CatsCast

Submission Guidelines for CatsCast

CatsCast is looking for speculative cat stories!

Specifically, we're looking for speculative fiction stories about cats. "Cats" in this context are, well, cats — but since this is a speculative fiction podcast, they don't have to be exactly the same species as the housecats we have here on Earth. The stories should have happy, or at least hopeful, endings for all featured cats. Fun, playfulness, and humor are strongly encouraged but not required.

Links to stories we've published can be found at escapeartists.net/catscast. CatsCast has a public feed (free for anyone to read-listen) and a patron-only feed; in general, first-run stories tend to wind up on the public feed and reprints tend to wind up on the patron-only feed.

Stories MUST NOT have graphic descriptions of cruelty to animals (brief references to acts that occur "off-camera" are okay). Romantic storylines are fine, but please, no graphic depictions of sex. We want our fun cat stories to be fun for everyone, so please avoid offensive stereotypes based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, religion, or body size. Feel free to dump on cat-haters, though.

Submission Details:

We're open to both original stories and reprints, but please don't submit a story that has appeared (or has been accepted by) in any of the other Escape Artists podcasts (Escape Pod, PodCastle, PseudoPod, or Cast of Wonders).

Story length: 6000 word maximum, no minimum.

Simultaneous submissions: You may submit your story to other venues in addition to CatsCast, with one exception: please don't submit here and to another Escape Artists podcast at the same time. If you do submit elsewhere, please let us know, and please withdraw your story promptly if it's accepted at another venue.

Multiple submissions: Please submit only one story during this submission window.

Payment and Rights

We pay $0.08 per word USD for original fiction, $100 flat rate for reprints over 1,500 words, and $20 flat rate for flash fiction reprints (stories below 1,500 words).

Sample contracts and descriptions of the rights requested can be found here. These were updated in March, 2023; this blog post details the changes.

Diversity

CatsCast welcomes submissions from writers of all backgrounds. We are especially interested in seeing more submissions from people of backgrounds that have been historically underrepresented or excluded from traditional publishing, including, but not limited to, women, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ and non-binary gender people, persons with disabilities, members of religious minorities, and people from outside the United States.

How to Submit

Submit your story through this form. We accept files formatted in .rtf, .doc, .docx, and .odt.

When preparing your file, please use something approximating Standard Manuscript Format. We don't need your postal address and phone number, though, so feel free to leave those off (but please do include your email address). We like Times New Roman font and italics instead of underlines, but we're really just saying that for the benefit of writers who agonize over this sort of thing. Any reasonable font is fine, and if you want to use underlines instead of italics, that's fine too.

We prefer short cover letters -- please include your name, the story's title and word count, and whether your story is an original or a reprint. If you have any previous publications, feel free to list up to three; if you don't, feel free to mention that fact (we love hearing from previously-unpublished authors). We're also happy to hear about any relevant experience (e.g., the story is set on a space station and you spent six months on the ISS) and any diversity information you'd like to share. Please don't summarize the story in your cover letter.

Once you’ve sent us your story, you'll get an automated confirmation via email. Please query if you have not received this confirmation within 24 hours.

Legalese: By sending us your story you understand and agree that:

• You are the original creator of the work submitted to us;
• You are the copyright holder of the work;
• You are at least 18 years of age or have obtained the permission of a parent or guardian to enter into a contract with Escape Artists, Inc.;
• You are not prohibited by any prior agreement from the transfer of non-exclusive electronic and audio rights to the work;
• All information in the contact and cover sections of your submission is accurate and truthful;
• CatsCast publishes in both text and audio; you are offering both of those one-time and archival rights to us when you send us your story;
• You accept sole responsibility for any false statements or encumbrances upon rights not disclosed to us. If we buy your story we’ll send you a contract, and you’ll be bound to all of the above.

Queries

Please send questions or comments to catscast@escapeartists.net