Physicality
The world is tangible. Weather matters. Distance matters. Labor matters. The body matters. Characters don't simply think—they travel, climb, freeze, hunt, sail, fight, or survive.
Contribute
New World Journal
New World is the literary journal of Conquistadore Films. It publishes fiction and occasional creative nonfiction that immerse readers in compelling worlds through physical journeys, intellectual seriousness, and cinematic imagination.
The journal exists to discover, develop, and celebrate stories that reveal extraordinary places, cultures, ideas, and human experiences through singular, purposeful narratives.
Editorial Principles
What New World looks for
Stories selected for the journal should move through world, body, mind, myth, image, and discovery.Place
The setting isn't interchangeable. You couldn't move Endurance to the Sahara. You couldn't move The Old Man and the Sea to London. The geography shapes the story.
Intellectual Seriousness or Spiritual Possession
Even the adventurous stories are asking genuine questions. They're not simply thrill rides.
Mythic structure
As you've pointed out, mythology isn't necessarily aesthetic. It's structural. The physical journey becomes a philosophical journey.
Cinematic imagination
Every story should make the editor think, "I'd love to see this as a film." Not because it's action-packed. Because it's visual, dramatic, and inhabitable.
Discovery
This might actually be the biggest one. Nearly every story introduces the reader to something unfamiliar. A culture. A landscape. An era. An idea. A profession. A philosophy. The reader leaves feeling that their world has become larger.
Forms we are looking for
- Novellas
- Short fiction
- Adventurous creative nonfiction with cinematic quality
- Work with philosophical or mythic focus
- High quality photography of the wide world
What We Publish
- Novella
- 30,000 words
- Short Stories
- 8,000 words
- Creative Nonfiction
- 8,000 words
Submission Policy
Simultaneous submissions are accepted.
Send work via Word document, Docs document, TXT, or PDF.
Reprints
For our inaugural volume, we will consider select reprints of exceptional quality.
- The rights have reverted to the author.
- The previous publication is acknowledged.
Payment
We pay $150 for short story contributions and $150 for creative nonfiction.
Visual Contributors
We are looking for contributing visual artists and photographers.
New World publishes photography and illustration that reveals the world as larger, older, stranger, and more beautiful than everyday life suggests. We seek work with atmosphere, physical texture, a specific sense of place, and an invitation to discovery.
Images should feel lived in rather than designed, timeless rather than fashionable, and rooted in real landscapes, cultures, histories, and human experience. We value mystery over explanation, substance over spectacle, and worlds that continue beyond the edge of the frame.
- Cover art
- Story plates
- Maps
- Field drawings
- Photography
- Archival-style images
Atmosphere
Fog, rain, smoke, dust, snow, mist, dramatic or unusual light, silence, tension, anticipation, and images that linger emotionally.
Materiality
Stone, wood, rust, paper, leather, cloth, fire, water, ice, earth, weathering, imperfections, photographic grain, artifacts, stains, film photography, and organic colors.
Sense of Place
Specific cultures and landscapes, real or fictional. Architecture rooted in history, geography with identity, local objects, visual traditions, and images that could not have been made anywhere.
Discovery
Work that invites questions instead of answering them: hidden stories, forgotten places, unusual rituals, and unexpected perspectives.
Scale
Vast landscapes, tiny figures against enormous environments, ancient structures, oceans, mountains, deserts, and forests.
Human Presence
People engaged in meaningful work, travel, exploration, craftsmanship, survival, pilgrimage, warfare, ritual, and daily life with dignity.
Timelessness
Minimal modern visual clutter: little plastic, LED lighting, advertising, corporate branding, smartphones, or contemporary consumer culture.
Cinematic Composition
Images that could almost be film frames: strong silhouettes, layered depth, dramatic skies, natural framing, large negative space, controlled color, and intentional shadows.
Mythic Potential
Images that hint at history, folklore, exploration, philosophy, conquest, pilgrimage, frontiers, civilizations, or forgotten knowledge.
Visual Density
Images dense with ornament, maps, manuscripts, forests, illuminated borders, calligraphy, architecture, machinery, clothing, weather, texture, symbols, or layered information.
Submissions
Send work with a world inside it.
New World accepts pitches, finished fiction, occasional creative nonfiction, field notes, artwork, maps, and publication ideas that belong near borders, expeditions, night work, weather, myth, transit, and difficult crossings.
Submissions
contribute@conquistadorefilms.com
Subject line: New World Contribution