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Code of Conduct

Version 1.0, Last updated: April 28, 2024

Weird Fiction Quarterly (WFQ) is a poetry and flash fiction publication built on collaborative efforts between writers, artists, and editors. This is a professional project  and to be “professional” entails not only a certain level of competence but also a standard of behavior that reflects well upon the publication  and its contributors and its staff responsible for producing editions on a regular and timely manner.

WFQ is a place where we celebrate creativity, weirdness, and art in a friendly and fun atmosphere in order to share our work with a global audience of readers.  We publish contributions that are strange, scary, interesting, thought-provoking, even funny, and most of all weird. In order to do so, the staff and contributors to WFQ agree to uphold this code of conduct:

  1. WFQ does not publish exploitative stories or poetry that include, but are not limited to, rape, child abuse, animal abuse, torture, and pornography.
  2. WFQ does not publish stories or poetry intended to attack, demean, or dehumanize other people. We will not accept or publish content including (but not limited to), political manifestos, racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, transphobia, ableism, and Nazism. We are committed to producing and publishing weird fiction that can be enjoyed by a wide variety of audiences.
  3. WFQ is an artificial intelligence-free publication. We do not employ generative AI tools in the production of the publication (including text and cover images) and prohibit contributor submissions that incorporate AI-authored text and other content.  
  4. WFQ does not publish material that infringes on others’ intellectual property rights. 
  5. WFQ respects the privacy of its contributors. Becoming a contributor to WFQ does not entitle you to violate the privacy and solitude of other WFQ contributors.
  6. WFQ is a poetry and flash fiction publication, and given the nature of our short contributions, we publish material by many more authors in a single volume than other anthologies that focus on longer-form fiction. It is not improbable that WFQ may include contributions from other authors with whom bad histories or former conflicts exist. If you are unable to maintain a civil demeanor with another contributor, contact Sarah Walker or Chris Karr privately, instead of escalating the issue into a public or private conflict.
  7. Regardless of conflicts happening outside the boundaries of WFQ, do not publicly or privately attack, belittle, or harass people working on WFQ. This includes existing and upcoming WFQ contributors, WFQ editors or staff, and outside people WFQ is collaborating with (cover artists, advisors, etc.).
  8. Do not associate with people publicly or privately attacking, belittling, or harassing people working on WFQ. Fiction publication is difficult enough work without additional drama, thus Sarah and Chris are more than prepared to quarantine entire groups, communities, and cliques where problematic behavior is originating in the interest of spending our limited resources publishing fiction instead of policing and adjudicating online and offline interpersonal conflicts.
  9. Many WFQ contributors are dealing with individual problems and crises of their own, so be generous, gracious, and respectful in your interactions with other WFQ contributors. If you are dealing with a difficulty of your own, do not assume that your difficulty constitutes a license to violate any of the items in this code of conduct.
  10. If you discover a WFQ contributor violating this code of conduct, reach out to Sarah and Chris privately. Do not publicly accuse another contributor of the violation, and allow us to address the issue without generating more unnecessary conflict.
  11. Do not engage in behavior or interactions that may impair our ability to publish and promote your stories. If there is situation arises that is not explicitly addressed by this code of conduct, but would distract us from our mission, avoid it, de-escalate it, or report it to Chris and Sarah so that we may deal with it without creating more work for ourselves that impedes us from getting your stories in front of audiences.
  12. This code of conduct is an evolving document and will be amended as new challenges confront the WFQ community. We will communicate when this document is updated in a timely and transparent manner so that no one in the WFQ community is caught by surprise by the changes that may be made.
  13. The consequences of violating this code of conduct will be determined by Chris and Sarah, and may consist of a warning, removal from WFQ online communities, banning from contributing to future editions, and removal of past contributions from existing WFQ volumes with no further royalties earned after the date of removal of the contributions.

WFQ is a special publication in that it would not exist without the work and contribution of the WFQ staff, WFQ contributors, and the outside parties we work with to produce each volume. 

Celebrate what we are creating together and celebrate all of the people that make WFQ happen.

Contact Information:

Chris Karr: chris@weirdfictionquarterly.com

Sarah Walker: sarah@weirdfictionquarterly.com