INTRODUCTION

After being laid to rest almost a decade earlier, CRM is back to feast upon the living. This annual publication looks to push horror's razor-sharp edge to the reader's neck. We are not talking about "It was a dark and stormy night…" material. We are talking about material that will make the reader sleep with the light on.

CRM is an 8.5” x 11” electronic Portable Document Format (PDF) publication. The magazine is 60 pages of short fiction, poetry, photos, and other artwork to complement the text. To read the journal you will need software that reads PDF files. Some recommendations are Adobe Acrobat Reader or Foxit PDF Reader.

FORMATTING GUIDELINES

Please send a cover letter with your submission. We want to know a little about the person behind the writing. We're not asking for your life story, just a few lines to give us an idea of who you are.

All manuscripts should be double-spaced, in 12-point clean type (think Helvetica or Times New Roman), with 1" margins. Electronic manuscripts should be formatted as a Rich Text Formatted (.rtf) document or Word Document (.doc). Attach your manuscript to your email. Artwork must be formatted as a Portable Network Graphics (.png) or Joint Photographic Experts Group (.jpg) image. Please submit work on CD or as an email attachment.

Poetry (to 100 lines) appearing in CRM should not be afraid to push the envelope. Save the fluff for greeting cards. We are looking for visual poetry to bludgeon the reader's senses.

Fiction (to 5,000 words) should grab the reader by the throat and not let go. The lulls in the story should set up something immense. In our world, most times the bad guy wins and the boogeyman does get its victim. This isn't to say stories can't have happy endings; but ask yourself, are there any truly happy endings?

Artwork appearing in CRM should be visceral and assault the senses. This is the world of horror; look within and illustrate what frightens you.

Send electronic submissions to the following addresses:

Art: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Fiction: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Nonfiction: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Poetry: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

We understand that not everyone has access to a computer. To help those artists, we will accept hand-written manuscripts, providing they meet the following criteria:

Poetry: Under thirty (30) lines.

Fiction and nonfiction: Under 500 words.

Artwork: Camera-ready and not folded.

Please enclose a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) with your postal submission and mail to the following address:

First Step Press

P.O. Box 902

Norristown, PA 19404-0902

If we accept your manuscript for publication, you will receive an acceptance letter with a tentative publication date. We publish work under One-time Print Rights and One-time Electronic Rights. All other rights revert to the author.

We accept both simultaneous and reprint submissions. Please notify us if either situation applies.

PAYMENT

CRM, like SSM: ALMIA, is a labor of love and is presently unable to offer payment. We do have an award for the best body of work appearing in the annual.