Guidelines for Essay Submissions
The moocat welcomes personal essays and long-form observation.
Clichés are inherently evil and must be destroyed. So please don’t use them, unless you’re doing it intentionally to somehow comment on the cliché itself.
Original works only. Exclusive submissions strongly preferred (and acted on first). Simultaneous submissions will be reviewed only after all exclusive submissions have been reviewed. Only works sent in via the online submission form will be considered.
Length and Quality
Essays can be from 500 to 3000 words in length but the moocat heavily favours those no longer than about 1500 words.
I’m interested in personal essays on many themes, with the goal of taking the reader on a pleasant and unusual little mind-ride. Uninterested in polemics, erotica, or anything vituperative, mean-spirited, or rapturously religious. The moocat is a gentle cat.
Other Stuff
I will only post material sent from contributors with a working e-mail address. I will not include your email address or any other direct contact information but will gladly forward to you any Feedback coming in via the “Tell Us What You Think” form.
Copyright
You retain full copyright in your work. By accepting a formal offer of publication, you grant moocat.net First Worldwide Serial Electronic Rights and a perpetual, non-exclusive license to maintain the work in its digital archive. Moocat.net holds exclusive electronic rights for 90 days following publication, after which all rights revert to you and you may republish the work elsewhere, provided moocat.net is credited as the original publisher.
The Submission Process
All submissions are processed on Duotrope, using the Duosuma submission management system, which we subscribe to. Your work will be reviewed only by moocat.net editors.
Simultaneous Submissions
Upon receiving a Conditional Acceptance, authors must notify other editors of the piece’s withdrawal within 48 hours.
Editorial Exclusivity
To protect the time invested in iterative editing, the work remains exclusive to moocat.net during the collaborative phase until either a final grant of rights is signed or the piece is formally withdrawn.
Guidelines for other sections:
Submissions are processed offsite on Duotrope.