Nova Express Artists and Illustrator's Guidelines

Nova Express is a science fiction critical magazine focusing on the cutting edge of literary SF. Here are some rough guidelines for how we work and what we need.

First and foremost: Nova Express pays only in contributor copies, two for interior illustrations (no matter how many), and five for a cover illustration, plus a four issue subscription. For this we take only a onetime copyright (or two-time, if you agree and we ever get around to putting up artwork on our web site), with all rights reverting back to the artist after publication.

Second, we're limited to strictly black and white line illustrations: no color, and we've had problems printing grayscales in the past.

Third, all illustrations have to be connected, in some way, with the literature of the fantastic (though not necessarily tied to any particular work).

What we can't use

• No media related artwork (Star Trek, Star Wars, Alien, etc.)
• No typical Extruded Fantasy Product characters (elves, dwarves, unicorns, swordsmen, mighty-thewed barbarians, scantly clad dancing girls, etc.). I might make an exception for a particularly skilled and unusual work that ties in with something we're reviewing (for example, running a suitable dragon illustration beside a review of Michael Swanwick's The Iron Dragon's Daughter). However, unless you hear otherwise, assume we don't want them.
• No cliched horror figures (vampires, werewolves, etc.), with the same caveat as above. Given the inherent variation in the "nameless abomination" form, I can occasionally use a particularly good Cthuloid horror.
• No generic SF subjects (robots, rayguns, etc.)
• Nothing "cute" (this pretty much rules out all cat drawings)
• Our use for cartoons and humorous illustrations is extremely limited and usually linked to something we're running in that issue.

What we can use

• Original, imaginative artwork on SF/F/H themes. Examples: Innovative alien landscapes and creatures.
• Hard-edged, surreal, and semi-abstract work (see, for example, much of GAK's work for us).

Artists whose work has previously appeared in Nova Express include GAK, Steve Sanders, Angela Mark, Cathy Buburuz, Bill D. Fountain, Michael Csontos, Brad Foster, Alexis Gilliand, Teddy Harvia, and Tim Powers.

Finally, keep in mind I'm quite picky about what I want, and I may very well reject artwork that could find a home somewhere else just because I don't think it's "right" for Nova.

Thanks for your interest.

Go to the Nova Express Writer's Guidelines

Go to Lawrence Person's Home Page

Send mail to Lawrence Person (lperson1@austin.rr.com).

Like every other web page in the universe, this one is Under Construction.