Anthology Markets

If you've just wandered in off the internet, hi and welcome. :) I do these posts every month, so if this post isn't dated in the same month you're in, click here to make sure you're seeing the most recent one.

Markets with specific deadlines are listed first, "Until Filled" markets are at the bottom. There are usually more details on the original site; always click through and read the full guidelines before submitting. Note that some publishers list multiple antho guidelines on one page, so after you click through you might have to scroll a bit.

***

31 January 2014 -- Death's Realm -- Grey Matter Press

What happens after death?

That’s the question Grey Matter Press would like you to answer.

For our next anthology–working title Death’s Realm -– we’re looking for dark, horrifying tales exploring themes from "the great beyond."

We do not want to limit your creativity with a narrowly themed collection, so Death’s Realm will include works of truly terrifying dark fiction that investigate the concepts of hauntings, spirits, life after death, ghostly encounters and just about any other subject that pertains to the afterlife and the horrifying things that might reside just beyond the veil. Be prepared to scare the hell out of us.

Please review our Submissions Guidelines below, and feel free to contact us here on the site with any questions. or send a message to submissions@greymatterpress.com.

We thank you for your interest in considering Grey Matter Press as a potential home for your work.

*"Death’s Realm" is a working title. Grey Matter Press reserves the right to change the title as necessary.

GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSIONS

Word Count: 3,000 – 10,000 words

Deadline: January 31, 2014

Payment: $100 flat rate per each manuscript accepted into the anthology

Formats: *.doc, *.docx, *.txt, *.rtf

Contact Address: submissions@greymatterpress.com

Acceptable File Formats: Grey Matter Press wants to make your submission process easy and painless. We accept manuscripts that are *.doc, *.docx, .txt or .rtf file formats. If you have any questions about the formatting of your manuscript, feel free to contact us directly at submissions@greymatterpress.com

Digital Submissions: Unfortunately, we cannot accept manuscripts of previously published pieces. (Published work includes work that have appeared online in magazines, journals and/or personal websites.) Only previously unpublished work will be accepted. We will accept your submission via email at submissions@greymatterpress.com. Subject lines should contain name of Anthology and the title of the story being submitted. (ex: DEATH’S REALM – ‘Title of Story.’

Font Usage and General Formatting: We request that all files be submitted double-spaced, using either Arial or Times New Roman 11 point font. Page margins should be no less than .5 inch on all borders. If using headers/footers, please employ standard Word header/footer tools rather than manually inserting such into the body of your Word document.

Distribution: Upon acceptance into our anthologies, Grey Matter Press will hold all exclusive publishing rights for the period defined within author contract (generally 12-24 months). Copyright remains that of the author. At the end of that term, intellectual property rights will revert to the original author, with Grey Matter Press retaining distribution rights for the format(s) originally contracted.

Contributor Copies: All contributors whose work is accepted and published in the anthology will, in the case of digital publishing, receive a digital copy of the complete anthology, and in the case of paperback publishing, will receive up to two copies of the anthology.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at submissions@greymatterpress.com.

***

13 March 2014 -- XIII -- Resurrection House

RESURRECTION HOUSE is seeking science fiction, fantasy, horror, and creative non-fiction for a loosely themed anthology to be released in the winter of 2015. Stories should be between 1,000 and 7,000 words, and pay will be 5 cents/word. Reprints are not out of the question, but will be handled on an individual basis. Deadline for submissions is March 13th, 2014.

Stories should be sent as email attachments in either .RTF or .DOC format to xiiisub@resurrectionhouse.com with the word “XIII” somewhere in the subject line.

When Mark Teppo, the founder of Resurrection House, acquired Underland Press, he wanted to start numbering the titles that would be released under the new imprint. Before doing so, he wishes to acknowledge and celebrate What Was and What Will Be. “Thirteen” is the first month of a new yearly cycle, wherein the old skins have been shed and the newborns are still learning to walk. “One” and “Three” make “Four,” which is the number of completion, of coming home, and of realizing the form that has been in process for some time. Nothing is true; everything is possible. And the more things change, the more they stay the same. The thirteenth Tarot card is Death, and he is the symbol of transformation and rebirth.

This is the genesis and root of XIII.

Some broad examples of transformative stories are Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun, Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain, Matt Wagner’s Grendel comic series, and David Lynch’s Lost Highway as well as his Fire, Walk With Me. Also consider the plight of Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Innana’s descent into the Underworld, and the stories of Osiris, Tammuz, Adonis, and Attis.

***

31 March 2014 -- Start a Revolution -- ed. Michael Matheson; Exile Editions

The Central Idea:

From green revolutions to anarchist uprisings. From social compacts to social justice movements. Stories that push boundaries and identities. That invoke a rebellious voice. That cry out for tolerance, community, and change.

QUILTBAG stories are about diversity in identity. Sometimes that means focusing on finding oneself. But the movement is so much wider. Identity is communal. Identity is global. And this anthology looks to tell those larger stories. Stories about revolution, rebellion, and reshaping the world, all told from QUILTBAG perspectives.

Stories about quiet revolutions and very public ones. Personal revolutions and global movements.

Some revolutions succeed. Others fail. But in the end it’s the striving for change that matters.

Show us that striving.

Fight the power. Start a revolution.

Summary:

== Length: 2k-10k (under 7.5k preferred)
== Payment: .05/word (and contributor’s copy)
== Rights: First English-Language Rights & Non-exclusive Anthology Rights (Print and eBook)
== Genre: All speculative
== Original fiction only. No reprints.
== Submit To: adarkandterriblebeauty [at] gmail [dot] com
== Subject Line: Start a Revolution: [Story Title], [Last Name]
== Format: Standard Manuscript Format
== File Format: .doc, .docx, or .rtf only
== Cover Letter: Yes. See below.
== Reading Period: Jan. 1, 2014 – Mar. 31, 2014
== All Responses By: Apr. 30, 2014
== Scheduled Release: Spring 2015

Please, no simultaneous submissions. The only exception to this is that you are allowed to submit a story to both Start a Revolution and the $15,000 Vanderbilt/Exile Short Fiction Competition (open until March 10, 2014) sponsored by Exile Quarterly/Exile Editions (see http://www.theexilewriters.com/poetry-and-fiction-competitions/).

You may send multiple submissions over the course of the reading period, but submit only one story at a time. I’ll be rejecting stories over the course of the reading period, so if you receive a rejection before the deadline you may submit another piece.

Also, despite the fact that I’m comfortable with alternate and integrated narrative formats for short fiction, I’m not taking poetry or plays. Short fiction only, please.

Re Cover Letters: Include your name, story title, word count, contact info, a brief bio, and state your nationality (so I can keep track of the 90% Canadian authored content requirement).

Also Re Cover Letters (Optional): One of the things the Ontario Arts Council asks on their grant forms is a set of volunteered information, specifically about self-definition and identity. It helps them figure out what communities and groups they’re already reaching and aiding, and who they need to do more outreach to better aid. And if people are willing, I would like to do something similar here. Specifically, I’d like to compile and share a map of the submissions, if you will. (Both a map for all submissions, and a comparative map for selected stories.) So, please feel free to also note in your cover letter if you consider, or define, yourself as any of the following: an Aboriginal writer, culturally diverse writer, Francophone writer, and/or new generation writer. (Definitions for same below.) Anyone submitting is also welcome to note their gender (be it binary, multiple, undefined, or a lack thereof) and you can also include if you self-define along the lines of QUILTBAG, fluid, pansexual, or otherwise.

And let me reiterate: all of that volunteered information is entirely optional. And if given, it is going to be shared in a strictly anonymous fashion, and only for the purposes of the submissions mapping.

Lastly, if I’ve already read a story of yours elsewhere (say, at Apex), please don’t send it for this call unless I specifically ask to see it. And if you have questions relating to the anthology, please ask them in the Comments.

[NOTE: There's more info on the guidelines page; definitely click through and read.]

***

UNTIL FILLED -- Thresholds -- Dreadful Cafe ** First Posted December 2013

We cross boundaries every day - the door to a room, a crack in a sidewalk, the border of a city.

The stories in Thresholds will take the reader to another time, into the dark, into the arms of a lover, to another world, or to the dark recesses of the mind.

Are you ready?

Sometimes strange, always original, the stories we publish are of the highest production standards, from thrilling premise all the way to professional editing.

We are now soliciting query letters (fiction) and samples (art) for Thresholds, our second anthology of art and fiction. All genres are eligible, but preference is given to works that cross more than one and which reflect the flavor and theme described above.

For FICTION:

Manuscripts must be between 1,000 and 25,000 words and not previously published by anyone but the author. Self-published works are accepted and encouraged!

Please refer to our Submission Guidelines.

Upon acceptance of your completed manuscript, Dreadful Cafe pays for non-exclusive, unlimited, 5-year publishing rights on the following schedule:

== Short Stories (1,000-7,000 words) — $125
== Novelettes (7,001-13,000 words) — $250
== Novellas (13,001-25,000 words) — Negotiable

Estimated Publication: Late Spring/Early Summer 2014

[Click through for more info.]

New Year

I've been pretty quiet for the last few weeks, so I thought I'd crawl out of my cave and say hi. I've been sick a few times, got to know more of the folks working the local ER. I missed holidays with my family because I've been afraid to travel; having to start from scratch to break in a new ER staff, convince a bunch of strange doctors that I know what's going on and how to treat it, when at times I have to argue with the local ER staff who have my history in their records, just feels like too high a hurdle when I'm already feeling lousy. All together, my give-a-damn broke down about halfway through November, and I didn't feel like getting it fixed. I've read a few million words, played a lot of solitaire, and generally vegged for a while. I'm actually feeling eager to get back to the writing, so I guess the downtime did me some good.

My 2013 writing goal was 250,000 words. Even taking the last seven weeks or so of the year off, I managed 304,169, which feels pretty awesome. It's the most I've ever done since I started keeping track, and I'm pretty sure it's the most words of fiction I've ever written in a year. I had two novels come out this year -- Captive Magic and The Executive Lounge -- and one short story in an anthology that paid pro rates, another first for me that I felt pretty good about. I finished eight other short stories, which are making the rounds on the pro-pay side. All together, I'm pretty happy with 2013.

My 2014 writing goal is 300,000 words. It's obviously not a stretch goal, but I know myself; if I push too far and fall behind at some point, I'll get depressed and it'll be twice as hard to catch up. Almost a third of a million words is still pretty decent, and if I pass it, that's a bonus.

I'm looking forward to the coming year, and I hope everyone else is too.

Angie