Discover the World of Indian Gothic Publishing

Genres Accepted

We accept short fiction and one-act playsin the following genres:

• Horror (literary, psychological, non-gory)
• Speculative Fiction
• Science Fiction
• Supernatural Fiction
• Paranormal Fiction

Cross-genre work is welcome, provided the genre element is integral to the story.

Length & Format

Short Stories

• Up to 6,000 words (minimum 2000 words)

Plays

• Up to 30 pages, or
• A one-act play in standard UK stage play format

File format: .doc /.docx 

Font: Times New Roman, Arial, or Garamond font can be used in the manuscript. Please stick to the same font for everything – text, headline, numbers, title, name, etc. 

Format: One-inch margins on either side of the document, 12-point font and double-spaced. On the first page, please put your name, contact details and the word count. Pages should be numbered.

Language: English

Manuscripts don’t need to be anonymised. 

Please include your name, contact details (at least an email address and your city of residence), and a brief profile that explains who you are and whether you have been published before.

What We Look For

We are looking to publish work that is

• Conceptually strong
• Emotionally or intellectually resonant
• Well-crafted in language and structure
• Purposeful in its use of genre
• Written with conviction and clarity

We value brave new ideas, unique voices, and meaning over spectacle, gimmicks, and excessive use of genre tropes without a strong premise.

What We Do Not Publish

• Gratuitous violence or cruelty
• Sexualised or exploitative content
• Shock-driven or purely commercial genre tropes
• Work that relies solely on twists without depth

Rights & Submissions

• Two submissions are allowed if one is a short story and one is a play. 
• We can't accept two short stories or two plays in the same submission period.
• Submit only one short story and one play at a time, or only one story, or only one play. 
• Please include a short author/playwright profile or bio of yourself in the email along with a headshot/photograph of yourself  of at least 72 DPI resolution.
• Simultaneous submissions are accepted (please notify us if accepted elsewhere within 3-5 days of receiving information from the other publisher. 
• Submissions will be published as planned even if authors and playwrights wish to not publish their works for the above mentioned reason if the Indian Gothic window of reversal is shut already.
• The submission reversal window will close 3 weeks before the publishing date on the website.
• Please wait for 6-8 weeks before sending us an email inquiring about your submission.
• There is no reading fee or submission fee for submissions of stories and plays, and we will read everything that follows our guidelines.
• Authors and playwrights retain the copyright of their works.
• Indian Gothic will retain first publication rights for the submitted pieces of work for a short, exclusive period of 6 months, and archival permission thereafter, until such time the lit mag wants to.
• Authors can republish their work anywhere after 6 months. We would require authors and playwrights to give credit to Indian Gothic as the first publisher of their work.
• Submit your works to submission@indiangothic.com. 
• Please do not use any other email IDs that you may have found on the Web of any members from the editorial panel.

Use of AI and AI-blended apps

Please do not use AI tools to write your story or play, as we can spot the glaring AI-ness in words, phrases, sentences, punctuation and grammar! We are going to reject it. If you are a writer or a playwright, we assume you will not want to use Chat GPT, Claude, Google Gemini or any other AI writing app like Sudowrite to assist you in writing your entire story or play because we believe you can genuinely write and can impress us with your choice of words, command over language, unique style of expression, etc. (Besides, it is embarrassing to get exposed as a writer who did not write.)

If you have any questions, please write to us addressing your queries to The Chief Editor or The Chief Managing Editor - in the subject line of the email - on submission@indiangothic.com