When to submit

Tainted Tea accepts work on a rolling submission basis. We read all year round. If you're willing to submit, we're more than willing to read. Thanks for your interest.

For complete submission guidelines visit our previous blog post. We'd also like to remind you that as time goes on, the editors may change the submission guidelines, so please sure to reread the posts before submitting work.

In the mean time, read this:

"The Professor's Teddy Bear" by Theodore Sturgeon (in Masterpieces of Terror and the Supernatural Selected by Marvin Kaye).

"Where do you get your ideas?"

That question makes me freeze.

I don't know where they come from, they're just these little green goblins that plunge into my cerebrum, bouncing up and down like a pool of Jell-O. Sometimes my ideas come from a piece of art that triggers something in my brain, or a story I have just read that urges me to produce something as compelling as the author's piece. Once, a few years ago, I fused and elaborated on two, hard news stories I read in the paper.

J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, said that "Harry just sort of strolled into my head, on a train journey. He arrived very fully formed. It was as though I was meeting him for the first time."

But, simply, author R. L. Stine has said that he generates his ideas by asking himself "What if?"

What if?

It's that simple. And effective. I use it all the time in all of my writing be it horror or (attempted) romance. Roald Dahl, author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, must have used in it his short, horror story "Genesis and Catastrophe: A True Story."

Think of the "What if?" as a water fountain. You start with a basin (the idea), add water (paragraphs), plug it in (editing) and the outcome is exquisite: a water show extravaganza that people can't seem to take their eyes off of.

Now it's your turn. Write a story that constantly makes you answer the "What if?" factor. Refer to "The Nightmare Room Writing Program" for examples and exercise.

"Horror, for me, is the compelling
'don't want to look/must look' sense of awe
we feel under the breastbone."
~Mort Castle

Submission Guidelines

Tainted Tea accepts short stories, narrative poetry, and all forms of printed art. Though we know horror isn't all monsters chasing large-breasted women, submissions must evoke fear, shock, or tension.

Please, no novels. Or Twilights.

Tainted Tea also accepts horror movie reviews.

All work must be original and created by the writer/artist. We will accept work that has been previously published as long as the creator owns the rights.

Please email all submissions to TaintedTea.Editors@gmail.com The editors are Kris Fossett and Shane R. Toogood.

Short Story Guidelines
Though there is no specific length, we would prefer short stories under 10 pages (approximately 2,500 words), double-spaced, in a professionally accepted font. Stories must be sent as either a DOC or RTF file. Please include: your name or pseudonym, the title, and the number of words on the first page of the story. On each page of the story, include your name or pseudonym and the page number.

Narrative Poetry Guidelines
Poems must tell a story, with a beginning, middle, and end. As with the short stories, there is no specific length, but we would prefer all narrative poems under 10 pages (approximately 2,500 words), double-spaced, in a professionally accepted font. Poems must be sent as either a DOC or RTF file. Please include: your name of pseudonym, the title, and the number of words on the first page of the poem. On each page of the poem, include your name or pseudonym and the page number.

Printed Art Guidelines
All images must be emailed as either a JPEG or PDF file, with 72 to 150 dpi. We accept everything to photographs to paintings to collages, as long as we can print it online. Please include your name or pseudonym and the title of your work with your email.

Movie Review Guidelines
We accept reviews on obscure, campy horror movies, like Dead Alive, Pinocchio's Revenge, or Blood Freak. Please keep all reviews between 250-500 words, double-spaced, in a professionally accepted font. Please include: your name or pseudonym, the title of the movie, and the number of words with your review.

Simultaneous Submissions
We do not want any writer or artist to miss an opportunity. Therefore, we accept simultaneous submissions.

Response Time
Depending on the amount of work we receive, our response time can vary between three to ten weeks.

Writer/Artist Compensation
Unfortunately, we can't offer monetary compensation for writers/artists at this time. But what we can offer is a beautiful byline.

"Nothing stinks like a pile of unpublished writing."
~Sylvia Plath

Recommended Reading: Kris's Picks

Well, Shane got to this before I did, and since we often trade books, some of my picks are the same. If you see repeats on our lists, well, they are just damn good books.

Stephen King wrote in On Writing (which you will find on Shane's list), "If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot...Every book you pick up has its own lesson or lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones."

I read because I like stories. Sure, I do learn about the art of fiction, but what it all comes down to is that I just enjoy reading.

• Coraline by Neil Gaiman
• A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
• From the Dust Returned by Ray Bradbury
• Master of Reality by John Darnielle
• Love is a Mixtape by Rob Sheffield
  
• How to Become a Famous Writer Before You're Dead by Ariel Gore
• Scary Stories Illustrated by Barry Moser
• Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
  
• The Traveling Vampire Show by Richard Laymon
  

Recommended Reading: Shane's Picks

Kris and I are book gluttons. We inhale books, gorge ourselves in stories and bathe in all their glory, so it's only natural that we share some of our favorite works with you:

• "The Gold Bug" (or pretty much the complete works) by Edgar Allan Poe
• Coraline by Neil Gaiman
• Fear Hall: The Beginning and Fear Hall: The Conclusion by R. L. Stine
• Black Hole by Charles Burns
• Masterpieces of Terror and the Supernatural Selected by Marvin Kaye
  
• Grimm's Fairy Tales
• Sharp Objects: A Novel by Gillian Flynn
• The Best American Erotic Poems from 1800 to the Present Edited by David Lehman
• On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
• The Poet's Companion by Kim Addonizio and Dorianne Laux
• On Writing Horror Edited by Mort Castle
• Zombie Haiku by Ryan Mecum
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
  

Man, I could go on. Those are a few off the top of my head. For my full list, please visit my Web site. I'll continue to update them as I continue to read. What are your favorite books? Do you like any of the books on my list? What do you look for in a good book? (Personally, I'm a sucker for characters. If the character is believable, you can put them in any situation--even if it sucks.)

Next time I'll give you my favorite short, horror stories. But until then, sing along with me: "Butterfly in the sky..."

(Don't look now, but writers block is following you.)

Face it. If you're a writer, you've encountered our dreaded foe Elder Writer's Block. Well, we here at Tainted Tea are here to help because, well, we're writers, too and have a forest worth of blank paper.

The Pocket Muse: ideas & inspirations for writing is a wonderful tool for all writers. The book offers, just as the title says, "ideas and inspirations for writing." One of the exercises seems extremely appropriate for a horror zine:

"Your character is being followed."

Is your character a mountain climber lost on Everest being followed by the Yeti?


Maybe he's metaphorically being followed by his past?


You know, Mary had a little lamb and everywhere that Mary went that damn lamb was sure to follow her...


So what'cha got? Share what you've written in the comments. We'd love to see what you've come up with. Now, get going! Write. Write, I say!

In Summary...

Over the last few blog posts, we here at Tainted Tea have made many decisions on the content we are accepting for our new literary magazine. So, here it is, in one handy blog post:

Tainted Tea is a horror literary magazine brought to you by Shane R. Toogood and Kris Fossett's company, SHAKE Publishing.

We are looking for:

• Short stories
• Photographs
• Paintings
• Sketches
• Collages
• Actually, any sort of art we can print
  
• Narrative poetry
• Movie Reviews

See our previous post on submission guidelines. There will be an updated submission guidelines post soon.

Please, email all submissions at TaintedTea.Editors@gmail.com. If you have any questions about the magazine, writing, art, or anything, feel free to contact us.