2024 OFIC Novellas (Issue #12)

You know those 20k one-shots that give you a reading hangover for days? Those are the vibes we're looking for in our 2024 novella issue.  

What we value most is an earnest portrayal of character, interesting relationship dynamics, and well-crafted prose that prioritizes clarity and voice. And if you want to add a truly tasteless amount of smut, that's fine too. 

Issue #12 will be published July 1, 2025.

Guidelines

• Novellas must be between 15,000 and 35,000 words.
• If you've submitted to us previously, you can submit again if your piece has undergone significant revision.
• Your work cannot be published or posted anywhere else. If you’ve posted a work on any social platform, even if you take it down, for legal reasons, we cannot accept it. This means you can’t delete a work from AO3 and file off the serial numbers to send to us.
• Your work must stand on its own as an original piece, although we of course welcome common fanfiction tropes (or the subversion thereof), and works that feel fanfiction-y but contain original characters and worlds. Again, legal reasons.
• Unfortunately, we won’t be able to accept all work or reply personally to all submissions.
• We welcome simultaneous submissions. This means you’re free to submit to other magazines/presses, but please withdraw your piece as soon as possible if your work gets accepted elsewhere.
• We take first North American serial rights. This means we can’t accept work that has been previously published in any way. It also means you can publish your novella elsewhere after we've published it.
• We are able to offer our contributors a small honorarium of a half cent per word (USD) and a free copy of the issue.

Manuscript formatting

Please provide the following as front matter of your manuscript:

1. A title page with your contact info. Your AO3 handle/social media can go here if you're comfortable sharing that, as well as if you'd like to publish under a pseud or pen name. Please also include the word count.
2. A synopsis of the story. This doesn't have to be fancy or professional-sounding. In fact the closer it sounds to a tumblr shitpost, the better. Pretend your best friend has just asked, "So what's your book about?" The synopsis would be the long answer/tea spill that follows. It should include all major plot beats (even if that involves spoilers). No page limit, but it shouldn't be super long, up to 3ish pages, preferably 1-2. 

You can format it however you like as long as the font is readable. Double-spaced preferred. Please do not use two spaces after a period.

If you have any questions, please contact us at oficmagazine@gmail.com.