slush tips: speculation

I believe the Electric Spec Editors have recently finished with slush. Please note we rarely keep a story longer than a hundred and thirty-five days because of our quarterly production schedule. Each issue accepts submissions for approximately ninety days (three months). Our production schedule then takes approximately forty-five days (a month and a half). This means if you sent us your story within the ninety-day August-2017-issue submission window, you should have heard 'No, thanks,' or 'We're going to hold this for voting,' from us by now. If you haven't heard, resubmit.

One unique thing to speculative fiction is some kind of speculative element. Every story we hold-for-voting has a speculative element. By speculative element I mean an element of fantasy, science fiction, and/or macabre horror. This could be characters such as: elves, witches, vampires, werewolves, secondary-world royals, aliens, robots, AIs, ghosts, murderers, etc. Or, it could be situations, e.g. what would happen if we got immortality? Or, it could be setting, e.g. outer space or a spooky haunted mansion. The point is: there must be some kind of speculative element. If not: rejection. Sorry, not sorry.

Once in a while we get a story in which we can't tell for sure if it has a speculative element, e.g. alternate histry (is it alternate enough?). Those we just have to take on a case by case basis. Those sometimes cause arguments at the production meeting.

Anyway, rest assured we are working hard on the awesome August 2017 issue. Stay tuned for more info!