BFS HORIZONS

Fiction, poetry, and art
Fiction editor: Pete W Sutton
Poetry editor: Ian Hunter
Art editor: Jenni Coutts

BFS Horizons is devoted to fiction and poetry. We are also keen to showcase new artists for covers and internal art.

All submissions must be in English. If you’re a member of the BFS, please let us know in the submission information.

Fiction:

We’re mainly looking for stories of 500 to 5000 words, but will consider more if you ask in advance. Authors don’t have to be British, although it would be great if stories have a thread linking it to these isles. Our definition of ‘fantasy’ is broad, encapsulating weird fiction, swords and sorcery, science fiction and all varieties of horror.

Please submit one story at a time and wait for response before resubmitting.

Poetry: 

Any form will be accepted. To be honest, rhyming poetry in iambic pentameters will be a hard sell. However, it would be good to see sonnets, Villanelles or the odd Rondeau, or any other form you care to tackle. Tip: Before submitting, read your poem out loud. Does it work? Check the metre. Does it scan? Look at your line lengths. Lengthy poems or sagas will be considered, but should follow instead the submission guidelines given above for fiction.

Up to five poems may be submitted at one time. Please wait for response before submitting again, and upon acceptance for publication, please wait 3 months before submitting again.

Art:

1.    We are looking for creative, engaging images depicting fantasy, Sci-Fi or horror scenes. These can be character art, concept art, or illustrations depicting specific scenes. If you are not sure your work fits in this category, feel free to submit and our submissions team will get back to you.
2.    We encourage submissions from people from all walks of life, from anywhere in the world. We are particularly keen to see work from artists who are either new and who may not have had art published before, or from individuals in underrepresented groups, as well as from established artists, whose submissions are always welcome.
3.    We request that you refrain from sending images depicting full frontal nudity of any gender, images that can be classified as pornography, images that may be considered overly distressing, or excessively graphic violence and gore (unless this is heavily stylised). We have a zero tolerance policy for images that may be considered hate speech or images that target groups based on race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disabilities, or other protected characteristics.
4.    We would love to see work in both colour and black and white. All interior art will be printed only in black and white.
5.    Unfortunately, we do not accept AI submissions for art, by submitting work to us you are confirming that it was not produced with the use of AI. Any payment given or contract for use may be declared invalid if AI has been found to be used creating part or all of the image.
6.    We allow reprints of art as long as this does not conflict with pre-existing agreements with other publishers, and the previous publishing date was more than 6 months ago

Technical specifications:

7.    Files for print will need to be a minimum of 450dpi, but for initial submissions we do not need files to be this size. Maximum upload limits apply. However a file at this higher resolution must be available if work is accepted for print.
8.    Cover art: We would prefer art in a CYMK colour profile for printing to ensure colours remain vibrant. Art sizing – COMING SOON.
9.    Internal illustrations: unfortunately, at this time we can only accept black and white images. These can be of any size.

Submission: via this form

Email queries: bfshorizons@britishfantasysociety.org
Email Poetry Queries: poetry@britishfantasysociety.org
Email Art enquiries: art@britishfantasysociety.org