard-and-fast editorial guidelines, because science fiction is such a broad field that I don’t want to inhibit a new writer’s thinking by imposing Thou Shalt Nots. Besides, a really good story can make an editor swallow his preconceived taboos. Basically, we publish science fiction stories. That is, stories in which some aspect of future science or technology is so integral to the plot that, if that aspect were removed, the story would collapse. Try to picture Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein without the science and you’ll see what I mean. No story! The science can be physical, sociological, psychological. The technology can be anything from electronic engineering to biogenetic engineering. But the stories must be strong and realistic, with believable people (who needn’t be human) doing believable things–no matter how fantastic the background might be.
Fact Articles	Fact articles for Analog should be about 4,000 words in length and should deal with subjects of not only current but future interest, i.e., with topics at the present frontiers of research whose likely future developments have implications of wide interest. Illustrations should be provided by the author in camera-ready form. In writing for Analog readers, it is essential to keep in mind that they are, in general, very intelligent and technically knowledgeable, but represent a very wide diversity of backgrounds. Thus, specialized jargon and mathematical detail should be kept to a necessary minimum. Also, our readers are reading this magazine largely for entertainment, and a suitable style for our articles is considerably more informal than that in many professional journals.
Electronic Submission and Manuscript Format	Analog now uses an online submissions system that has been designed to streamline our process and improve communication with authors. We do not accept email submissions. Please see Manuscript Guidelines for information about paper submissions. Our online submissions form for fiction asks for your name, email address, cover letter, story title, and story. Your cover letter should contain the length of your story, your publishing history and any other relevant information (e.g., if you send us a story about a medical disaster and you happen to be an emergency room nurse, mention that.). We ask for the same information for poetry. Please fill out a separate form for each poem submitted for consideration. All stories and poems should be in standard manuscript format and can be submitted in .DOC format. For information about standard formatting, see William Shunn’s guide to Proper Manuscript Format. After you have submitted your work, a tracking number will be displayed and an automated email confirmation containing this information will be sent to you. If you have not received this email within twenty-four hours, please notify us by email. Your tracking number will allow you to monitor the status of your submission through our website, so please don’t lose it. NOTE: Yahoo.com occasionally treats our email as spam, please keep an eye on your spam folder. Reply Process Our average response time runs about two to three months. If you have not heard from us in four months, you can query us about the submission at analog@dellmagazines.com. Thanks for your interest in Analog and good luck! Please go here to submit your story.
Manual Submission and Manuscript Format	We strongly prefer that submissions be made through our electronic submission system at analog.magazinesubmissions.com, where full instructions can be found. Manuscripts should be submitted in .doc format and standard manuscript form (double-spaced, 12-point Courier preferred, italics represented by underlining). If you must submit hardcopy, manuscripts must be computer-printed, double-spaced, on white paper, one side of the sheet only. Please avoid unusual or very small typefaces. Indent paragraphs but do not leave extra space between them. Please do not put manuscripts in binders or folders. We do not accept e-mail or fax submissions. Author’s name and address should be on the first page of the manuscript. No material submitted can be returned or acknowledged unless accompanied by sufficient postage, stamped and addressed envelope (not a postcard), or stamped International Reply Coupons. No simultaneous submissions, please.
Payment	Analog pays 8-10 cents per word for short stories up to 7,500 words, 8-8.5 cents per word for longer material (Works between 7500 and approximately 10,000 words by authors who make more than 8 cents a word for short stories will receive a flat rate that will be no less than payment would be for a shorter story.), and 6 cents per word for serials. We prefer lengths between 2,000 and 7,000 words for shorts, 10,000-20,000 words for novelettes/novellas, and 40,000-80,000 for serials. Fact articles are paid for at the rate of 9 cents per word. We pay $1 a line for poetry, which should not exceed 40 lines.
Other Information	For serials, please include a fairly detailed synopsis as part of the submission, and any essential information such as prior publishing commitments. A complete manuscript is strongly preferred for all shorter lengths. Payment is on acceptance.
Our Editorial Address	Dell Magazines Trevor Quachri, Editor 44 Wall Street, Suite 904 New York, NY 10005-2401 E-mail: analog@dellmagazines.com

Art Guidelines	For Manuscript Submission Guidelines, click here.
What We’re Looking For	We are interested in professional-level, mostly realistic work. Photographs are not normally used, but artists illustrating for us have worked with photos, using surrealistic effects. The illustration must be able to visually interpret the story in such a way that it accurately represents the story, hooks the reader into reading it, and doesn’t give away the ending. The subject matter of the stories usually contain a wide range of things that you must be able to draw. We would like to see an ability to illustrate an entire scene; one that not only has a character or characters, but also has a detailed background. You must know anatomy, perspective, balance, and figure proportions. We are not a comic book company, so please don’t send samples of comics pages.
What to Send	Send four to six samples of your best work. Do not send us your originals. Send only copies. They can be photocopies, stats, slides, transparencies, or tearsheets. For either black and white interiors or color covers, you can use any medium. Many of our artists use pencil, pen & ink, airbrush, watercolor, scratchboard, etc. Electronic files are acceptable as long as it is in Mac format, eps or tiff, but please send a disk – DO NOT E-MAIL THE FILES! Please include a self-addressed stamped, business-sized envelope for a response, or a large one if you want your samples returned to you.
Payment	$1,200.00 for color cover art. $125.00 for black and white interiors.
Our Address	Dell Magazines c/o Victoria Green Analog Science Fiction and Fact, 44 Wall Street, Suite 904 New York, NY 10005-2401 For sample copies, send a SASE and a check or money order in the amount of $5.00 for each copy to the editorial department at the same address. Talk tomorrow, Kathy