Shrapnel: The BattleTech Magazine - Fiction

A fiction and nonfiction magazine about all things BattleTech.

Please click on a submission type to begin a new submission.

Submissions

Shrapnel is the market for official short fiction set in the BattleTech universe.
 WHAT WE WANT 
We are looking for stories of 3,000–5,000 words that are character-oriented, meaning the characters, rather than the technology, provide the main focus of the action. Stories can be set in any established BattleTech era, and although we prefer stories where BattleMechs are featured, this is by no means a mandatory element.
 WHAT WE DON’T WANT 
The following items are generally grounds for immediate disqualification:
 • Stories not set in the BattleTech universe. There are other markets for these stories. 
• Stories centering solely on romance, supernatural, fantasy, or horror elements. If your story isn’t primarily military sci-fi, then it’s not for us. 
• Stories containing gratuitous sex, gore, or profanity. Keep it PG-13, and you should be fine.
 • Stories under 3,000 words or over 5,000 words. We don’t publish flash fiction, and although we do publish works longer than 5,000 words, these are reserved for established BattleTech authors.
 • Vanity stories, which include personal units, author-as-character inserts, or tabletop game sessions retold in narrative form. 
• Publicly available BattleTech fan-fiction. If your story has been posted in a forum or other public venue, then we will not accept it.
 MANUSCRIPT FORMAT 
• .rtf, .doc, .docx formats ONLY 
• 12-point Times New Roman, Cambria, or Palatino fonts ONLY 
• 1˝ margins all around 
• Double-spaced lines
 • DO NOT put an extra space between each paragraph
 • Filename: “Submission Title by Jane Q. Writer”
 • For an example of how a properly formatted manuscript should look, please go to: https://www.shunn.net/format/story/
 PAYMENT & RIGHTS
 We pay $0.06 per word after publication. By submitting to Shrapnel, you acknowledge that your work is set in an owned universe and that you retain no rights to any of the characters, settings, or “ideas” detailed in your story. We purchase all rights to every published story; those rights are automatically transferred to The Topps Company, Inc.

Currently Open to Submissions