Editorial Update 5-2-2022:
                    
                      - Suspension of Acceptance of Manuscripts for
                            Publication
 
                     
                    At this time we.cannot guarantee prospective authors a spot
                    in an upcoming issue within a reasonable length of time. 
                    In order to be fair to authors whose work has already been
                    accepted for publication, as well as those wanting their
                    work to appear in future issues, we are suspending
                    acceptance of manuscripts for publication until further
                    notice. 
                    Watch the Submissions and In My Opinion 
                    web pages for submission policy updates. 
                    Thank you for thinking of 4 Star Stories, and we
                    look forward to again being able to accept submissions. 
                    Best regards, 
                     
                    David Gray 
                    Co-Editor 
                    4 Star Stories 
                     
                    Mary Gearhart-Gray 
                    Co-Editor 
                    4 Star Stories 
                     
                    If you have a science fiction or fantasy short story up to
                    7500 words in length that excites the imagination and/or
                    challenges the mind or the genre, we would like to consider
                    it for publication in 4 Star Stories. We pay 20 US
                    dollars on publication. We publish, as we are able, up to
                    four times a year. Check previous issues if you have a
                    question about what kind of story we accept. Additional
                    submission guidelines and instructions appear below.
                     
                      Submission Guidelines and
                          Format: 
                      We intend to publish original, entertaining and
                      thought-provoking science fiction and fantasy short
                      stories for our readers. 
                      We accept the following: science fiction and fantasy
                      stories between 1500 and 7500 words in length. Stories
                      longer than approximately 5,000 words may be serialized. 
                      Format: We prefer stories in 12 pt Courier New
                      font. 
                      Format your story so that your name and the page number
                      appear at either the top or bottom of each page. We print
                      out the stories before reading, and in the event of an
                      accident, we would like to be able to put the pages back
                      in their proper order. 
                      Provide an accurate word count, and indicate the end of
                      your story, for example, "The End", "Finis" or "[30]".  
                      Please proofread and spell check your manuscript. Any
                      grammatical lapses should occur only in conversation
                      contained in direct quotes. 
                      Please submit your story as a RTF file. If you need help
                      saving your story as an RTF file, please click on Contact
                        Web Master for instructions and  guidelines. 
                      Submission Instructions: Send us an email with the
                      story title in the Subject Line by clicking on 
                        Submissions to 4StarStories and include your RTF
                      story file as an attachment. If you have additional
                      information about yourself or your story you would like to
                      tell us, please include that in the body of the email. We
                      will try to get back to you concerning your submission as
                      soon as possible. If you have not heard back from us
                      concerning your submission after a month, it is acceptable
                      to enquire about its status.  
                     
                      We do not accept the
                          following: 
                      Explicit Horror -- Horror intended to shock or
                      offend the reader will not be accepted. 
                      Gratuitous sex and/or violence -- Explicit sex
                      and/or violence designed to shock or offend the reader
                      will not be accepted. 
                      Stories Based on Copyrighted Characters or Material
                      -- This is a science fiction/fantasy publication, not a
                      fanzine. Satire will be considered on a case-by-case
                      basis. 
                      Stories Based on Living Persons -- Stories based on
                      living persons will not be accepted. 
                    Publication Dates: 
                      Publication Dates: Four Star Stories publishes four
                      stories and a Bonus Story per issue, when we are able to,
                      up to a maximum of four times a year. A Short Short Story
                      issue is published one or more times a year on an
                      irregular schedule. Enquire about submission guidelines
                      and rates. 
                     
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