[eZine] Expanded Horizons

[ACFantasy]

Has anyone heard of them? I was looking at their magazine, but their submissions guidelines got a little surreal.

They say they want stories from psychic people:

We want to create a story-telling venue for those with rare and unusual sensitivities and awarenesses. Uncommon sensitivities and awarenesses (sometimes called psi, intuition, etc.) are a popular theme in speculative fiction. [...] Note: We have a very strong preference for authors who are themselves sensitive and aware in these ways. We encourage these authors to write about their own experiences in the form of fiction, or to write about characters who are like them and other psi/intuitive folks they know. Please see the note below in the “What We Don’t Want” section before submitting a story to us with this theme.

(Bolding is theirs throughout this post)

They also want stories from people who identify as otherkin (people who believe they are actually animals in a human body), fictionkin (people who believe they are actually characters from television or other media; e.g. someone who thinks they are really Jack McCoy from Law and Order or Akeelah Anderson from Akeelah and the Bee) and vampires:

We want to create a story-telling venue for esoteric minorities and those with esoteric affinities, including but not limited to Otherkin, Mediakin/Fictionkin/Otakukin and Vampyres. Those with esoteric affinities often draw on themes, images, and stories in mythology and speculative fiction in order to identify, understand, process, contextualize, and identify with their own experiences. Do you want to contribute to the genre in your own voice? Do you want to challenge any of the negative portrayal of people like you? We welcome your stories

Their 'what we don't want' section is huge, and it also gets kind of strange:

We do not publish stories about lizard people. No Lizard People. (Please!) [...]

We also just don’t want any stories about lizard people, even if they’re the good guys and are not oppressed, and even if they’re the heroes.

No “were-lizards.”

Exception to this guideline: the story is about being Otherkin.

We do not publish werewolf stories, we publish Therianthrope stories.

We do not publish vampire stories, we publish Vampyre stories.

What I'm wondering is... has anyone interacted with the people behind this? Is this magazine professionally run behind the scenes? Because looking at these guidelines, it honestly to me looks more like some kind of performance art than an actual online magazine. I've looked at a lot of different spec fic venues and I've never seen one before with submission guidelines as out there as this.

 

[Taran]

We do not publish stories about lizard people.

Madame Blavatsky does not approve.

 

[aliceshortcake]

We do not publish stories about lizard people.

Blatant discrimination!

 

[Filigree]

There is fun crazy, then there is headache-inducing crazy.

 

[Dennis E. Taylor]

Blatant discrimination!

Definitely displays bias against the otherly-thermic.

 

[Polenth]

It's possible to discuss a market's professionalism without making fun of groups of people you don't understand and using crazy as an insult.

On the market itself, I've heard of no issues with things like them paying people. I've enjoyed some of the stories they've published. But I wouldn't submit there, as the person running it is too confrontational for my tastes. My experiences of certain marginalisations don't match the editor's, so that would be a potential cause of conflict. If your experiences do fall in line with the editor, it's another place to submit. But as always, I'd recommend starting with the pro paying markets.

 

[Filigree]

I don't ascribe to most of the publisher's (more marginal) beliefs, but that wouldn't stop me from subbing if I liked the market. The crazy-making comes from the confrontational nature of the publisher. That's a big no-no in my experience.

ETA: while I celebrate their main mission, by the time I was done reading their guidelines again I was exhausted. If I manage to write a great story that skirts every one of their negatives while fulfilling their positives - I'll submit first to a market paying more than $30.