Art Submissions

For the most part, once we select stories for an issue, we search online for art that fits to serve as an illustration. Artists who wish to bring their work to our attention can submit their work to us (see below), and we review these first. Illustrations may be previously published, as long as it is not under contract that would preclude any of the rights requested below.

In some cases, we will solicit original illustrations from artists who have indicated they would are interested. Artists will have 3-4 weeks from receipt of the story to submit a final illustration.

If you would like us to consider your work, please submit three samples of your work to unlikely.art@gmail.com, either attached as moderate resolution jpgs (max of 500 KB each), or as links to your work online.

The subject of your email should be: “ART SUBMISSION – [Artist’s Name].”

Include your name, address, email and phone number in your cover letter, as well as the filenames of the images.

Files should be named according to the following format: [last-name]-[title].jpg.

So if Jane Doe submits a piece titled “Larva In Waiting,” the file will be Doe-Larva-In-Waiting.jpg. Anything sent with a filename like IMG0148.JPG will inevitably be misplaced.

Pay: We pay $10 for existing art and $25 for original art that is produced to illustrate a specific story. If your piece is chosen as the cover art, you will receive an additional $10.

Rights: We ask for non-exclusive electronic rights to use the image as an illustration for the story, including a thumbnailed version for indexes, and in a gallery of illustrations associated with the Journal of Unlikely Cryptography and other Unlikely Story publications. We ask for a non-exclusive option to use the image in print and ebook collections and anthologies in conjunction with the story to which it is attached. You will receive a copy of any issue or anthology in which your work appears. We ask for the right to use the image in conjunction with advertising or promotion for the story, and for the issue and/or anthology in which the story appears.

You retain all other rights.