Who We Are

Defenestration was created in late 2003, after the following conversation took place:

Andrew: “I want to make a literary magazine. A funny one.”
Genevieve: “Good idea. Let’s call it Defenestration, because it’s a funny word and I’m making you use it.”
Andrew: “Excellent. Let’s lure Eileen into our scheme by using shiny things. I’ll meet you at the IHOP in twenty minutes.”

Since then Defenestration has published an issue on the 20th of every month and is now in its fifth volume. That’s right. Fifth. Defenestration publishes all sorts of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and artwork, under the conditions that a.) it’s funny; and b.) it’s funny enough to publish.

Some fun facts about Defenestration:

1-We are not a publishing house. So don’t send us query letters. We won’t get back to you, even if you send us an SASE.

2-We are an e-zine, meaning Defenestration appears online and only online. As one of our editors is, in fact, a tree, we find it fitting that no trees are harmed in the production of this magazine.

3-We like it when people address us by our names. “Dear Editor(s)” is so stuffy that it practically suffocates us. You can use it, but it makes us feel like we're at Grandma's house, if Grandma's house is night court. We also like it when people address us by our correct names. For example, one of our editors is named Eileen. Not Ellen.

How to Send

Prose:

Please send one piece of fiction or non-fiction in the body of the e-mail to submissions @ defenestrationmag.net with the words “Submission” and either “Fiction” or “Non-Fiction” in the subject line.

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! Any e-mails received without the appropriate subject line will be considered Spam and deleted unread. And please, no attachments.

Please keep all prose submissions under 5,000 words. Anything else will melt peoples’ eyeballs as they try to read their glowing computer screens. In fact, pieces under 3,000 words are preferred. We are sometimes willing to serialize larger works, and if you have a longer piece that you think might be suitable for this, please let us know before submitting.

We do not accept simultaneous submissions.

We do consider previously published work. Please let us know where and when the piece was published before.

If you're using SmartQuotes, disable the damn thing. They show up looking like chromosome maps. Seriously.

Poetry:

Please send 1-5 poems in the body of the e-mail to submissions @ defenestrationmag.net with the words “Submission” and “Poetry” in the subject line. Any e-mails received without the appropriate subject line will be considered Spam and deleted unread. Please, no attachments.

We do not accept simultaneous submissions.

We do consider previously published work. Please let us know where and when the pieces were published before.

Visuals:

Please send 1-3 visuals to defenestrationmag @ yahoo.com with the words “Submission” and “Visuals” in the subject line. Any e-mails received without the appropriate subject line will be considered Spam and deleted unread. Visual submissions may be sent via attachments or links. (Please note that the Visuals e-mail is different than our Poetry/Prose e-mail. Visual files tend to be large and require their own in-box.)

If your submission is a Flash movie or a video, please e-mail us regarding file transfer.

 We do not accept simultaneous submissions.

We do consider previously published work. Please let us know where and when the piece was published before.

The Defenestrati:

Defenestration’s very own monthly comic strip is created by anyone who wants to join in. Whether you want to draw an entire strip yourself, or just submit an idea or a script, please feel free. The Defenestrati is only as good as the people who contribute to it, and the more drawing/writing styles incorporated into it, the better!

You can find out everything you need to know regarding the Defenestrati here.

Please send 1-3 strips, ideas, or scripts to defenestrationmag @ yahoo.com with the words “Submission” and “Defenestrati” in the subject line. Any e-mails received without the appropriate subject line will be considered Spam and deleted unread. Defenestrati submissions may be sent via attachments or links.

If your submission is a Flash movie or a video, please e-mail us regarding file transfer.

Content:

We're open-minded about content. However, since we want everyone to enjoy Defenestration, published mature pieces will have to be labeled with the appropriate disclaimers. We don't want youngsters scarred for life from the many hilarious perversions we may publish in the future.

Responses:

When you send us a prose or poetry submission, you should receive a “Submission Received!” message in your in-box, letting you know, oddly enough, that your submission has been received.

If you send us something and don’t get this message within 24 hours of e-mailing us, e-mail Andrew at andrew @ defenestrationmag.net and see what’s up.

We’ve been around for a while now, and the number of submissions we receive each day has grown enormously over the years. Unfortunately, we no longer have the time to send out our once infamous “rejection haikus.” If you don’t hear back from us within five weeks, assume your submission wasn’t what we were looking for, and please, try again.

Visuals submissions are different. We don’t get nearly the bulk of submissions with visuals that we do with poetry and prose. There is no automated “Submission Received!” response in our Visuals in-box, and you will hear back from Andrew within five weeks of submitting.

If accepted into Defenestration for the first time, you will get a coveted "limerick letter." If you’re a Defenestration veteran, you’re probably sick of limericks.

At that point we'll ask for a biography and detail any additional information you may need to know. If you don't send us a biography, we make one up for you! Muahahahaha! Also, as we believe firmly in the image of the starving artist, we do not currently offer payment for accepted submissions other than various congratulatory exclamations. Sometimes, we get pieces that we feel have potential, but aren't right for publication in their current incarnation. If we send you constructive criticism, it's a compliment. We don't do that sort of thing for just anybody.

Rights:

We like to put it on the internet and then archive it until you tell us not to. Everything else remains the property of the writer/artist. We just publish the stuff.

If your submission is filled with typos, we reserve the right to edit for grammar and spelling. We don't change your genius, we just change your possessive pronouns.

submissions@defenestrationmag.net