SUBMIT

Few inventions have revolutionized our interconnectedness like the internet. Its surge in popularity during the ’90s was transformative, introducing widespread email communication, the World Wide Web, and iconic platforms like AOL and Yahoo. The decade ended bombastically, with the Y2K bug sparking anxiety over our increasing dependence on technology. The internet has evolved dramatically since then, but the nostalgia for its unrulier days has persisted, especially amid today’s more sanitized, corporate internet.

For this issue, we invite submitters to reflect on a bygone era of whirring modems and the thrill of the unknown. A few starting points you may consider:

• What if the Y2K bug had lived up to the catastrophic predictions of the time? Speculate on what our world would look like now if our banks, nuclear power plants, and airlines had experienced complete digital collapse in the year 2000.
• There is an archive of Geocities sites before the website was taken down. Geocities was a web hosting service that allowed users to create personal websites. Take a look around and try designing your own.
• What do you think of nostalgia marketing? Share your opinion on what it means for us to pine for an era that no longer exists. Did it ever really exist in the ways we remember it?
• What are some technological artifacts from the ‘90s and ‘00s that hold nostalgic value for you? Floppy disks, old gaming consoles, a stray modem? Write about them, draw them, or photograph them and incorporate them into a collage.
• Y2K fashion has enjoyed a resurgence of popularity within the last few years. What are your favorite ensembles and aesthetic flourishes from the era? Consider incorporating them into an art piece, or create your own outfit.
• What are some things you remember most vividly from the ‘90s and ‘00s? What do you miss the most? What do you miss the least?

Here at CCM, we’ve branded ourselves as more than a literary magazine. We aim to reach beyond traditional definitions of art and writing. So, we’ve reimagined artistic categories as the following:

You can combine elements of these categories — several of the examples we provided can fall into multiple categories, and we encourage you not to let these categories limit you. If you are able to create work that exists completely outside of these categories, we will gladly review your submitted work with care and openness.

• The maximum number of pieces anyone can submit to CCM (or have published) per issue is three.
• Staff members may submit to CCM, but must abstain from reviewing it and cannot disclose it is theirs.
• 5,000 word limit on writing.
• We allow simultaneous submissions.
• Work may be previously published, but you must clarify this on your submission and include a source as to where the work has been previously published. Please also ensure the other publication permits you to re-publish the piece.
• It does not cost money to submit to CCM.
• We value documentation. Even if we like a piece, if the documentation is poor (low resolution, shaky, dimly lit), its odds of being published are lower.
• Our submission form will accept file sizes up to 10MB per submission. If your files exceed this limit (as might be the case for audio recordings or videos), please email us so we can figure out an alternative.
  • If you are submitting visual art, please be sure to submit high-quality images. 150 to 300 ppi is ideal. However, please be mindful of space considerations. Try to keep your images under 3MB.
• Note on AI-generated work: AI-generated art is still a nascent technology and, as such, our standards are subject to change. We currently allow AI-generated work as long as the AI has been exclusively trained with your work. Please be purposeful and creative with any implementations of this technology for submission purposes, and clarify in your submission it is AI-generated.