The following is an ever-changing wish list and list of hard sells written by JW Stebner, editor in chief of Hexagon SF Magazine. This is not meant to discourage writers, but to give more guidance beyond our standard guidelines. Examples have been included on the wish list to help demonstrate the items.
Wish List
-Climate Fiction (ex: Dogor, Option One, Undersea Lightning)
-Retrofuturism (ex: Bioshock, Brazil)
Art Deco metropolises, Crumbling mega-cities, Fallen utopias
-Norse Myth (ex: Verðandi of the Present)
-First Nations, Métis, and Inuit speculative fiction (ex: The Marrow Thieves, The Björkan Sagas)
-High Fantasy/Sword and Sorcery (ex: The Lord of the Rings, Conan the Barbarian, The Final Whisper)
Ancient magic, Powerful relics, Bands of adventurers
-Technoir (ex: Terminator, Blade Runner, Samson Opens His Eye)
-Urban Fantasy (ex: The Coffee Bar on 72nd Street, The Spores of Darkness, The Mages of Byker)
Secret societies, Powerful cities, Back alley wizards
-Vivid settings (ex: The Haunting of Tram Car 015, Memories Taste Best When Marinated with Sadness)
Hard Sells
-Stories involving suicide
-Cryofrozen space colonies
-Fairy tale retellings
-Time travel stories
-Gratuitous violence, including towards animals
-Stories that seem as though they are setting up a sequel or have too many loose ends
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