Submissions Guidelines
Have something to say on the subject of Science Fiction and Fantasy? Is there a movie, book, or television show you want to review or just pontificate about? Then send your thoughts to us and we just may include it on the Axiom’s Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy site.
Axiom’s Edge is a site by fans for fans which means that we write about Science Fiction and Fantasy because we have a passion for it. This genre inspires us and the books, movies, television shows, etc. that it produces speak to us and motivate us to write about them. To write for this site, it is important to be a fan of the genre, not just someone writing to hear their brain rattle. It does not mean that you have to be a fan of all things Science Fiction and Fantasy, but a fan of what you write about and/or of at least some parts of the genre. So you could be a Star Trek fan but not a Stargate fan and focus your writing on Trek. Or write about Stargate but make it clear you are writing from a Trek fan’s perspective. Or, you could be a fan of the Zombie sub-genre and focus your writing on just that. Basically, just know what you are writing about and demonstrate your knowledge and passion on the subject.
What Type of Submissions We Accept:
Reviews, articles, best-of lists, commentaries, news Items and similar pieces. These must be written entirely by you, but you can cite other sources as long as you provide a link to the source material or a footnote.
We are not accepting short stories or any fiction at this point, but we are exploring that as a future possibility.
Length of Submission:
Between 200 – 800 words with a maximum of 1,000 words. Internet readers tend to have short attention spans and typically will not read long articles, so the shorter the better. If you want to write a piece that will go longer than 1,000 words, look at breaking it up into multiple posts.
Guidelines for Reviews:
Reviews of television shows, movies, books, games, etc. should be between 600 – 800 words with a maximum of 1,000 words (or see below for quick reviews). For a television series, we prefer that you watch between three and five episodes to get a good idea of how the series is progressing (see quick reviews below for reviewing a single episode). Sometimes a show has a pilot that is heavy on exposition and the show does not start to pick up steam until the second or third episode. Conversely, sometimes a show expends all of its creative energy on the first episode and then goes downhill from there. Follow the same guidelines if you are reviewing a comic book series as well. Give it at least three issues before writing down your thoughts about it.
In your review, you should usually start out by introducing what you are reviewing and giving some sort of information on what it is about. You do not have to go into too much detail if you do not think it is necessary for the review, but enough to be sure the readers stick with you. For example, imagine someone who has never seen any of the Star Trek series (I know it’s hard to do), and then reads a review of the original series that focuses on a few characters and episodes but never bothers to mentions that its basic premise is about explorers on a starship travelling to other worlds. The reader might have some difficulty following along, so at least provide a sentence or two to explain the basic premise.
We use the star system for providing a ranking with a review that goes from 0 to 5 in half star increments (similar to what Amazon.com uses). Along with this, be sure that you give your opinion of what you are reviewing, not just a synopsis. Explaining what happens is fine, just make sure that your focus is on what you thought about it. Also, be sure to provide some sort of conclusion that sums up your opinion on whatever you are reviewing.
For current television shows, we prefer to conclude the review with a mention of how the show is doing in the ratings. This information is available weekly in our Ratings Results column. We usually combine the ratings information and review summary in the final paragraph of the review, but you can do that however you see fit.
Quick Reviews: Short reviews are fine as well and should be between 200 and 500 words. These are perfect if you want to review a single episode of a series or a single issue of a comic book. They can also cover the same items as a regular review, just in condensed format. Follow the same guidelines as above, just keep the word count down. Also, you can do a post that contains multiple short reviews if you want.
Compensation:
Unfortunately, we are not offering any monetary compensation at this point. But submitting to Axiom’s Edge does give you a chance to get some exposure on an up-and-coming blog that is growing its readership each month. As we continue to grow and start producing some revenue from the site, our first priority is to begin paying our contributors, so know that we are working in that direction (and you can help by clicking on our affiliate links and exploring the products they offer). Also note that regular contributors will go to the top of the list for consideration when we do start paying for submissions.
Finally:
So if you have an idea rattling around your brain, write it down and send it to us at submissions@axiomsedge-scifi.com and we just might publish it. We would love to have as much material as possible from others who love Science Fiction and Fantasy as much as we do.
We will look forward to seeing your submissions and we will respond as soon as time allows.
