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:
- 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.
- 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.
The Spring 2025 Fanauthor Workshop is a 7-week writing course led by Betts. The workshop lends a supportive space to writers who identify as fans to receive constructive feedback on fanfiction, original fiction, or creative nonfiction.
Where & When
We meet weekly over Zoom. You can apply for one of two sessions:
- Group A: Wednesdays from Apr 9 - May 21, 12-2pm ET [See what time that is in your time zone]
- Group B: Mondays from Apr 7 - May 19, 6-8pm ET [See what time that is in your time zone]
What
FAW is a feedback-oriented workshop with the occasional generative session. This means that each week we read 2 pieces submitted by participants, offer written feedback, and discuss them over Zoom. You'll be able to sign up for the week you would like to workshop your own piece, which can be anything under 6k words.
There may be weeks where, in lieu of workshopping, I present external readings and writing exercises. These sessions will be dependent on the number of participants. For example, if we have 10 participants and 6 workshop weeks, that means one week will be devoted to a reading discussion and generative activity.
I developed a workshop model that focuses mostly on affirmations and positivity, as well as descriptive over prescriptive feedback, which is to say, describing one's experience of reading rather than prescribing solutions to perceived problems. We also present improvement-oriented feedback, but avoid negativity, judgment, and pedantry. Week 1 is spent going over the workshop model and how to give feedback.
About FAW
The first FAW was held in 2017 as an independent study in my MFA. I restarted it in 2022 and since then have led 11 sessions with a total of over 55 participants, about half of whom have participated in the workshop more than once.
Participation in the workshop includes entrance into the FAW community, an active Discord server where we host:
- Ongoing accountability meetings during which we chat over Zoom about our projects and set goals for ourselves every other week
- A monthly longform writing workshop, where writers can workshop any story between 6k and 100k words
- A short story club, where we read and discuss original short form works
- Birthday movie nights! We also have weekly TV show streaming and a few co-op games running
- Scheduled write-ins and impromptu writing sprints
- A group quarterly progress tracking sheet that accidentally turned into a micro social media platform
- And there are always other things going on, like international snack exchanges, craft exchanges, support during the looming deadlines of fic exchanges, and so on
We also chat about writing and craft, offer resources, and share many, many pet photos. Or as emi likes to say, "Pay the pet tax."
In addition, participants of the workshop receive:
- A one-hour consultation with me to go over your workshop feedback, come up with a plan for revision and/or publication, or anything else you’d like to discuss regarding your writing
- Open enrollment in future workshops
- Priority sign-ups for other generative workshops
Eligibility
Anyone over the age of 18 who considers themselves a participant of fandom and who is familiar with fanfiction may apply. A stable internet connection is also required.
Cost
The cost of the workshop is "pay what you can" with the recommended amount of $300. To be as inclusive as possible, I don't want money to be a deterrent for anyone interested in participating.
At least partial payment (or notification of nonpayment) will be requested prior to the start of workshop via PayPal, Venmo, or Wise.
Application requirements
To apply, please provide an informal cover letter (instructions in form) and a brief (500-1000 words) sample of your writing.
For your writing sample, you may provide:
- An original short story or an excerpt of something longer, or
- Fanfiction of any kind, a one-shot or excerpt of something longer
No trigger warnings needed. Your work may be published/posted elsewhere.
The form asks for your name, but you can provide a pen name or pseudonym if you prefer.
For more information about the workshop, check out our blog.