Intrepidus Ink is known for its exciting stories and bold design. Published authors rave about the custom graphics and expert promotions that accompany each story. We’re excited to share a look at this lively magazine through the eyes of founder and Editor-in-Chief Rhonda Schlumpberger.

Rhonda is an NYC Midnight Contest judge and formerly an Orion's Belt editor, Flash Fiction Magazine priority editor, Space and Time Magazine reader, and Entangled Publishing intern. She holds an MA in English and Creative Writing and an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction. Rhonda is a speculative and contemporary fiction author, with stories appearing in Roi Faineant Press, Space and Time Magazine, New Flash Fiction Review, All Worlds Wayfarer, and various anthologies. She is a Long Form Fiction Pick of the Week and a Fall 2024 Writing Battle House Honorable Mention.

Before we dive into our Q&A, let’s get a feel for the magazine’s distinct personality: “Our stories are gutsy. An alarmingly individual spirit defines us. Achievement-oriented. Tales of those who struggle, risk everything, lose everything, gain it back—and overcome.”

Intrepidus Ink publishes flash fiction and short stories in a variety of styles and genres, paying $.02 per word for flash (300-1000 words) and a $30 flat rate for shorts (1500-2500 words). If you can’t wait to submit, here are the submission guidelines!

WOW: Hello, Rhonda! Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to answer my questions! I’m a big fan of your magazine so this is a real treat for me. Let’s start with a short intro to Intrepidus Ink. What will new readers find there?

Rhonda: I love WOW and am excited to be here. On behalf of our editors, thank you so much for having me.

Intrepidus Ink features action-packed flash fiction and short stories illuminating our intrepid culture brand. Bespoke graphics showcase stories, and fun videos introduce editing and submission services. We offer blog advice you can consume on the go, and we celebrate excellence by nominating stories for major awards, including our own, the Intrepid Award.

WOW: “Intrepid culture” sounds brave and exciting! What inspired this focus, and how does it manifest in the stories you publish?

Rhonda: I love achievement, problem-solving, and the struggle to overcome, triumph, and inspire others. When I discovered the niche opportunity to gather in one place stories reflecting what I call intrepid culture—fearless literature with uplifting endings—I jumped at the chance. Intrepidus Ink was born!

We proudly celebrate the alarmingly individual protagonists driven to accomplish goals, triumph over the struggle, and inspire readers. Like all magazines, clarifying our brand took time. We focus on the goal, struggle, and outcome. Even though themes like social justice, gender, or politics are present in stories, these themes are background subject matter and do not overshadow the protagonist’s goal. Our stories are clearly intrepid-first, and they rarely (if ever) feature morally corrupt main characters.

WOW: Fearless and uplifting stories are so appealing, and they can fall into many styles and genres. Intrepidus Ink is open to just about everything, including literary, speculative fiction, action and adventure, romance, magical realism, historical fiction, and others. Are there any topics or tropes that don’t fit your vibe, or that you see too often in your slush pile? What do you wish you saw more often?

Rhonda: We welcome a variety of topics, genres, and voices, as outlined in our guidelines. Still, even though we don’t publish horror, which is in opposition to our fearless brand, we receive many horror submissions repackaged as science fiction. We editors joke that, yes, we know the difference.

We also see a lot of political stories. We like these tales, but many authors struggle to separate their personal beliefs from their characters and intrude with finger-wagging. We understand politics can be emotional. However, good authorship demands persuasion in the vein of Le Guin or Heinlein, for example. We want to entertain our audience, not alienate them.

We want goal-oriented, danger-laced stories because that’s who we are: Intrepidus Ink. And no, that absolutely does not eliminate literary stories!

WOW: That’s a wide range of opportunities for writers! I’m curious about the submission process. How are stories evaluated? Do you work with authors to edit or revise their pieces? What advice can you offer writers hoping to submit to Intrepidus?

Rhonda: I love technology and automated our process to serve authors better and faster. Four editors, including me, share submissions. We allow multiple submissions and prioritize quick turnaround times, averaging 2.5 days. That said, we’re not a first-reader service, meaning please use discretion when submitting multiple times!

Allison, Amanda, and Calie are experts, being well-trained editors and writers with a wide range of publications. We discuss the magazine’s editorial expectations, but I don’t direct their choices. We use a multi-step voting process for stories under consideration for publication. We edit and polish stories for publication.

SUBMISSION TIPS:

• Read a few of our stories
• HINT: Check our word counts

WOW: That quick turnaround time is impressive. In addition to fast responses, Intrepidus Ink also stands apart from other magazines through the comprehensive (and fun!) promotional campaigns that accompany each story. As one of your authors, I can say it’s incredibly cool to open social media and find your story illustrated with a custom animation and catchy sound effects! You make your authors feel like superstars! Can you give us an example of how a recent Intrepidus story was showcased?

Rhonda: Traits that drive me are leadership, achievement, and connection. I like helping people accomplish their goals! Promoting an author’s story is one piece of that.

Still, many authors are shy about their social footprint, often saying, “I’m personal.” I get that! I never share my personal life online, but you can bet I leverage our brand to promote authors and their stories. My social media essay can help dispel concerns about managing an account.

Now, let’s discuss promotions further. Many authors believe it’s the publisher’s job to handle them. Actually, promotions work best on social media when we collaborate, especially when targeting the publisher’s primary channel and audience.

Our data demonstrate key points:

1. Story promotions can achieve excellent reach (some viral) if authors participate in their story promotions by liking, reposting, and commenting on content. This drives readership to our website, where we host the author’s story—a win!
2. Authors who don’t participate or won’t work on our primary social media channel do not experience the same success. No matter how much we may promote, their stories have low readership.

These social media posts illustrate the potential of collaboration. In each case, authors liked, shared, commented, and reposted the content. Note: The content is pre- and post-election, and the GROK algorithm (which I don’t think is great). X says it’s working on that.

For authors seeking to enhance their promotions, we’re introducing an enhanced social media strategy, starting with Cycle 11 (June), exclusively on X. Please follow us @intrepidusink.

WOW: Thank you, Rhonda. It’s an honor to be included! Beyond such tailored story promotions, you recently published a series of essays to help authors tackle their own branding and social media presence. I’d love to hear about your philosophy on author brands and why they are important.

Rhonda: Many of you are marketers, so you’ll know that a brand, in its basic form, is a promise conveying what customers can expect when purchasing a product or service. Brands are all about value (what customers perceive as valuable). Brands set businesses apart in a crowded marketplace.

Good branding sets writers apart, too!

A writer’s brand is like a signature: it’s unique.

Your writer’s brand tells readers what they can expect from your work, and that’s what brings readers back. Readership is one reason authors should explore and develop their personal brand. My brand essay offers tips to get started.

WOW: Speaking of helpful essays, Intrepidus Ink also has a series of craft essays on topics ranging from writing action scenes to creating emotional impact to finding a story’s anatomy. Each essay gives a quick hit of important info without taking up too much of a reader’s time. What prompted you to start this series?

Rhonda: I launched the blog to create additional value for our users, and I’m glad you landed on the “quick hit” idea. We’re sensitive to trends like quick story decisions and serving up craft nuggets fast, so our essays clock in at three-minute reads, or 600 words. Still, we thoroughly research blog articles, even if we boil the topics down to their essential elements.

WOW: While exploring the essays on the Intrepidus Ink website, I noticed the magazine’s editing services. What do you offer, and how does it work?

Rhonda: My editorial method is influenced by my master’s training and is foundational, approaching texts through a macro/micro editing process.

We’re pleased to offer a range of services, including competitive pricing and smokin' fast TAT (of course!). Please visit our Services page to create an account.

Writers write alone, but you’re not alone on your journey to publishing. We give great advice and want to help!

WOW: Fast turnaround and great advice—sounds like a winning combination! Now, I’d like to shift focus to your own work. Would you share your career trajectory? How did you get here?

Rhonda: I entered the Air Force as a Second Lieutenant, and my career spanned a big chunk of history during that time—from the tail end of the Reagan presidency to the second Gulf War. Upon completing my service, I worked in molecular diagnostic sales and area sales management.

I returned to my passion of writing following sales, proving that writing applies to every life stage. I crave expertise and went back to school to relearn skills, investing time with several magazines to deepen my insights. But honestly, only daily writing (and feedback!) helps me continue to grow as an author.

I launched Intrepidus Ink because of the characteristics I mentioned earlier that have always driven me: leadership, achievement, and connection. I’m also a huge risk-taker; I somehow end up traveling the remote path, such as military service, which wasn’t quite conventional at the time. My mother was a bit shocked. LOL! No spoilers, but we’re prepping to launch something unconventional later this year (fingers crossed). We hope you love it.

WOW: Thank you for your military service! Let’s turn to your fiction. I’m a big fan of your flash and short stories! What themes do you explore? It would be great if you’d share a few of your stories with us!

Rhonda: I adore speculative fiction and dystopian stories, but I also write contemporary literature. The themes I often explore include invasions, zombies, parents, and impossible choices, always with a strong action element. For example, a favorite tale, published in Space and Time Magazine, examines a starving narrator’s fight for food only to discover he’s allergic to it. Another favorite is “The Things We Lived Without,” in Roi Fainéant Press, a zombie tale depicting the impact of choices. “Decisions” in Last Exit is a family story and was a Long Form Fiction Pick of the Week. I participated recently in Writing Battle and wrote a fun spy story, which won a House Honorable Mention.

WOW: Thanks for that peek into your writing! What are you working on now, and what’s on the horizon for you?

Rhonda: I’ve got half a dozen stories in process at any given time, including my current short story. I write daily—whether fiction or nonfiction—but my creative focus right now is on building the magazine. Achieving my plans (building) has always been my happy place. I love envisioning something from a seed to reality and then running every play until my vision comes to life. That’s just how I roll, I suppose, and I want as many like-minded people as possible to come along. Connection makes the journey worth taking.

WOW: I agree. Writing friends are the best friends! One last question: where are you and what are you doing when new creative ideas pop into your head?

Rhonda: My best story ideas come in the early morning, while I’m driving, or during life experiences.

WOW: Rhonda, thank you for sharing your time and insight with us!

Rhonda: Thank you so much for inviting me to take part in a WOW interview. I first learned about WOW during my MFA at Seton Hill and have since participated in a contest and followed your site. It’s exceptional, and I’m honored to share a page with your esteemed editors, authors, and readers. Thank you.

Writers, are you thinking about your authorial brand? I hope Rhonda’s tips will encourage you! Don’t forget to send your fearless and uplifting stories to Intrepidus Ink at their submissions portal. They’re open now!

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Myna Chang hosts Electric Sheep SF and publishes MicroVerse Recommended Reading. Her fiction has been selected for the Locus Recommended Reading List, the BSFA longlist, Norton’s Flash Fiction America, and several “Best Of” flash anthologies; her poetry recently received an honorable mention in the Rhysling Awards. Her micro collection is available from CutBank Books. Find her at MynaChang.com or on Bluesky @MynaChang.