Jersey Devil Press

The Jersey Devil is a creature of legend, lurking in the shadows of the Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey, revealing itself only to wreak havoc on some small town, snack on the sporadic chicken or goat, and, occasionally, if it’s feeling a little randy, to hit on mermaids down the Jersey shore.

Jersey Devil Press, on the other hand, is a small, independent publisher, located deep in the upper right ventricle of northern New Jersey. We release a monthly online magazine of short fiction and a yearly anthology in the more traditional “dead tree” format. We also publish the occasional novel or story collection, should we feel so inclined. We are not particularly fond of Jersey Shore.

We want the stories that don’t fit into the traditional definitions of speculative fiction or literature. We want funny and we want “What the fuck was that?” We want convincing dialogue: slang, dropped g’s, people talking like actual people. We want characters we can believe in, whether they’ve got four arms or they’re giant lizards or whatever. Sure, we like other stuff, too. But, seriously, if you’ve got a story about a twenty-story-tall talking fjord, we’re your magazine.

Submissions
Jersey Devil Press is now accepting short story submissions for our monthly online journal. Our tastes tend more toward funny, offbeat and absurd, but we’ve certainly been known to dig the occasional heart-breaking or thought-provoking piece, too.

Submissions to the online journal should be less than 4,200 words. We’d prefer an even 4,000, but we know those last sentences can turn into pages. We’re also OK with flash fiction, if that’s your thing.

Simultaneous submissions are cool, previously published work is cool. Just let us know when and where. Please note that by “previously,” we literally mean “previously.” If it’s currently published, i.e. something that went up in another journal last month and is still readily available online, or if it’s part of the book you just released, that seems a little greedy to us.

Submissions can be sent to: submissions@jerseydevilpress.com 
Please put the word “Submission” in the subject line, along with the title of the piece. Your work can either be attached to the e-mail (.doc, .docx, or .rtf please) or in the body of. Just be sure you don’t give us any wonky viruses or we will find you and destroy your laptop with our minds.

Include a third-person bio in the ballpark of 100 words. Please submit only one story at a time, and please wait at least two weeks before resubmitting after a rejection.

If you don’t receive a reply from us within eight weeks, feel free to send a follow-up query to the above address.

Please, for the love of God, proofread. A typo we can understand, but a complete and utter lack of the basic tenets of grammar is an affront to human decency.

We can’t pay you. We’re sorry. We’re at least as poor as you are.

If you’re jonesing for even more guidelines, or if you just want a leg up on topics that will really get our engines revved, click here for more detailed submissions info than you could ever possibly imagine.

Brilliant Disguise submissions
In addition to our monthly online issue, Jersey Devil Press is also accepting submissions for our ongoing Brilliant Disguise feature.

We’re looking for short fiction, under 1,000 words, inspired by the lyrics of Bruce Springsteen. Not necessarily an entire song, just one or two lines. Tone and style are entirely up to you, but it’s gotta be fiction. Seriously, no poetry.

Those are pretty much the only constraints. Send your stories to submissions at jerseydevilpress dot com, with the phrase “Submission – Brilliant Disguise” in the subject line, along with the title of the piece. In the e-mail itself, be sure to include the lyric and the title of the song.

Story can be either attached to the e-mail (.doc, .docx, or .rtf) or in the body of. As always, don’t send us viruses or else we will hunt you down and cut you.

Jesey Devil home page here.

For information about Brian Henry's writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.