Writing Guidelines

Introduction

Fruitless Recursion is an online journal devoted to discussing and drawing attention to critical and other non-fiction works relating to the SF, Fantasy and Horror genres.  FR covers biographies, works of critical theory and collections of reviews as well as interviews, profiles and any other relevant works that may not fit into any of these particular categories.

FR’s aim is to stimulate discussion of these kinds of works, raise the profiles of the people producing them and to help inform the purchasing decisions of people who might otherwise have to turn to journals to find reviews.

FR is a paying venue and features an editorial process that is as rigorous as it is transparent.

Rights

Fruitless Recursion is a paying market.  Each piece receives $10 (via paypal) upon publication  and in return for :

First publication rights (whether online or hardcopy)
Six month online exclusivity
One year archival rights (after which you can request that the piece be taken down)

FR recognises that the copyright of any pieces it publishes remains the property of the pieces authors.  Payment for publication or the back-and-forth of the editorial process in no way invalidates these rights beyond the conditions of exclusivity and archival discussed above.

FR will also be considering the possibility of releasing a print anthology.  Should this happen, the individual writers will be contacted and their permission sought for republication.

Content

Fruitless Recursion is first and foremost interested in reviews and critical reactions to works of criticism and non-fiction relating to the SF, Fantasy and Horror genres.  These can include biographies, works of critical theory, collections of interviews or overviews of other critical journals.

FR is interested in non-fiction and criticism relating to all forms of media and all audiences whether it is a collection of popular genre film reviews or extended academic monographs about individual writers. We aim to break down the boundary between academic and fandom-based criticism and research.

Though aware of the narrowness of its niche, FR does hope to reach as wide an audience as possible and so a premium will be placed upon pieces that are clearly written and free from excessive technical terminology.  Online publication allows universal access, why stand in its way?

Technical

All Fruitless Recursion submissions are to be made in the form of an email attachment in an RTF or TXT format. Please no Word files.  Submissions are to go to The Editor.

Communication

Fruitless Recursion does not yet have a fixed schedule.  However, FR will attempt to communicate as quickly as possible whether a piece has been accepted and when the most likely next publication date will be.  Writers will be informed of any changes in status as they are free at any time prior to publication to pull their pieces and find another home for them.

Links

Fruitless Recursion will try to keep tabs on interesting reviews and pieces that are published elsewhere and as a result we would be grateful to anyone who could direct our attention to reviews or interviews that are liable to interest us.

Review Copies and Press Releases

Fruitless Recursion would be delighted to attempt to review any and all books that fall within our remit.  If you publish works of non-fiction that deal with the SF, Fantasy and Horror genres and you have an a review copy you would like to send us then please drop us a line.

FR is also interested in what might be coming out in the future and so we would be equally glad to receive any press releases or catalogues that you might be distributing.