(Ceased publication)
SQF: Why did you start this magazine?
Grey Wolf: The idea came to me walking to work one morning (I do gardening to earn my day-by-day money). I realised that while the AHF website was a good resource for writers to promote published books, I was not providing an avenue for people to promote their new work, or broad ideas. I had previously published 10 issues of Innovate Magazine and 9 (then) of The Wolfian, and the idea of a magazine dedicated to alternate history (and associated genres) strongly appealed. It has always been a passion of mine, and I have always enjoyed reading and helping other people with their writing in the genre (on discussion boards etc). I thought it would be something valuable I could do for writers, whether they were published or not.
SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?
GW: Although it might sound a bit pedantic, one thing I look for is compliance with the submission guidelines - sent to editor@wolfianpress.com, specifying it as a submission to AHF Magazine, and telling me something about it in the submission email.
I also look for an interesting start to the piece, that sucks me in and at the same time anchors me in the genre or sub-genre that the piece is about. Because we take submissions from science fiction to urban fantasy, it is useful for the editor to be able to get into the right mindset to assess a piece from early on. While I accept some pieces have twists late on that change expectations, most do not, but it can be confusing not knowing whether I am reading alternate history, historical fiction, or historical fantasy.
I guess a third thing I look for is sensible internal formatting - it is not vital to adhere to the guidelines as to font and line spacing, as I can change those, but I look for the submission to be spaced properly, with breaks clearly signaled and the style to be constant throughout.
SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?
GW: Bad English - I realise it is not everyone's first language, but if the submission does not make sense, or reads very awkwardly we won't be publishing it. If it is poetry, we might contact the poet and query the problems we have. But if it is prose, we will generally decline it. After all, while anyone can make allowances for writing as a second language, it is the readers who are going to be reading it, and wondering what it is.
Please don't take that to mean we don't want submissions from people whose second language is English - we have had fantastic stories from people around the world. All we mean is that the translation, or the art of writing in a second language, has to be of an acceptable standard to publish.
SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?
GW: A catch - I think it is that simple; we look for something to draw us in. If it doesn't draw us in, then it probably won't draw the readers in. Drag us into the story on the first page, make us want to carry on reading. We will almost always read a submission to the end, but the difference between the "YES!" pile and the "It got better as it went on" pile is the initial catch. If the reader isn't invested in the story from early on, they will probably skip it when reading the magazine, and the more submissions we get per issue, the less space we have for stories which end well, but don't initially drag you in, because the less patience the reader will have for those.
SQF: Is it really necessary to read the guidelines? Many are long and boring.
GW: Well, if I think a submitter has not read the guidelines, any email replying to their submission will ask them to read the guidelines and agree to them. We might ask this anyway, but we will certainly ask it if we feel that the submitter has not read the guidelines. Either way, you're going to be asked to agree to the guidelines, so it's best to read them!
I don't know what I can do about anyone finding them boring - it's difficult making them exciting! But they are the evolved guidelines from quite a few years' experience publishing magazines. The submitter certainly needs to understand the copyright aspects and that we do not pay. That a submitter is free to use the piece elsewhere, subject to conditions, is the quid pro quo of our not paying for submissions.
SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?
GW: I guess it would be a question on controversial things - such as sex, magic, using real people as characters etc.
AHF Magazine is aimed for a broad, general audience, so while we have nothing against erotica we won't publish it. But some stories include sex, and this is fine - with the proviso that under Amazon's Terms and Conditions we have to flag this up as an issue of the magazine for over 18's only.
Our primary focus is alternate history, though we include historical fantasy and urban fantasy among the genres we will publish. Within these genres, magic is fine as long as its presence and use keeps the story within those genres.
The use of real people from the past as characters in alternate history is fine (within reason). Using living people is much more problematic - it occurs on a lot of discussion boards, but there is a grey area as to whether that counts as "published". Publishing a story which includes a living person used as a fictional character is a dangerous area for a publisher. If they feature in a by-the-by fashion that does not defame them, we might wave it past. But in general we would approach this would supreme caution.
Thank you, Grey Wolf. We all appreciate you taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.
SQF: Why did you start this magazine?
Grey Wolf: The idea came to me walking to work one morning (I do gardening to earn my day-by-day money). I realised that while the AHF website was a good resource for writers to promote published books, I was not providing an avenue for people to promote their new work, or broad ideas. I had previously published 10 issues of Innovate Magazine and 9 (then) of The Wolfian, and the idea of a magazine dedicated to alternate history (and associated genres) strongly appealed. It has always been a passion of mine, and I have always enjoyed reading and helping other people with their writing in the genre (on discussion boards etc). I thought it would be something valuable I could do for writers, whether they were published or not.
SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?
GW: Although it might sound a bit pedantic, one thing I look for is compliance with the submission guidelines - sent to editor@wolfianpress.com, specifying it as a submission to AHF Magazine, and telling me something about it in the submission email.
I also look for an interesting start to the piece, that sucks me in and at the same time anchors me in the genre or sub-genre that the piece is about. Because we take submissions from science fiction to urban fantasy, it is useful for the editor to be able to get into the right mindset to assess a piece from early on. While I accept some pieces have twists late on that change expectations, most do not, but it can be confusing not knowing whether I am reading alternate history, historical fiction, or historical fantasy.
I guess a third thing I look for is sensible internal formatting - it is not vital to adhere to the guidelines as to font and line spacing, as I can change those, but I look for the submission to be spaced properly, with breaks clearly signaled and the style to be constant throughout.
SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?
GW: Bad English - I realise it is not everyone's first language, but if the submission does not make sense, or reads very awkwardly we won't be publishing it. If it is poetry, we might contact the poet and query the problems we have. But if it is prose, we will generally decline it. After all, while anyone can make allowances for writing as a second language, it is the readers who are going to be reading it, and wondering what it is.
Please don't take that to mean we don't want submissions from people whose second language is English - we have had fantastic stories from people around the world. All we mean is that the translation, or the art of writing in a second language, has to be of an acceptable standard to publish.
SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?
GW: A catch - I think it is that simple; we look for something to draw us in. If it doesn't draw us in, then it probably won't draw the readers in. Drag us into the story on the first page, make us want to carry on reading. We will almost always read a submission to the end, but the difference between the "YES!" pile and the "It got better as it went on" pile is the initial catch. If the reader isn't invested in the story from early on, they will probably skip it when reading the magazine, and the more submissions we get per issue, the less space we have for stories which end well, but don't initially drag you in, because the less patience the reader will have for those.
SQF: Is it really necessary to read the guidelines? Many are long and boring.
GW: Well, if I think a submitter has not read the guidelines, any email replying to their submission will ask them to read the guidelines and agree to them. We might ask this anyway, but we will certainly ask it if we feel that the submitter has not read the guidelines. Either way, you're going to be asked to agree to the guidelines, so it's best to read them!
I don't know what I can do about anyone finding them boring - it's difficult making them exciting! But they are the evolved guidelines from quite a few years' experience publishing magazines. The submitter certainly needs to understand the copyright aspects and that we do not pay. That a submitter is free to use the piece elsewhere, subject to conditions, is the quid pro quo of our not paying for submissions.
SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?
GW: I guess it would be a question on controversial things - such as sex, magic, using real people as characters etc.
AHF Magazine is aimed for a broad, general audience, so while we have nothing against erotica we won't publish it. But some stories include sex, and this is fine - with the proviso that under Amazon's Terms and Conditions we have to flag this up as an issue of the magazine for over 18's only.
Our primary focus is alternate history, though we include historical fantasy and urban fantasy among the genres we will publish. Within these genres, magic is fine as long as its presence and use keeps the story within those genres.
The use of real people from the past as characters in alternate history is fine (within reason). Using living people is much more problematic - it occurs on a lot of discussion boards, but there is a grey area as to whether that counts as "published". Publishing a story which includes a living person used as a fictional character is a dangerous area for a publisher. If they feature in a by-the-by fashion that does not defame them, we might wave it past. But in general we would approach this would supreme caution.
Thank you, Grey Wolf. We all appreciate you taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.
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