Skip to main content
College of Humanities
Linguistics
Donate

Leading Edge Magazine

Leading Edge is a student run magazine that highlights science fiction and fantasy short stories, poems, and non-fiction articles dealing with sci-fi or fantasy topics written by students.

About

Leading Edge is a science-fiction and fantasy magazine that publishes the work of people from all over the world. We are always accepting submissions, and we send out acceptances in January and September. There are a few rules, so please read through our submissions guidelines (included below) before sending us your work. We look forward to seeing your submission soon.

Please Note: For everyone wondering where Leading Edge has gone, our website got hacked but we are still alive! We're working on getting a new site put together, but in the meantime, we're still taking submissions for fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and art. Thanks for your patience as we get everything sorted out, and make sure to let your friends know Leading Edge hasn't gone anywhere.

Fiction

Please email your submission as a Word document (.doc or .docx) to leadingedgemagazine@byu.edu.
Because of new requirements from our host university, we ask that all contributors include their current country of residence with their submission.

Poetry, Nonfiction, and Artistic Portfolios

Email poetry, nonfiction pieces of 1,000-5,000 words, and artist portfolios to leadingedgemagazine@byu.edu.

Guidelines

General

As with any publication, Leading Edge will not tolerate plagiarism in any form. If you submit plagiarized work, your work will be rejected and your name and email will be flagged for any future submissions. In addition, Leading Edge does not accept previously published pieces.
Leading Edge is affiliated with and run through Brigham Young University; written and visual submissions must conform with the BYU Honor Code. This includes no nudity, sex, profanity, excessive violence, belittlement of traditional family values or religion, or drug use. More specifics can be found on the Honor Code website. Please note that while we may tolerate a small quantity of this content in the submission stage because it can be taken out in the editing stage, excessive disregard for the Honor Code in a submission will send your work to the rejection pile. To get a feel for the work we accept, please purchase a copy of Leading Edge to survey.

Fiction


Stories should be at least 1,000 words. Submissions under 10,000 words are preferred, though we will consider stories up to 15,000 words. In your email, please include a word count and a short description of your work. Because Leading Edge is interested in helping new authors improve, each story is critiqued by at least two members of our staff; these comments are returned to the author with our response. If you do not want your story critiqued, please let us know.
Fiction payment is 1 cent per word, $10.00 minimum, $50.00 maximum.

Poetry


Poetry should reflect both literary value and popular appeal and should deal with science-fiction- or fantasy-related themes. Having your poetry critiqued is now an option, so please let us know when you submit if you’re interested in feedback. Payment will be discussed if your work is accepted for publication.

Nonfiction


Pieces are to be kept under 5,000 words. Nonfiction pieces will not be critiqued, so you will not receive feedback on your work. We accept nonfiction works, such as book reviews and essays, pertaining to the science-fiction and fantasy genres. Payment will be discussed if your work is accepted for publication.

Artistic Portfolios


All artistic portfolios must be digital; we no longer accept physical portfolios. All images must be 300dpi or higher. Please note that you are submitting a portfolio, so you must send at least five examples of your work. You will be given roughly five weeks from time of commission to complete a piece for us.
Art payment depends on the number of pieces contracted, but generally does not exceed $275.00 maximum.