You may use this form if your story is longer than 2500 words but less than 5000 words. If your story is between 1000 and 2500 words, use the submission form.
Tales from the Crosstimbers is primarily for short fiction. We will include at most three longer stories in each issue. If your story is longer than our preferred maximum of 2500 words but less than 5000 words, you may either submit it directly or use this form to query first. Querying first will give you a quick read on whether or not we think your story is a good fit for our publication.
- Do not submit the entire story–submit no more than the first 1000 words. We need enough to get a sense of the story’s style. We’ll also be looking for openings that do some or all of these things.
- We need to know what your story is about, so your synopsis should describe your story. It might include, for example, the protagonist’s goals, the obstacles they face, and the stakes, i.e., the bad thing that happens if they fail. Alternatively, it might include other things, like the character arc or the plot arc. Each story is different.
- Remember, a query is essentially a sales pitch. Your goal in writing a query is to convince the editors–that’s us–that it’s worth our time and effort to read the entire story.