Elevator Stories
Can only go down from here!
Est. June 2020 (on hiatus) | ISSN: 2832-0042
From walking to the fridge to flying around the planet, we can rarely stay still. Faraway destinations, menial conversations on a road trip, and more. Enter this level (airplane) with fiction and creative non-fiction from Courtenay S. Gray, Erin Edwards, Nancy Jorgensen, Pavel Frolov, Rachel Belth, Sarah Perret-Goluboff, Shikhandin, and returning passenger Shannon Frost Greenstein. There will be some turbulence in the form of content warnings. Buckle up and enjoy the flight!
Having pride in yourself can come in many forms. You may be proud of your sexuality, ethnicity, work ethic, family, and many other reasons that give your life a meaning to smile. Enter this intimate level with five works of fiction and nonfiction from Kyungseo Min, Anastasia Jill, Sean Bruce, Mingzhao Xu, and Eddie Creamer. We do hope you enjoy it!
When you think of the world in color, the beauty is limitless and unbound by conventions. Certain colors evoke specific emotions. Some colors become tied to one’s identity. This level is quite a diverse canvas! Meet the artists of the level, J.Bradley, Alice Kaltman, Ross West, Tyler Barton, Jasmine Sawers, Taylor Kowalski, Chris Talbot-Heindl, Jay Hodgkins, Shelby Rice, and Julie Mehta. May your palettes be whetted!
When you think of ‘heaven’, you may think of a celestial haven of bliss. For us, we think of it as the little victories. Those Kodak moments, tales of redemption, or just happy thoughts and places. This level of Elevator Stories is brought to you by our cherubs, Amara George Parker, Mari Kornhauser, editor Josh Dale, Danielle Van Meter, Elizabeth Weissberg, Linda McMullen, and Dog Cavanaugh. Take our hand and ascend with us!
How do you define ‘hell’? Is it a bad day at work? A lost loved one? Or, do you want to reincarnate Dante and make up the fantastical version we all imagine? The debut level of Elevator Stories features the work of Lucy Zhang, Abigail Swoboda, Lynne Schmidt, Bruce Meyer, Olivia Braley, Bethany Bruno, Joseph Sigurdson, Kelly Webber, editor Sophie Peters, and Shannon Frost Greenstein. As you may expect, there are content warnings within this level. See you down there!
Elevator Stories General Guidelines
Unpublished, original stories of fiction, CNF, memoir, personal essay, or a hybrid of any. 1 piece over 1,000 words, but a max of 2,000 words, or 2 with under 1,000 words each. Please follow the current Level’s theme. PDF, Doc, or Docx format only. Basic formatting, 12pt default font.
An audio recording of you reading the piece, including your name and the title(s). MP3 or WAV only. Clear voice+ambient sound or silence preferred. Try your best! If you don't submit audio, one of the Elevator Stories editors will narrate it for you. Please make sure we know how to pronounce your name properly.
3rd Person Bio including any social media/website links.
If you wish, we offer Expedited Responses. A small fee of $5 will grant you a response within 48 hours. If you submit within 48 hours prior to a holiday, it will be responded after the holiday. Proceeds will go toward paying honorariums.
What we won't accept
Academic essays or any creative piece well over 2,000 words.
Novel/Novella excerpts. Just complete short stories.
An audio and/or text file that is not in English. See Other Important Things for more info.
Any racist, violent, explicitly sexual, or illegal activity unless you identify within the context of such actions. This isn't a place to rant about your transgressions or air dirty laundry. We are just a literary journal with a twist.
Other important things
Translations are OK, as long as the original author and translator are credited. If you wish to provide accompanying native language interpretations, please leave a note in the submission form.
Accepted work will be awarded a $20 USD honorarium after publication. We distribute payments via Venmo or Paypal only.
Elevator Stories asks for First Serial Rights for any work accepted that was not previously published. We will also contain the work in a permanent digital archive on www.thirtywestph.com and request you provide acknowledgment if you choose to republish the piece.
Previously published Elevator Stories contributors must wait for one Level cycle prior to resubmitting. (Level 2 contributors would be eligible again.)
