Tales From An Unfamiliar Nation is CURRENTLY CLOSED for submissions

Guidelines for when we are open

We pay authors for all accepted stories, which will be posted on the main page.
The minimum criteria for a submission is below, everything else will be up to the editors’s discretion:

1. Have speculative elements integral to the story

2. Not published anywhere else yet (posts on feedback forums are okay)

3. Are connected to South Asian history and/or mythology

4. Do not simply retell mythological stories

5. Are in English (sorry! we’ll add more languages if this ever takes off!)

6. Are fewer than 5000 words (no exceptions)

Submission Process

1. Email your story to admin@tfaun.com

   • Keep SUBMISSION in the email subject

   • Please format the story in standard manuscript format

   • File formats preferred: doc, docx or PDF

2. Response timing

   • The goal is to acknowledge receipt of stories within 14 days and provide confirmed selections by the 15th of each month

   • If you do not receive any response, your story is still in the queue (it’s just one person reading these right now)

   • Please do not reach out again until 14 days have passed since your submission

3. Selection

   • Stories will be read by us and will be selected based on editorial discretion — please read through prior tales if you want to get an idea of what works well with our editors

   • We will publish stories on the 1st of the next month

4. Payment

   • Accepted stories will be awarded $50 (at exchange rates as of day of payment)

Ownership & Other Legalese

1. You will retain all rights to your stories and you can re-publish them wherever you want

2. The site creators are making no revenue off this endeavor and are maintaining it out of their own interest