Here you can submit your work. But before you do, you should read this page carefully. We are looking for a very specific kind of story or essay. Our original goal was to raise awareness about the harm that humans are doing to this planet. This is no longer our goal. The reality of climate change has become so clear that nobody can be unaware of it anymore, and still humanity refuses to change its ways. Awareness is obviously not enough to bring people to their senses.

So, from now on we shall merely be a source of reliable information about the state of the environment and the climate, while we chronicle the collapse of our civilization in fact and fiction.

We have identified 8 full-blown emergencies. Each single one is capable of bringing about our downfall, jointly they are creating a perfect superstorm that guarantees it. They are listed below. Any contribution must be relevant to one or more of those emergencies, or it will be rejected, no matter how good it is.

On our way to Dystopia

In the midst of these 8 major crises that demand immediate and drastic action but are mostly ignored, humanity is about to self-destruct. We humans have done so much damage to the natural world that it can only end in a spate of disasters that will wreck our civilization. These inevitable apocalyptic events offer a wealth of inspiration.

Links referring to pages about all the threats facing us can be found by clicking on the image below

popart man head in hands exclaiming oh no

img: studiostoks; shutterstock

The whole purpose of this magazine is to raise awareness of our suicidal behaviour. Only then will it be possible to do something about it. Our hopes are low, human nature being what it is, but still we believe we should try.

This makes it patently obvious that we are not looking for silly fantasies, nonsensical beliefs, mindless optimism and, least of all, expressions of our vilest demon: hubris, our arrogant overconfidence that we will solve all our problems in the end.

We are seeking well-written intelligent stories dealing with the major issues of our time and the foreseeable future, realistic, speculative, cautionary and thought-provoking.

We are also looking for stories that celebrate the beauty and importance of our environment, the natural world, the splendour of the wild, the abundance of wonderful creatures, big and small, and our kinship with them, the simple joys and profound enrichments experienced by people who are able to commune with nature. In short, narratives about the paradise that we are on the brink of losing.

Contributions may be of two kinds. First and foremost: accomplished short stories, written by (semi-)professionals in accordance with high literary standards for plot, characterization, narrative, pace and detail, description and action, dialog, etc.

Secondly we also welcome other writings that deal with our theme and do so with eloquence and passion. They may include essays, studies, personal reflections, dreams, rants, pleas, laments, etc.

The rules are simple.

The story should be in digital form, Microsoft Word or PDF.
Formatting in accordance with common practice; see the internet, for instance:

Preferred word count between 1500 and 5000 words. The better the story, the greater the margin may be, within reason.
We pay US$ 0.02 a word for short stories.
We pay US$ 0.01 a word for writings other than short stories.
We buy non-exclusive, one-time rights for online publication during a period of 12 months, with an option to repeat this for our usual fee.
Please send us only one story at a time.
Simultaneous submissions are fine.
Previous or simultaneous publications are not a problem either.
Stories are to be uploaded by filling out the form below. If for some weird reason it does not work, you can send your work as an attachment by email, by clicking here

Naturally content is not all that matters. We also want to see quality.

P.S.
As a special courtesy to any talented Dutch writers we offer them the possibility of submitting their stories in Dutch. If a story is accepted, we shall have it translated, free of charge. (Nederlandse schrijvers kunnen hun verhaal in hun moedertaal inzenden. Bij aanvaarding zorgen wij voor de vertaling, gratis.)