Enigmatic Mirror Press

In 2016, <a href="http://www.enigmaticmirrorpress.com/">Enigmatic Mirror Press</a> published the first volume of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mysterion-Rediscovering-Mysteries-Christian-Faith/dp/0997256508/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=&amp;linkCode=ll1&amp;tag=backoftheenve-20&amp;linkId=a0ee3a576b348b3280819ad1b0eb5515">Mysterion</a>, an anthology of speculative fiction stories about the mysteries of the Christian faith. We've now brought our unique speculative fiction concept to a <a href="http://www.mysteriononline.com/">webzine</a>. 
 
Mysterion has open submissions and pays professional rates of 8 cents/word upon acceptance (4 cents/word for reprints). For our first anthology, we received over 450 stories covering a broad range of themes, and published twenty that we felt best reflected the sort of deep, probing exploration of the faith that we were looking for. 
 
Here's what our webzine offers: 
<ul><li>We publish one or two new stories each month<ul><li>We pay 8 cents per word for original stories up to 9,000 words long.</li><li>We pay 4 cents per word for reprints up to 9,000 words long.</li></ul></li><li>We will have new cover art in January, April, July, and October.<ul><li>We pay $100 for a non-exclusive license to use your art.</li></ul></li><li>We are open to fiction submissions in January and July; we are open to art submissions year round. See our <a href="http://www.mysteriononline.com/p/submission-guidelines.html">submissions page</a> for more information.</li><li>We also publish reviews, interviews, and other articles.</li></ul> Our Patreon exists to let us do more: more stories and more art, higher pay rates and longer stories.  Thank you for your support! 
<h2>
What Makes Us Different</h2>
Mysterion is the only short fiction market that specializes in Christian-themed speculative fiction (fantasy, science fiction, and horror) and pays professional rates.
 
 Unlike many Christian publishers, we don't expect all our authors to be Christians. Nor do we maintain strict content guidelines around sex, violence, and language; or around theology. We've published stories written from deeply Christian perspectives, and stories critical of the Christian faith. We're more interested in the questions than the answers, in promoting dialogue than in telling people what to believe.
 
 
<h2>About Enigmatic Mirror Press</h2>
Donald S. Crankshaw and Kristin Janz founded Enigmatic Mirror Press to publish science fiction, fantasy, and horror not easily categorized as either Christian or general market fiction. 
 
 
Donald has a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from MIT, which was more useful for writing fantasy than he had expected, though less helpful for writing science fiction than he had hoped. He has published stories in 
Nature Futures, Daily Science Fiction, and Black Gate. 
 
Kristin is a Canadian fantasy and science fiction writer and a graduate of the Clarion West Writers Workshop. Her stories have appeared in 
Escape Pod, Daily Science Fiction, and On Spec. She has an M.Sc. in Organic Chemistry from the University of British Columbia, and worked in the pharmaceutical industry as a medicinal chemist for over a decade. 
 
Donald and Kristin met at a church writers' group in 2009, bonded almost immediately over their shared love of speculative fiction and ancient Roman history, and have been married since 2011. They live in Quincy, Massachusetts.
 
 
<h2>Our Track Record</h2>
The first Mysterion anthology: 
<img src="https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/017/392/076/213167d1dd2673fc13a2ee0984867a37_original.jpg?w=680&amp;fit=max&amp;v=1499313763&amp;auto=format&amp;q=92&amp;s=bf7d30c4fecc014db53882cbcc32a0f0"> 
 
We're new to publishing, but the first 
Mysterion anthology received positive reviews from <a href="http://www.tangentonline.com/print--other-reviewsmenu-263/anthologies-reviewsmenu-107/3275-mysterion-ed-donald-s-crankshaw-a-kristin-janz">Tangent Online</a>, <a href="http://www.cemeterydance.com/extras/review-mysterion-rediscovering-the-mysteries-of-the-christian-faith/">Cemetery Dance Online</a>, and <a href="http://www.fantasticstoriesoftheimagination.com/reviews-new-noteworthy-short-genre-fiction-sept-oct-2016/">Fantastic Stories of the Imagination</a>; and four of our stories made it onto the <a href="http://tangentonline.com/news-mainmenu-158/3356-tangent-online-2016-recommended-reading-list">Tangent Online 2016 Recommended Reading List</a>. 
 Here's some of what they said:
 
 
Whether you are Christian or not, the anthology is worth reading. 
- Ben Wheeler at 
<a href="http://www.tangentonline.com/print--other-reviewsmenu-263/anthologies-reviewsmenu-107/3275-mysterion-ed-donald-s-cranshaw-a-kristin-janz">Tangent Online</a> 
 
“When I Was Dead” left me thoughtful, not least of all because its title implies the narrator’s state of death is transitory. If this is only a moment in eternity, where he passes from one state to another, what comes next and how will he get there? Case offers no easy answers but provokes conversation.
 
- Gillian Daniels at 
<a href="http://www.fantasticstoriesoftheimagination.com/reviews-new-noteworthy-short-genre-fiction-sept-oct-2016/">Fantastic Stories of the Imagination</a> 
 
Now comes 
Mysterion, and in my opinion, it’s an absolute success. One of the things which drew me to this collection in particular is that it’s a collection of “speculative fiction.” Like the Whispers magazine edited by Stuart David Schiff and its “Best of” collections, there’s no “theme” past speculative stories grappling with elements of faith. Stories in Mysterion range from fantasy, to mythic horror, horror, urban fantasy, historical speculative fiction, science fiction to dystopian fiction. All of them well-told and well-written, grappling with different elements of the Christian faith, but not proselytizing or preaching. 
- Kevin Lucia at 
<a href="http://www.cemeterydance.com/extras/review-mysterion-rediscovering-the-mysteries-of-the-christian-faith/">Cemetery Dance Online</a>

Free

<ul>
<li>Access to patron-only inside story of our publishing adventure</li>
<li>Access to our Discord server with monthly scheduled chats</li>
<li>Our gratitude</li>
</ul>

The Widow's Mite

<ul>
<li>Listing on our website as a patron</li>
<li>Plus all previous rewards</li>
</ul>

Do Not Store Up Treasures on Earth

<ul>
<li>At the beginning of the month, get access to all the stories that will be published that month</li>
<li>Plus all previous rewards</li>
</ul>

Lilies of the Field

<ul>
<li>An ebook copy of every book produced by Enigmatic Mirror Press, including the first anthology (does not include the special bimonthly ebooks for Patrons at the $10 level)</li>
<li>Plus all previous rewards</li>
</ul>

New Treasures as Well as Old

<ul>
<li>Every two months, an ebook containing all the stories that will be published in the upcoming two months</li>
<li>Plus all previous rewards</li>
</ul>

To Everything There is a Season

<ul>
<li>A copy of every paperback produced by Enigmatic Mirror Press, as it's produced, including the first anthology </li>
<li>Plus all previous rewards</li>
</ul>

Choose your membership