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 guidelines on one page, so after you click through you might have to scroll a bit.
[Note that Stiff Things has a deadline (1 March) but is also "Until Filled," which means it might close earlier if the editors get a lot of good subs right away. Possibly a lot earlier. If you want to sub there, I suggest you not put it off.]
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31 December 2015 -- Upside Down -- ed. Monica Valentinelli and Jaym Gates; Apex Publications
Announcing the open call for submissions for the upcoming Upside Down: Inverted Tropes in Storytelling anthology. This collection is edited by Monica Valentinelli and Jaym Gates, and will be coming in 2016 from Apex Publications.
There have been quite a few discussions in science fiction and fantasy addressing the idea of tropes and cliches, from whether they’re good or bad to how they change over time. Upside Down: Inverted Tropes in Storytelling is a collection of stories that aims to subvert many of the popular tropes and cliches to show them in a new light. Each story in our collection will be an author’s creative examination of a specific trope that is prevalent in science fiction, horror, and fantasy. Examples of tropes include some well-defined character tropes, but also storytelling tropes that lazily incorporate race, gender, religion, etc.
Writers who have already been accepted to the anthology include Alyssa Wong, Nisi Shawl, Sara M. Harvey, Maurice Broaddus, Kat Richardson, Nisi Shawl, Michael Underwood, and many more wonderful authors. Hugo, Chesley, and World Fantasy Award-nominated artist Galen Dara will be providing the art for our cover.
Tropes examined thus far include:
== Chainmaille Bikini
== The Magical Negro
== The Super Soldier
== Chosen One
== Guys Smash, Girls Shoot
== Love at First Sight
== Damsels in Distress
== Heroine Loves a Bad Man
== Yellow Peril
== The Black Man Dies First
== The Villain Had a Crappy Childhood
== The City Planet
== Prostitute with a Heart of Gold
== The Singularity will Cause the Apocalypse
To be considered for Upside Down: Inverted Tropes in Storytelling we ask that authors
a) identify the trope and b) break, bend, twist, smash it in some creative, literary fashion.
Trope examinations may range from: poetry, short stories (up to 5000 words), flash fiction, interstitial fiction (e.g. fake interviews with public domain characters), song lyrics, and other written forms. Examples of additional tropes may be found in sites like http://tvtropes.org. Depending upon how you choose to address these tropes, we may decide to publish multiple stories based on the same trope, too.
EDITOR NOTES
What Monica is looking for: “I enjoy tight, lean, fearless stories from honest writers. If you've thought: "Maybe I shouldn't write that..." I would probably love it. I also read a lot of diverse authors and works with an emphasis on deep characterization, cultural authenticity, dark fantasy, obscure folk tale re-tellings, and alternate history/futurism. I'm hoping to feature more voices and tropes, including envelope-pushing sex-and-gender based cliches, to give readers a collection with stories they might not have considered before. For example, maybe an exorcism that's normally performed by a Catholic priest might incorporate voudon, Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Mormonism, or Asatru beliefs. Or, alternatively, the fantasy trope related to virgin purity could be addressed through the eyes of a member of the Metis tribe or a povo de santo from Brazil. Should your story include details relating to characters like these, but fall flat on authenticity, then I'll probably give it a pass.”
What Jaym is looking for: “Solid research, strong voice, and a clear understanding of your plot and setting. Think outside the box. Don’t worry about being the best out there, that’s what editors are for, just write the best you have in you. You’ll get extra points from me if your stories are relevant to current events.”
FUNDING
We plan to fund the cost of the stories, as well as cover art, layout, and production, via an Apex Publications Kickstarter campaign that we will launch early 2016. Our track record with Kickstarter, thus far, has been very successful and includes anthologies such as War Stories and Genius Loci.
PAYMENT
Writers will receive $0.06 per word, to be paid out of the Kickstarter. As creators ourselves, we are planning on introducing stretch goals to further raise the word rate.
DEADLINE
The submissions period opens now. It will close on December 31, 2015.
DIRECTIONS TO SUBMIT
Please send all submissions as an attachment to jaymgatespr@gmail.com with a cover letter that clearly identifies the title of your story, its word count, your name and contact information, and the trope you are examining. Your manuscript should be formatting using the standard manuscript guidelines as a *.doc or *.docx file. Please note that we will only accept unpublished works for consideration. Submissions that do not meet these requirements will be deleted unread.
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1 January 2016 -- Time Travel Anthology -- ChappyFiction
ChappyFiction LLC is now accepting submissions to its new science fiction/fantasy anthology on Time Travel (title pending).
The anthology will contain new short stories centered around time travel. How does it affect our society, our humanity, or the characters? We want new stories. Create paradoxes. Make us laugh. Make us cry. If you have a killer reprint, query us first before submitting.
Length:
We prefer stories under 7,000 words. We will look at stories over that, but the longer the story is, the better it has to be. We want to include many authors, so shorter stories will have the edge.
Format:
We're not picky. However, standard MS format will communicate to us that you're professional. Pink text on a black background will make our eyes bleed. In a bad way. Send over a doc or docx attached to your email. In the body of your email, write a quick, short cover letter. List sales. Don't summarize your story. Put the word count and your contact info somewhere in the cover letter. In the subject line put "Submission: (title of your story)". Send email to chappyfiction at gmail.com. UPDATE: We will close the submission period on January 1st 2016. Our response times will vary but if you don't hear anything by February of 2016, please query.
UPDATE! We accept simultaneous submissions.
Payment:
6 cents a word. That's pro rates! Word! Upon acceptance, you'll receive an industry standard contract (6 months exclusivity, with the exception to year's best anthologies).
What not to do:
Do not submit stories that don't contain Time Travel! It'll be a waste of your time and our time. And you'll be black listed from future Chappy Fiction anthologies!
***
6 January 2016 -- No Shit, There I Was -- ed. Rachael Acks; Alliteration Ink
What: No Shit, There I Was, an anthology of short speculative fiction sharing one common thread: each story begins with that immortal line. Where they end will be up to the writer.
Why: The world is full of unbelievable, hilarious, and sometimes tragic no shit, there I was stories. Can speculative fiction writers rise to the challenge of creating something even more fantastical than the everyday product?
Who We Are: Alliteration Ink is run by Steven Saus (member SFWA/HWA), focusing on anthologies and single-author collections, with over a dozen titles across two imprints. Rachael Acks is a writer, geologist, and sharp-dressed sir. In addition to her steampunk novella series, she’s had short stories in Strange Horizons, Waylines, Daily Science Fiction, Penumbra, and more. She’s an active member of SFWA, the Northern Colorado Writer’s Workshop, and Codex.
Who: This will be an open call. All who read and follow the submission guidelines are welcome in the slush pile.
When: Rachael wants stories no later than 6 Jan 2016. No exceptions will be made. The Kickstarter will occur after the table of contents has been set.
What We Want From You:
== Stories 2,000-7,500 words long. Query for anything shorter or longer.
== All stories must begin with the line, No shit, there I was. It can be dialog or part of the regular prose.
== Stories must contain a discernible speculative element, either fantasy or science fiction, and the speculative element must be integral to the plot. Dependent upon submission quality, the intention is for a 50/50 split of fantasy and science fiction.
== The intention is to cover a wide range of subgenres to show the versatility of a single opening line -- comedies, tragedies, and everything in between are welcome in the slush pile. That said, Rachael is not terribly interested in horror, and erotica is right out. Salty language is okay, gratuitous violence, gore, or sex is not. Feel free to query if you have questions.
== We are particularly interested in seeing stories from underrepresented populations (eg: people of color, people with disabilities, LGBT people).
== Original fiction strongly preferred; query first for reprints.
== Submitted stories must be in standard manuscript format and submitted in rtf, doc, or docx file format. Please make sure your name, email address, word count, and title of your story are on the first page of your manuscript.
== Stories that do not follow these guidelines may face summary rejection.
== Submissions should be sent to noshit@alliterationink.com
Payment: We intend to fund this project via Kickstarter. Authors are encouraged to provide backer rewards for the campaign, but that is definitely not required. The initial funding goal will provide for a flat $0.06/per word (US) for all stories. In the unlikely event a reprint is accepted, payment will be $0.03/per word (US). There will be no kill fees. Higher per word payment will be one of the stretch goals for the project.
While the table of contents will be mostly set prior to the Kickstarter for advertising purposes, contracts will not be sent out until the Kickstarter is completed. Should the project fail to fund, it will continue, though with a different payment structure to be determined. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Rights: Exclusive English world first print and digital rights for one year. Nonexclusive print, digital, and anthology rights for term of copyright. All other rights are reserved to the author.
Contact Information: Editorial decisions are to be handled by Rachael Acks and questions regarding them should be directed to her at noshit@alliterationink.com. Contract, money, publicity, and business decisions will be handled by Alliteration Ink, and should be directed to steven@alliterationink.com (or any other e-mail address you have for him – they all go to the same place).
***
28 February 2016 -- Less Than Dead -- Less Than Three Press
LGBTQIA Anthology Call -- There’s nothing quite so terrifying as a corpse that moves, a creature that even death can’t stop. Sometimes they’re a minor nuisance, other times they’re a nigh-unstoppable terror. On rare occasions they turn out not to be a nightmare at all, but an expected ally.
Less Than Three Press invites you to submit tales of zombies, be they the enemy, the ally, or something else entirely.
THE DETAILS:
== Deadline is February 28, 2016 (give or take, we won’t kill you for sending it off the following morning).
== Stories should be at least 10,000 words and should not exceed approx 20,000 words in length.
== Stories may be any pairing except cisgender heterosexual M/F (trans* M/F, M/M, F/F, poly, ace/aro, and all permutations thereof are acceptable).
== Stories must adhere to the theme of zombies.
== Stories must have a happily ever after (HEA) or happy for now (HFN) end.
== Any sub-genre is gladly accepted: sci-fi, mystery, contemporary, steampunk, etc.
== All usual LT3 submission guidelines apply.
Less Than Dead is a general release anthology, which means authors will receive a flat payment of $200.00 once LT3 has a signed contract. Authors will receive one copy each of the ebook formats LT3 produces and two copies of the paperback compilation.
Stories should be complete before submitting, and as edited as possible -- do not submit a first draft. They can be submitted in any format (doc, docx, rtf, odt, etc) preferably single spaced in an easy to read font (Times, Calibri, Arial) with no special formatting (no elaborate section separation, special fonts, etc). Additional formatting guidelines can be found here here.
Questions should be directed to the Editor in Chief, Samantha M. Derr, at derrs@lessthanthreepress.com (or you can ping her on twitter @rykaine). Submissions should be sent to submissions@lessthanthreepress.com.
***
29 February 2016 -- Triangulation: Beneath the Surface -- Parsec Ink
Theme: Beneath the Surface
Word Count: We will consider fiction up to 6,000 words. There is no minimum word count.
Genre: We are a speculative fiction market. We accept science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories. Please do not send stories without any speculative element.
Compensation: We pay 2 cents per word. Authors will also receive an e-book and print version of the anthology and wholesale pricing for additional printed copies (typically 50% of cover price).
Rights: We purchase North American Serial Rights, and Electronic Rights for downloadable version(s). All subsidiary rights released upon publication.
Submissions: We do not accept reprints, multiple submissions, or simultaneous submissions. If we reject a story before the end of the reading period, feel free to send another.
We love creative interpretations of our themes, but we do require that stories fit the current theme.
We will run mature content if we like the story and if the mature content is integral to the story.
We will not accept fanfic, even if it’s of a fictional universe that has passed into public domain.
How To Submit: Electronic submissions make our lives easier. Please upload your story via Submittable. If this is your first time submitting to a publication that utilizes Submittable, you will need to create an account with them. It’s free.
Manuscript Format: Please use industry standard manuscript format. We’re not testing you to see if you can follow each and every niggling detail, we just want a manuscript that is easy for us to read.
We accept manuscripts in the following formats:
== .doc or .docx (MS Word)
== .rtf (Rich Text Format — generic document format that most word processors can create)
Editorial Process: We will aim to read submissions as they are received. If a story doesn’t work for us, we’ll reject it. If we think the story has great potential but isn’t quite there yet, we might do a rewrite request. If we love it, we’ll accept it. If we can’t make up our minds, we will request to hold onto it for a while for further consideration. If we send you a hold request and you have something else that would fit the theme, feel free to submit it. After a story is accepted, the only changes that we will make will be minor line edits and formatting fixes.
Response: We aim to make final decisions by March 31st.
Eligibility: All writers, including those who are known or even related to the editorial staff, are permitted to submit to the Triangulation anthology. That doesn’t mean we’ll automatically publish them; just that we’re willing to look at their work.
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29 February 2016 -- Lazarus Risen -- ed. Michael Rimar and Hayden Trenholm; Bundoran Press
Science Fiction is our conversation with the future. But what if that conversation went on forever? Bundoran Press Publishing House will open for submissions from December 21st, 2015 to February 29th, 2016 for a new anthology of science fiction stories to be edited by Michael Rimar and Hayden Trenholm. Publication is planned for October 2016.
Lazarus Risen will seek SF (no fantasy or horror, please) short stories that explore the economic, political, social and psychological consequences of life extension, human cloning, the hard upload and other forms of the biological singularity. Dreams of immortality and eternal youth are almost as old as human culture itself. But what would the world look like if everyone could live and be young forever? What would it look like if only some of us had that privilege? These are only some of the questions your story might try to answer. Surprise us, shock us, illuminate us but most of all tell us a great story.
Payment for first world English rights (print and digital) will be $0.04 a word to a maximum payment of $300.00 (all figures Canadian dollars). Our preferred length is 3500 to 6500 words. We will accept stories of any length to 10,000 words (longer than 10,000 WILL NOT BE READ) but the maximum payment will remain $300.00. Stories will be accepted from around the world but we are not interested in reprints. Payment on publication.
Please submit in .rtf, .doc or .docx format. In the title line of e-mail put: SUBMISSION LR:"Title of your story." Include a brief cover letter in the body of your e-mail giving us the title and word length of your story and any writing credits you wish to share with us. Do not summarize your story.
Email your attached document to: hayden@bundoranpress.com
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1 March 2016 (or until filled) -- Stiff Things -- Comet Press
Comet Press is seeking short stories for an erotic horror anthology to be published in the summer of 2016. We are looking for the most gruesome, twisted, sick, disturbing, dark and extreme stories that push the boundaries of sex and horror and we don't have any content restrictions (except for kiddie porn, of course).
Science fiction and dark fantasy will be considered but must be very dark with a strong element of horror.
Reading period: From September 28, 2015--March 1, 2016 (or until filled).
Word length: up to 9,000 words.
Multiple submissions: Up to two stories per author can be submitted. Please send as separate emails.
Payment is 3 cents a word. We have a campaign up on Indiegogo to help fund this anthology, so depending on the funds raised we may raise this pay.
Reprints: No reprints.
Response Time: 3–4 weeks. Rejections will be sent as soon as possible. Stories that make the first cut will be kept until the end of the reading period. Authors will be notified right away if their story makes the first cut, then the final stories will be selected at the end of the reading period.
We will send a confirmation that we received your story within 2 days. If you do not get this confirmation, please feel free to inquire or resubmit.
What to send:
In the body of the email please include:
== your name, pen name if any, address and email address, and bio.
== Include a brief blurb summing up the story and word count.
== Attach the story in a standard formatted .rtf or word document
== Put “STIFF THNGS SUBMISSION: TITLE OF YOUR STORY” in the subject of the email.
Email address: submissions [at] cometpress [dot] us
***
1 March 2016 -- Ghosts on Drugs -- ed. Hy Bender and Will Paoletto
Bestselling author Hy Bender (BookProposal.net; 16 books including 5 Dummies books, a Complete Idiot's Guide, and The Sandman Companion; The New York Times, Mad Magazine) and book developer Will Paoletto (Enterprise Cometh; My Bad Parent) are putting together a short story fiction anthology titled Ghosts on Drugs.
And we're inviting you to send us a story so great that we can't resist saying "yes" to it.
The only rule is that a tale include some version of at least one ghost who's on some version of at least one drug.
And both key terms are broadly defined—e.g., a ghostwriter hooked on cough syrup could fit, and a dead ancient god with an inhumanly intense craving to be worshipped again could too.
Also, a story can run anywhere from 2 pages to 30 pages, so a short-short tale that's a solid fit for the collection will definitely be considered.
We expect many of the stories will be a mix of comedy and fantasy. However, the book is also open to horror, SF, adventure, drama, etc., as well as any combination of genres. Whatever the category, we're seeking stories that are extremely entertaining, appeal to a wide-ranging audience (high concepts are especially appreciated), and provide an emotionally satisfying ending (smartly crafted character arcs/transformations are especially appreciated).
We're aiming to include some of the world's top comedians, a bunch of superb writers, and one or two celebrities who happen to be drug fans.
Some of the advantages of being in this anthology:
== Getting a credit for a book that's likely to receive substantial attention because of its cool high concept, wildly inventive range of ideas, and exceptionally fine writing.
== Having your name alongside other impressive celebrity talents (if you're a star) or taking a helpful step on your career path (if you're not a star yet).
== Receiving payment on our acceptance—15 cents a word for the first 2,500 words and 6 cents a word after that (to encourage tight writing).
== Receiving a share of the royalties (based on word count).
== Working with Hy—a world-class editor—to make your story the very best it can be.
== Fun!
If the above sounds appealing, then please feel highly encouraged to submit material. The initial deadline is March 1st, 2016. (This might get extended, or not, depending on what comes in.)
For the sake of saving you time and effort, we recommend running an idea by Hy first to ensure it isn't redundant with something we've already purchased for the collection. However, if you prefer to just write and send us a complete story, that's great too.
Please send anything related to the anthology to Hy Bender at hy@hyreviews.com.
Looking forward to your playful, inventive, genius (or so-stupid-it's-genius) ideas and wonderful writing.
Monday, December 21, 2015
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Anthology: Hidden in Crime
Hidden in Crime, with my story "O Best Beloved," was just released, yay! Editor Kristine Kathryn Rusch put together a great collection of stories about crimes that aren't crimes anymore, weird things that were illegal in the past but aren't now. There's a lot of really good reading in here; I learned a few things, too.
I've been reading crime stories since someone gave me a couple of Nancy Drew mysteries when I was a little girl. I'd never tried to write one before Fiction River came along, though. I was a history major at uni, and this story, with its medieval French setting, was a lot of fun to write. I hope you enjoy reading it.
Marceau the Potter sinned for many years before God chose to reveal him. His wife is upstairs in the middle of a long and hard labor, and when the babe is born, Marceau's secret will be revealed to everyone. Kris says about it:
"O Best Beloved" marks her first appearance in a crime anthology, but the story’s time period makes the piece feel like science fiction. The world Angie describes is completely alien to a modern reader, yet in a few short sentences, she makes this world—and its inhabitants—live.
Paperback on Amazon
E-book on Amazon
E-book on B&N
E-book on Kobo
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Pumpkins and Wooly Mammoth
Apparently wooly mammoth and other elephant types had a taste for gourds, and spread their seeds all over North America, which is why we have pumpkins today. Check out this Smithsonian article.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the US. :)
Angie
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the US. :)
Angie
Saturday, November 21, 2015
Can This White Woman Get Arrested?
Apparently not.
Jessie Kahnweiler, a white comedian, tried to deliberately get arrested in order to demonstrate white privilege at work. She pretended to be drunk in public, went swimming in a public fountain, patted police officers on the back (which has been interpreted as assault and resulted in arrest before when the "perp" was a person of color) and even tried to sell drugs to a couple of cops. Number of arrests? Zero.
Read the whole thing, and watch the video, here.
Thanks to Alisha for the link.
ETA: Sorry for the humongous video. :/ Blogger's size-chooser-thingy for pics and videos has never worked for me.
Jessie Kahnweiler, a white comedian, tried to deliberately get arrested in order to demonstrate white privilege at work. She pretended to be drunk in public, went swimming in a public fountain, patted police officers on the back (which has been interpreted as assault and resulted in arrest before when the "perp" was a person of color) and even tried to sell drugs to a couple of cops. Number of arrests? Zero.
Read the whole thing, and watch the video, here.
Thanks to Alisha for the link.
ETA: Sorry for the humongous video. :/ Blogger's size-chooser-thingy for pics and videos has never worked for me.
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Open Letter from Muslim Leaders and Scholars to the Leader of ISIS
Executive Summary:
1. It is forbidden in Islam to issue fatwas without all the necessary learning requirements. Even then fatwas must follow Islamic legal theory as defined in the Classical texts. It is also forbidden to cite a portion of a verse from the Qur’an—or part of a verse—to derive a ruling without looking at everything that the Qur’an and Hadith teach related to that matter. In other words, there are strict subjective and objective prerequisites for fatwas , and one cannot ‘cherry-pick’ Qur’anic verses for legal arguments without considering the entire Qur’an and Hadith.
2. It is forbidden in Islam to issue legal rulings about anything without mastery of the Arabic language.
3. It is forbidden in Islam to oversimplify Shari’ah matters and ignore established Islamic sciences.
4. It is permissible in Islam [for scholars] to differ on any matter, except those fundamentals of religion that all Muslims must know.
5. It is forbidden in Islam to ignore the reality of contemporary times when deriving legal rulings.
6. It is forbidden in Islam to kill the innocent.
7. It is forbidden in Islam to kill emissaries, ambassadors, and diplomats; hence it is forbidden to kill journalists and aid workers.
8. Jihad in Islam is defensive war. It is not permissible without the right cause, the right purpose and without the right rules of conduct.
9. It is forbidden in Islam to declare people non-Muslim unless he (or she) openly declares disbelief.
10. It is forbidden in Islam to harm or mistreat—in any way—Christians or any ‘People of the Scripture’.
11. It is obligatory to consider Yazidis as People of the Scripture.
12. The re-introduction of slavery is forbidden in Islam. It was abolished by universal consensus.
13. It is forbidden in Islam to force people to convert.
14. It is forbidden in Islam to deny women their rights.
15. It is forbidden in Islam to deny children their rights.
16. It is forbidden in Islam to enact legal punishments (hudud ) without following the correct procedures that ensure justice and mercy.
17. It is forbidden in Islam to torture people.
18. It is forbidden in Islam to disfigure the dead.
19. It is forbidden in Islam to attribute evil acts to God ï·».
20. It is forbidden in Islam to destroy the graves and shrines of Prophets and Companions.
21. Armed insurrection is forbidden in Islam for any reason other than clear disbelief by the ruler and not allowing people to pray.
22. It is forbidden in Islam to declare a caliphate without consensus from all Muslims.
23. Loyalty to one’s nation is permissible in Islam.
24. After the death of the Prophet ï·º, Islam does not require anyone to emigrate anywhere.
================
Found here. When you click through, you'll get to the main page. Click on "Read the letter." The first page is the summary quoted. Click on the right arrow in the upper left corner to turn pages and keep reading.
Each issue is elaborated, with quotes from the Qur'an and the Prophet, in the body of the document, where Muslim leadership from around the world calls Al Baghdadi out on all the various ways he's doing Islam wrong. I read the whole thing, and it's interesting to see what Muslim scholars say about all these issues, as opposed to the quick summaries, much less the slogans of fanatics we hear in the media.
This was originally written in September of '14, so I doubt Al Baghdadi is going to start paying any attention to it at this point. But it makes it clear (for anyone who still hasn't clued in) that the violent extremists who get so much play in the western media do not represent Islam as a whole, and that the scholars and leaders of Islam and Muslim people around the world don't approve at all of what ISIS and other groups and individuals with similar goals and methods are doing, in the name of a religion which does not support their actions.
Whenever you hear someone talk about how Muslims or Islam itself are inherently violent and hateful, this demonstrates just how wrong they are. Taking the acts of ISIS out on all Muslims is like blaming all Christians for what the KKK does.
Interesting stuff, especially if you don't know much about Islam. Talk half an hour or so and read it.
1. It is forbidden in Islam to issue fatwas without all the necessary learning requirements. Even then fatwas must follow Islamic legal theory as defined in the Classical texts. It is also forbidden to cite a portion of a verse from the Qur’an—or part of a verse—to derive a ruling without looking at everything that the Qur’an and Hadith teach related to that matter. In other words, there are strict subjective and objective prerequisites for fatwas , and one cannot ‘cherry-pick’ Qur’anic verses for legal arguments without considering the entire Qur’an and Hadith.
2. It is forbidden in Islam to issue legal rulings about anything without mastery of the Arabic language.
3. It is forbidden in Islam to oversimplify Shari’ah matters and ignore established Islamic sciences.
4. It is permissible in Islam [for scholars] to differ on any matter, except those fundamentals of religion that all Muslims must know.
5. It is forbidden in Islam to ignore the reality of contemporary times when deriving legal rulings.
6. It is forbidden in Islam to kill the innocent.
7. It is forbidden in Islam to kill emissaries, ambassadors, and diplomats; hence it is forbidden to kill journalists and aid workers.
8. Jihad in Islam is defensive war. It is not permissible without the right cause, the right purpose and without the right rules of conduct.
9. It is forbidden in Islam to declare people non-Muslim unless he (or she) openly declares disbelief.
10. It is forbidden in Islam to harm or mistreat—in any way—Christians or any ‘People of the Scripture’.
11. It is obligatory to consider Yazidis as People of the Scripture.
12. The re-introduction of slavery is forbidden in Islam. It was abolished by universal consensus.
13. It is forbidden in Islam to force people to convert.
14. It is forbidden in Islam to deny women their rights.
15. It is forbidden in Islam to deny children their rights.
16. It is forbidden in Islam to enact legal punishments (hudud ) without following the correct procedures that ensure justice and mercy.
17. It is forbidden in Islam to torture people.
18. It is forbidden in Islam to disfigure the dead.
19. It is forbidden in Islam to attribute evil acts to God ï·».
20. It is forbidden in Islam to destroy the graves and shrines of Prophets and Companions.
21. Armed insurrection is forbidden in Islam for any reason other than clear disbelief by the ruler and not allowing people to pray.
22. It is forbidden in Islam to declare a caliphate without consensus from all Muslims.
23. Loyalty to one’s nation is permissible in Islam.
24. After the death of the Prophet ï·º, Islam does not require anyone to emigrate anywhere.
================
Found here. When you click through, you'll get to the main page. Click on "Read the letter." The first page is the summary quoted. Click on the right arrow in the upper left corner to turn pages and keep reading.
Each issue is elaborated, with quotes from the Qur'an and the Prophet, in the body of the document, where Muslim leadership from around the world calls Al Baghdadi out on all the various ways he's doing Islam wrong. I read the whole thing, and it's interesting to see what Muslim scholars say about all these issues, as opposed to the quick summaries, much less the slogans of fanatics we hear in the media.
This was originally written in September of '14, so I doubt Al Baghdadi is going to start paying any attention to it at this point. But it makes it clear (for anyone who still hasn't clued in) that the violent extremists who get so much play in the western media do not represent Islam as a whole, and that the scholars and leaders of Islam and Muslim people around the world don't approve at all of what ISIS and other groups and individuals with similar goals and methods are doing, in the name of a religion which does not support their actions.
Whenever you hear someone talk about how Muslims or Islam itself are inherently violent and hateful, this demonstrates just how wrong they are. Taking the acts of ISIS out on all Muslims is like blaming all Christians for what the KKK does.
Interesting stuff, especially if you don't know much about Islam. Talk half an hour or so and read it.
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Calvin and Hobbes
The very first Calvin and Hobbes comic was posted today, thirty years ago. It was an awesome comic, and it ended too soon. Read that first strip here.
Angie
Angie
Friday, November 13, 2015
Paris
Paris after 9/11.
Let’s keep these people in our prayers, who so graciously kept us in their prayers after one of the darkest periods of our history.
Paris, and everyone else affected by the attacks tonight, you are in my thoughts and prayers.
Beth Greene on Tumblr
I'm not a "prayers" kind of person, but I endorse the sentiment wholeheartedly.
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 guidelines on one page, so after you click through you might have to scroll a bit.
[Note that Stiff Things has a deadline (1 March) but is also "Until Filled," which means it might close earlier if the editors get a lot of good subs right away. Possibly a lot earlier. If you want to sub there, I suggest you not put it off.]
***
30 November 2015 -- SNAFU: Unnatural Selection -- ed. Geoff Brown and Amanda J. Spedding; Cohesion Press
Anacondas, piranha, giant crocodiles/alligators/lizards, mutated bears near nuclear power stations, prehistoric sharks. These are a few of my favourite things.
All of these featured heavily in books and films of the 70s and 80s, when bio-horror was at its modern peak. For this anthology of military-bio-horror stories, we are looking for you to take us back to those days.
Think Greg McLean’s Rogue, Lake Placid, Eight-legged Freaks, Anaconda, Meg, Prophecy, Deep Blue Sea, and other modern films/books where people (in this case soldiers) are fighting against mutated or ultra-dangerous animals.
Stories must include a strong military-combat aspect.
We STRONGLY suggest you read some of the earlier SNAFUs to see what it is we like.
~ Payment: AUD4c/word and one contributor copy in each format released
~ Wordcount range: 2,000 – 10,000 words (query for shorter or longer)
~ Submissions open September 1, 2015. Closing date is November 30th, 2015 (anything submitted before or after this time will be deleted without being read or replied to). No selections will be made until after the period closes.
Projected publication date: August 2016
Please follow these guidelines when submitting to us:
1. Please put your full contact details on the first page of the manuscript top left, with word count top right.
2. Standard submission format, with minimal document formatting.
3. Courier or Times New Roman set at 12pt. Italics as they will appear. No underlining.
4. Double spaced.
5. Please don’t use TAB or space bar to indent lines. Use ‘styles’ only. If unsure or using a program that has no styles, do not indent at all. That’s still cool.
7. NO SPACE between paragraphs unless a line-break is required. ONE SPACE after full stops.
8. Please put full contact details on the first page of the manuscript (yes, I said this twice… it’s important).
9. Send your submission to Geoff Brown at editor@cohesionpress.com as an attachment (.doc/.docx/.rtf).
10. In the subject line of your email, please put Unnatural Selection: [STORY TITLE] (Replace [STORY TITLE] with your actual story title. Yes, unfortunately I do need to state this)
NO MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS
NO SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS
NO REPRINTS
Please include a brief ‘hello, this is who I am’ in your email body as a cover letter.
Blank emails with attachments will be deleted.
For a guide to standard submission format, see: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html
The only variations to this format are that italics MUST appear as they will be used – no underlining – and again, only one space after a full stop.
Anyone that fails to follow these guidelines will likely see their story gobbled up by giant spider/crocodile hybrids.
***
1 December 2015 -- The Broken River Review -- Broken River Books
Next year, Broken River Books will be releasing its first anthology, titled The Broken River Review. It will be a collection of short fiction, poetry, and essays, all centered around crime and crime fiction. Here are the guidelines:
== 3,000 words or fewer
== Reprints okay
== Payment is 5 cents per word
== Submissions go to brokenriverbooks@gmail.com
Other than that, have fun with it! As with the novel submissions, please familiarize yourself with the Broken River catalog, so that you might tailor your submission to our particular aesthetic. We like fiction that plays with and subverts tropes in interesting way. Special preference goes to crime fiction, or at least work that leans in that direction.
***
15 December 2015 -- It's Come to Our Attention -- Third Flatiron
Under the radar: things that are happening quietly, without a lot of fanfare, that may still be extremely significant or make a big difference.
Stories should be submitted in either Microsoft Word (using double spacing), RTF, or plain text. They should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words. Flash humor pieces (Grins and Gurgles) should be short, around 600 words.
Please don't send simultaneous or multiple submissions. If a story has been rejected, you can then send another.
Submit by email to flatsubmit@thirdflatiron.com either as an attachment (Word) or in the body of the mail (text).
In the Subject: line of the email, please put flatsubmit:Title_of_Your_Work to avoid being deemed a canned meat product based on ham.
If the work is for the humor section, please note that in the body of your email. A brief bio and a one- or two-sentence synopsis in the body of your email would also be helpful to us.
Your story must be original work, with the digital rights unencumbered. Accepted stories will be paid at the flat rate of 3 cents per word (U.S.), in return for the digital rights to the story for six months after publication. All other rights will remain with the author. We no longer offer royalties. If your story is selected as the lead story, beginning July 1, 2014, we will pay a flat rate of 6 cents per word (SFWA professional rate), in return for the permission to podcast or give the story away as a free sample portion of the anthology.
Third Flatiron will price and market your story to various e-publishing venues. We will format the story for the most popular electronic readers and platforms. You agree that we may distribute a sample (portion of the story) to potential customers.
For non-U.S. submissions, we prefer to pay via PayPal, if you have such an account.
Authors selected for publication will also be entitled to one free online copy of the anthology.
***
15 December 2015 -- Cthulhusattva: Lovecraftian Tales of the Black Gnosis -- Martian Migraine Press
Martian Migraine Press is now open to submissions for our fourth annual anthology, Cthulhusattva: Lovecraftian Tales of the Black Gnosis.
When it comes to Lovecraftian fiction, readers are already well familiar with the standard protagonists. Men of Science. Hardened, world-weary investigators. Sensitive artists, and the like. All of whom eventually learn too much, as they come into contact with forbidden books, foul thaumaturgies, and the human (and not-so-human!) servants of the Great Old Ones. Through curiosity, stupidity, hubris (and oftentimes a combination of these) such foolhardy individuals are blasted to madness in the deadly light that breaks through into their existence when they dare tread the shadowed paths of the Mythos! Surely death would be preferable!
But…
What of the opposite numbers to your standard Lovecraftian hero? What of those servants of the Great Old Ones? The cultists. Sorcerers. Witches. Lone madmen and women. What of those who go seeking that dark enlightenment of their own free will? What of the individuals who choose to cast off from the shores of humanity’s placid island of ignorance, who choose to voyage far on those black seas of infinity that surround that island?
Whatever else can be said about the Mythos (within the Lovecraftian world-view, naturally) it remains that the madness which underlies it is THE TRUTH OF EXISTENCE. The light may be deadly, yes, but it is still light, and it still reveals! Remember, too, that the Great Old Ones and their servants, have been around for a very long time. What wisdom, what insights into Life, Death, and Reality might be gained by currying their favour? What would be the price of that wisdom, and more… would it be worth it?
For Cthulhusattva: Lovecraftian Tales of the Black Gnosis, we are looking for stories that explore these themes, and these intrepid, intelligent, and yes, more than a little insane characters! However, we’re not interested in dyed-in-their-woolen-robes hooded cultists or card-carrying gibbering lunatics with knives behind their backs, laying in wait for the Randolph Carters and Professor Armitages of the world. Instead, give us stories that examine what it means to truly learn the nature of the Universe and come out the other side, smiling! Remember, the Old Ones are apathetic to human needs and desires, and are as likely to ignore a supplicant as devour them. So, consider how one might go mad at contact with them, but still live and move and have an affect in the world. We want to see tales of Mythos mystics, spiritual sorcerers, monstrous monks, and preternatural philosophers, and we want to see them in a diverse range of settings, not just Arkham. The world is vast and strange: show us the bizarre and mind-expanding traditions of far-flung locales! Take us from the deep past to the unimagined future! Give us stories that prove you can hear the Call of Cthulhu… and return as a Cthulhusattva!
(Savvy Migraineers may detect a possible connection to our non-fiction release of 2014, editor Scott R Jones' When the Stars Are Right: Towards an Authentic R'lyehian Spirituality… and they’d be right! If you’d like to study up on the Black Gnosis, and the kind of person crazy enough to seek it, we’d be more than happy to send you an electronic copy of WTSAR for your edification! Just pop an email to bookstore@martianmigrainepress.com with your preferred format — mobi, epub, or PDF — and we’ll send one along!)
Final count for the anthology will be 18 stories, released as a softcover paperback and as an electronic book in multiple formats.
Submission period closes December 15, 2015. The anthology will be released in early May 2016.
SUBMITTING
Please use Standard Manuscript format when submitting. That’s double spaced, left justified, Times New Roman or Courier or something at least readable, a header on the first page (at least) with your author info and word count and… well, you know the drill. RTF or DOC files preferred, but DOCx and text files also accepted. Obviously, you could send us something that’s not in Standard Manuscript format, but it will lower your chances of it being looked at seriously.
We will look at both original work and REPRINTS.
To submit a story to Cthulhusattva: Lovecraftian Tales of the Black Gnosis send an e-mail (with the story file attached, not in the body of the email) to: submissions@martianmigrainepress.com, with subject line: GNOSIS, title of your story, and your name.
LENGTH AND GENRE
For short fiction, we’d like to see anything from 1,500 to 7,000 words.
FLASH FICTION: got something under 1500 words? Send it in. However, the following still applies…
NO POETRY.
PAYMENT
All accepted submissions will be paid .03CAD per word, via Paypal, as well as a contributor copy (paperback) of the anthology, and copies in all electronic formats (mobi, EPUB, and PDF). Authors are also entitled to copies of three additional Martian Migraine Press titles of their choosing.
REPLIES AND QUERIES
We will try to acknowledge receipt of your submission within a week of its arrival in our inbox. The submission period itself will close on December 15, 2015 and we should be responding to all submissions, yay or nay, by early January 2016. If you haven’t heard from us by January 15, 2016, please query.
***
25 December 2015 -- Mysterion -- ed. Donald S. Crankshaw and Kristin Janz; Enigmatic Mirror Press
We're looking for speculative stories--science fiction, fantasy, horror--with Christian themes, characters, or cosmology.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
== Stories can be up to 10,000 words.
== The anthology will be published in ebook and POD formats.
== We pay 6 cents/word for original stories (or original translations of stories that have not previously appeared in English), and 3 cents/word for reprints.
== We are seeking one year of exclusive worldwide print and electronic distribution rights for original works (with exceptions for Best of the Year anthologies), and non-exclusive worldwide print and electronic distribution rights in perpetuity for both original works and reprints.
== No multiple or simultaneous submissions. Send us only one story at a time, and don't send us a story that's currently with someone else or send someone else a story to which we have not yet responded. Don't re-submit a rejected story unless we request revisions.
== We hope to have responded to everyone within one month of the submission window's closing. Feel free to query if it's been longer than two months.
== Stories must be double spaced, in 12-point Courier or Times New Roman font. The story title, your byline, a word count, and contact information should appear on the first page, and your last name, story title, and page number should appear in the header information of all other pages. We're not particular about whether you use italics or underlining for emphasis, how many spaces are after the period, or whether you use straight or smart quotes.
== Submissions may be sent to the email address:
submissions at mysterionanthology dot com
== Submit your stories via email as an attachment in .doc, .docx, or .rtf format. The subject of your email should be FICTION: by . The email body should contain a list of your three or four best publications (if any), and any pertinent biographical details: tell us if you're an astronaut writing about space travel, but not if you're an astronaut writing about the elf-dwarf war. Invert that if you're an elf. If you've met us personally, feel free to mention it. Finally, let us know if the story is previously published and where it first appeared--even if it appeared on your blog or twitter stream. Don't try to summarize your story or explain why it's a good fit for our anthology (if it's a good fit, we should be able to tell by reading it).
THEME GUIDELINES
== The story must have a speculative element. It needs something beyond the everyday. We love science fiction and fantasy, enjoy good ghost stories, and think there's great fiction material hidden in the mysteries of Christian theology--cherubim, leviathan, nephilim, visions, prophecy, and more.
== The story must engage with Christianity. We want stories with Christian characters whose faith affects their actions, with Christian themes such as grace and redemption, or with a Christian view of the supernatural. Note that we're not saying that you must be a Christian. We are not in a position to judge your faith, and won't try. Nor does your story need to be unambiguously pro-Christian. If you can tell a good story that meaningfully engages with Christianity, we want to read it.
== Read more about what we're looking for in our Theme Guidelines.
***
6 January 2016 -- No Shit, There I Was -- ed. Rachael Acks; Alliteration Ink
What: No Shit, There I Was, an anthology of short speculative fiction sharing one common thread: each story begins with that immortal line. Where they end will be up to the writer.
Why: The world is full of unbelievable, hilarious, and sometimes tragic no shit, there I was stories. Can speculative fiction writers rise to the challenge of creating something even more fantastical than the everyday product?
Who We Are: Alliteration Ink is run by Steven Saus (member SFWA/HWA), focusing on anthologies and single-author collections, with over a dozen titles across two imprints. Rachael Acks is a writer, geologist, and sharp-dressed sir. In addition to her steampunk novella series, she’s had short stories in Strange Horizons, Waylines, Daily Science Fiction, Penumbra, and more. She’s an active member of SFWA, the Northern Colorado Writer’s Workshop, and Codex.
Who: This will be an open call. All who read and follow the submission guidelines are welcome in the slush pile.
When: Rachael wants stories no later than 6 Jan 2016. No exceptions will be made. The Kickstarter will occur after the table of contents has been set.
What We Want From You:
== Stories 2,000-7,500 words long. Query for anything shorter or longer.
== All stories must begin with the line, No shit, there I was. It can be dialog or part of the regular prose.
== Stories must contain a discernible speculative element, either fantasy or science fiction, and the speculative element must be integral to the plot. Dependent upon submission quality, the intention is for a 50/50 split of fantasy and science fiction.
== The intention is to cover a wide range of subgenres to show the versatility of a single opening line -- comedies, tragedies, and everything in between are welcome in the slush pile. That said, Rachael is not terribly interested in horror, and erotica is right out. Salty language is okay, gratuitous violence, gore, or sex is not. Feel free to query if you have questions.
== We are particularly interested in seeing stories from underrepresented populations (eg: people of color, people with disabilities, LGBT people).
== Original fiction strongly preferred; query first for reprints.
== Submitted stories must be in standard manuscript format and submitted in rtf, doc, or docx file format. Please make sure your name, email address, word count, and title of your story are on the first page of your manuscript.
== Stories that do not follow these guidelines may face summary rejection.
== Submissions should be sent to noshit@alliterationink.com
Payment: We intend to fund this project via Kickstarter. Authors are encouraged to provide backer rewards for the campaign, but that is definitely not required. The initial funding goal will provide for a flat $0.06/per word (US) for all stories. In the unlikely event a reprint is accepted, payment will be $0.03/per word (US). There will be no kill fees. Higher per word payment will be one of the stretch goals for the project.
While the table of contents will be mostly set prior to the Kickstarter for advertising purposes, contracts will not be sent out until the Kickstarter is completed. Should the project fail to fund, it will continue, though with a different payment structure to be determined. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Rights: Exclusive English world first print and digital rights for one year. Nonexclusive print, digital, and anthology rights for term of copyright. All other rights are reserved to the author.
Contact Information: Editorial decisions are to be handled by Rachael Acks and questions regarding them should be directed to her at noshit@alliterationink.com. Contract, money, publicity, and business decisions will be handled by Alliteration Ink, and should be directed to steven@alliterationink.com (or any other e-mail address you have for him – they all go to the same place).
***
1 March 2016 (or until filled) -- Stiff Things -- Comet Press
Comet Press is seeking short stories for an erotic horror anthology to be published in the summer of 2016. We are looking for the most gruesome, twisted, sick, disturbing, dark and extreme stories that push the boundaries of sex and horror and we don't have any content restrictions (except for kiddie porn, of course).
Science fiction and dark fantasy will be considered but must be very dark with a strong element of horror.
Reading period: From September 28, 2015--March 1, 2016 (or until filled).
Word length: up to 9,000 words.
Multiple submissions: Up to two stories per author can be submitted. Please send as separate emails.
Payment is 3 cents a word. We have a campaign up on Indiegogo to help fund this anthology, so depending on the funds raised we may raise this pay.
Reprints: No reprints.
Response Time: 3–4 weeks. Rejections will be sent as soon as possible. Stories that make the first cut will be kept until the end of the reading period. Authors will be notified right away if their story makes the first cut, then the final stories will be selected at the end of the reading period.
We will send a confirmation that we received your story within 2 days. If you do not get this confirmation, please feel free to inquire or resubmit.
What to send:
In the body of the email please include:
== your name, pen name if any, address and email address, and bio.
== Include a brief blurb summing up the story and word count.
== Attach the story in a standard formatted .rtf or word document
== Put “STIFF THNGS SUBMISSION: TITLE OF YOUR STORY” in the subject of the email.
Email address: submissions [at] cometpress [dot] us
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 guidelines on one page, so after you click through you might have to scroll a bit.
[Note that Stiff Things has a deadline (1 March) but is also "Until Filled," which means it might close earlier if the editors get a lot of good subs right away. Possibly a lot earlier. If you want to sub there, I suggest you not put it off.]
***
30 November 2015 -- SNAFU: Unnatural Selection -- ed. Geoff Brown and Amanda J. Spedding; Cohesion Press
Anacondas, piranha, giant crocodiles/alligators/lizards, mutated bears near nuclear power stations, prehistoric sharks. These are a few of my favourite things.
All of these featured heavily in books and films of the 70s and 80s, when bio-horror was at its modern peak. For this anthology of military-bio-horror stories, we are looking for you to take us back to those days.
Think Greg McLean’s Rogue, Lake Placid, Eight-legged Freaks, Anaconda, Meg, Prophecy, Deep Blue Sea, and other modern films/books where people (in this case soldiers) are fighting against mutated or ultra-dangerous animals.
Stories must include a strong military-combat aspect.
We STRONGLY suggest you read some of the earlier SNAFUs to see what it is we like.
~ Payment: AUD4c/word and one contributor copy in each format released
~ Wordcount range: 2,000 – 10,000 words (query for shorter or longer)
~ Submissions open September 1, 2015. Closing date is November 30th, 2015 (anything submitted before or after this time will be deleted without being read or replied to). No selections will be made until after the period closes.
Projected publication date: August 2016
Please follow these guidelines when submitting to us:
1. Please put your full contact details on the first page of the manuscript top left, with word count top right.
2. Standard submission format, with minimal document formatting.
3. Courier or Times New Roman set at 12pt. Italics as they will appear. No underlining.
4. Double spaced.
5. Please don’t use TAB or space bar to indent lines. Use ‘styles’ only. If unsure or using a program that has no styles, do not indent at all. That’s still cool.
7. NO SPACE between paragraphs unless a line-break is required. ONE SPACE after full stops.
8. Please put full contact details on the first page of the manuscript (yes, I said this twice… it’s important).
9. Send your submission to Geoff Brown at editor@cohesionpress.com as an attachment (.doc/.docx/.rtf).
10. In the subject line of your email, please put Unnatural Selection: [STORY TITLE] (Replace [STORY TITLE] with your actual story title. Yes, unfortunately I do need to state this)
NO MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS
NO SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS
NO REPRINTS
Please include a brief ‘hello, this is who I am’ in your email body as a cover letter.
Blank emails with attachments will be deleted.
For a guide to standard submission format, see: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html
The only variations to this format are that italics MUST appear as they will be used – no underlining – and again, only one space after a full stop.
Anyone that fails to follow these guidelines will likely see their story gobbled up by giant spider/crocodile hybrids.
***
1 December 2015 -- The Broken River Review -- Broken River Books
Next year, Broken River Books will be releasing its first anthology, titled The Broken River Review. It will be a collection of short fiction, poetry, and essays, all centered around crime and crime fiction. Here are the guidelines:
== 3,000 words or fewer
== Reprints okay
== Payment is 5 cents per word
== Submissions go to brokenriverbooks@gmail.com
Other than that, have fun with it! As with the novel submissions, please familiarize yourself with the Broken River catalog, so that you might tailor your submission to our particular aesthetic. We like fiction that plays with and subverts tropes in interesting way. Special preference goes to crime fiction, or at least work that leans in that direction.
***
15 December 2015 -- It's Come to Our Attention -- Third Flatiron
Under the radar: things that are happening quietly, without a lot of fanfare, that may still be extremely significant or make a big difference.
Stories should be submitted in either Microsoft Word (using double spacing), RTF, or plain text. They should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words. Flash humor pieces (Grins and Gurgles) should be short, around 600 words.
Please don't send simultaneous or multiple submissions. If a story has been rejected, you can then send another.
Submit by email to flatsubmit@thirdflatiron.com either as an attachment (Word) or in the body of the mail (text).
In the Subject: line of the email, please put flatsubmit:Title_of_Your_Work to avoid being deemed a canned meat product based on ham.
If the work is for the humor section, please note that in the body of your email. A brief bio and a one- or two-sentence synopsis in the body of your email would also be helpful to us.
Your story must be original work, with the digital rights unencumbered. Accepted stories will be paid at the flat rate of 3 cents per word (U.S.), in return for the digital rights to the story for six months after publication. All other rights will remain with the author. We no longer offer royalties. If your story is selected as the lead story, beginning July 1, 2014, we will pay a flat rate of 6 cents per word (SFWA professional rate), in return for the permission to podcast or give the story away as a free sample portion of the anthology.
Third Flatiron will price and market your story to various e-publishing venues. We will format the story for the most popular electronic readers and platforms. You agree that we may distribute a sample (portion of the story) to potential customers.
For non-U.S. submissions, we prefer to pay via PayPal, if you have such an account.
Authors selected for publication will also be entitled to one free online copy of the anthology.
***
15 December 2015 -- Cthulhusattva: Lovecraftian Tales of the Black Gnosis -- Martian Migraine Press
Martian Migraine Press is now open to submissions for our fourth annual anthology, Cthulhusattva: Lovecraftian Tales of the Black Gnosis.
When it comes to Lovecraftian fiction, readers are already well familiar with the standard protagonists. Men of Science. Hardened, world-weary investigators. Sensitive artists, and the like. All of whom eventually learn too much, as they come into contact with forbidden books, foul thaumaturgies, and the human (and not-so-human!) servants of the Great Old Ones. Through curiosity, stupidity, hubris (and oftentimes a combination of these) such foolhardy individuals are blasted to madness in the deadly light that breaks through into their existence when they dare tread the shadowed paths of the Mythos! Surely death would be preferable!
But…
What of the opposite numbers to your standard Lovecraftian hero? What of those servants of the Great Old Ones? The cultists. Sorcerers. Witches. Lone madmen and women. What of those who go seeking that dark enlightenment of their own free will? What of the individuals who choose to cast off from the shores of humanity’s placid island of ignorance, who choose to voyage far on those black seas of infinity that surround that island?
Whatever else can be said about the Mythos (within the Lovecraftian world-view, naturally) it remains that the madness which underlies it is THE TRUTH OF EXISTENCE. The light may be deadly, yes, but it is still light, and it still reveals! Remember, too, that the Great Old Ones and their servants, have been around for a very long time. What wisdom, what insights into Life, Death, and Reality might be gained by currying their favour? What would be the price of that wisdom, and more… would it be worth it?
For Cthulhusattva: Lovecraftian Tales of the Black Gnosis, we are looking for stories that explore these themes, and these intrepid, intelligent, and yes, more than a little insane characters! However, we’re not interested in dyed-in-their-woolen-robes hooded cultists or card-carrying gibbering lunatics with knives behind their backs, laying in wait for the Randolph Carters and Professor Armitages of the world. Instead, give us stories that examine what it means to truly learn the nature of the Universe and come out the other side, smiling! Remember, the Old Ones are apathetic to human needs and desires, and are as likely to ignore a supplicant as devour them. So, consider how one might go mad at contact with them, but still live and move and have an affect in the world. We want to see tales of Mythos mystics, spiritual sorcerers, monstrous monks, and preternatural philosophers, and we want to see them in a diverse range of settings, not just Arkham. The world is vast and strange: show us the bizarre and mind-expanding traditions of far-flung locales! Take us from the deep past to the unimagined future! Give us stories that prove you can hear the Call of Cthulhu… and return as a Cthulhusattva!
(Savvy Migraineers may detect a possible connection to our non-fiction release of 2014, editor Scott R Jones' When the Stars Are Right: Towards an Authentic R'lyehian Spirituality… and they’d be right! If you’d like to study up on the Black Gnosis, and the kind of person crazy enough to seek it, we’d be more than happy to send you an electronic copy of WTSAR for your edification! Just pop an email to bookstore@martianmigrainepress.com with your preferred format — mobi, epub, or PDF — and we’ll send one along!)
Final count for the anthology will be 18 stories, released as a softcover paperback and as an electronic book in multiple formats.
Submission period closes December 15, 2015. The anthology will be released in early May 2016.
SUBMITTING
Please use Standard Manuscript format when submitting. That’s double spaced, left justified, Times New Roman or Courier or something at least readable, a header on the first page (at least) with your author info and word count and… well, you know the drill. RTF or DOC files preferred, but DOCx and text files also accepted. Obviously, you could send us something that’s not in Standard Manuscript format, but it will lower your chances of it being looked at seriously.
We will look at both original work and REPRINTS.
To submit a story to Cthulhusattva: Lovecraftian Tales of the Black Gnosis send an e-mail (with the story file attached, not in the body of the email) to: submissions@martianmigrainepress.com, with subject line: GNOSIS, title of your story, and your name.
LENGTH AND GENRE
For short fiction, we’d like to see anything from 1,500 to 7,000 words.
FLASH FICTION: got something under 1500 words? Send it in. However, the following still applies…
NO POETRY.
PAYMENT
All accepted submissions will be paid .03CAD per word, via Paypal, as well as a contributor copy (paperback) of the anthology, and copies in all electronic formats (mobi, EPUB, and PDF). Authors are also entitled to copies of three additional Martian Migraine Press titles of their choosing.
REPLIES AND QUERIES
We will try to acknowledge receipt of your submission within a week of its arrival in our inbox. The submission period itself will close on December 15, 2015 and we should be responding to all submissions, yay or nay, by early January 2016. If you haven’t heard from us by January 15, 2016, please query.
***
25 December 2015 -- Mysterion -- ed. Donald S. Crankshaw and Kristin Janz; Enigmatic Mirror Press
We're looking for speculative stories--science fiction, fantasy, horror--with Christian themes, characters, or cosmology.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
== Stories can be up to 10,000 words.
== The anthology will be published in ebook and POD formats.
== We pay 6 cents/word for original stories (or original translations of stories that have not previously appeared in English), and 3 cents/word for reprints.
== We are seeking one year of exclusive worldwide print and electronic distribution rights for original works (with exceptions for Best of the Year anthologies), and non-exclusive worldwide print and electronic distribution rights in perpetuity for both original works and reprints.
== No multiple or simultaneous submissions. Send us only one story at a time, and don't send us a story that's currently with someone else or send someone else a story to which we have not yet responded. Don't re-submit a rejected story unless we request revisions.
== We hope to have responded to everyone within one month of the submission window's closing. Feel free to query if it's been longer than two months.
== Stories must be double spaced, in 12-point Courier or Times New Roman font. The story title, your byline, a word count, and contact information should appear on the first page, and your last name, story title, and page number should appear in the header information of all other pages. We're not particular about whether you use italics or underlining for emphasis, how many spaces are after the period, or whether you use straight or smart quotes.
== Submissions may be sent to the email address:
submissions at mysterionanthology dot com
== Submit your stories via email as an attachment in .doc, .docx, or .rtf format. The subject of your email should be FICTION:
THEME GUIDELINES
== The story must have a speculative element. It needs something beyond the everyday. We love science fiction and fantasy, enjoy good ghost stories, and think there's great fiction material hidden in the mysteries of Christian theology--cherubim, leviathan, nephilim, visions, prophecy, and more.
== The story must engage with Christianity. We want stories with Christian characters whose faith affects their actions, with Christian themes such as grace and redemption, or with a Christian view of the supernatural. Note that we're not saying that you must be a Christian. We are not in a position to judge your faith, and won't try. Nor does your story need to be unambiguously pro-Christian. If you can tell a good story that meaningfully engages with Christianity, we want to read it.
== Read more about what we're looking for in our Theme Guidelines.
***
6 January 2016 -- No Shit, There I Was -- ed. Rachael Acks; Alliteration Ink
What: No Shit, There I Was, an anthology of short speculative fiction sharing one common thread: each story begins with that immortal line. Where they end will be up to the writer.
Why: The world is full of unbelievable, hilarious, and sometimes tragic no shit, there I was stories. Can speculative fiction writers rise to the challenge of creating something even more fantastical than the everyday product?
Who We Are: Alliteration Ink is run by Steven Saus (member SFWA/HWA), focusing on anthologies and single-author collections, with over a dozen titles across two imprints. Rachael Acks is a writer, geologist, and sharp-dressed sir. In addition to her steampunk novella series, she’s had short stories in Strange Horizons, Waylines, Daily Science Fiction, Penumbra, and more. She’s an active member of SFWA, the Northern Colorado Writer’s Workshop, and Codex.
Who: This will be an open call. All who read and follow the submission guidelines are welcome in the slush pile.
When: Rachael wants stories no later than 6 Jan 2016. No exceptions will be made. The Kickstarter will occur after the table of contents has been set.
What We Want From You:
== Stories 2,000-7,500 words long. Query for anything shorter or longer.
== All stories must begin with the line, No shit, there I was. It can be dialog or part of the regular prose.
== Stories must contain a discernible speculative element, either fantasy or science fiction, and the speculative element must be integral to the plot. Dependent upon submission quality, the intention is for a 50/50 split of fantasy and science fiction.
== The intention is to cover a wide range of subgenres to show the versatility of a single opening line -- comedies, tragedies, and everything in between are welcome in the slush pile. That said, Rachael is not terribly interested in horror, and erotica is right out. Salty language is okay, gratuitous violence, gore, or sex is not. Feel free to query if you have questions.
== We are particularly interested in seeing stories from underrepresented populations (eg: people of color, people with disabilities, LGBT people).
== Original fiction strongly preferred; query first for reprints.
== Submitted stories must be in standard manuscript format and submitted in rtf, doc, or docx file format. Please make sure your name, email address, word count, and title of your story are on the first page of your manuscript.
== Stories that do not follow these guidelines may face summary rejection.
== Submissions should be sent to noshit@alliterationink.com
Payment: We intend to fund this project via Kickstarter. Authors are encouraged to provide backer rewards for the campaign, but that is definitely not required. The initial funding goal will provide for a flat $0.06/per word (US) for all stories. In the unlikely event a reprint is accepted, payment will be $0.03/per word (US). There will be no kill fees. Higher per word payment will be one of the stretch goals for the project.
While the table of contents will be mostly set prior to the Kickstarter for advertising purposes, contracts will not be sent out until the Kickstarter is completed. Should the project fail to fund, it will continue, though with a different payment structure to be determined. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Rights: Exclusive English world first print and digital rights for one year. Nonexclusive print, digital, and anthology rights for term of copyright. All other rights are reserved to the author.
Contact Information: Editorial decisions are to be handled by Rachael Acks and questions regarding them should be directed to her at noshit@alliterationink.com. Contract, money, publicity, and business decisions will be handled by Alliteration Ink, and should be directed to steven@alliterationink.com (or any other e-mail address you have for him – they all go to the same place).
***
1 March 2016 (or until filled) -- Stiff Things -- Comet Press
Comet Press is seeking short stories for an erotic horror anthology to be published in the summer of 2016. We are looking for the most gruesome, twisted, sick, disturbing, dark and extreme stories that push the boundaries of sex and horror and we don't have any content restrictions (except for kiddie porn, of course).
Science fiction and dark fantasy will be considered but must be very dark with a strong element of horror.
Reading period: From September 28, 2015--March 1, 2016 (or until filled).
Word length: up to 9,000 words.
Multiple submissions: Up to two stories per author can be submitted. Please send as separate emails.
Payment is 3 cents a word. We have a campaign up on Indiegogo to help fund this anthology, so depending on the funds raised we may raise this pay.
Reprints: No reprints.
Response Time: 3–4 weeks. Rejections will be sent as soon as possible. Stories that make the first cut will be kept until the end of the reading period. Authors will be notified right away if their story makes the first cut, then the final stories will be selected at the end of the reading period.
We will send a confirmation that we received your story within 2 days. If you do not get this confirmation, please feel free to inquire or resubmit.
What to send:
In the body of the email please include:
== your name, pen name if any, address and email address, and bio.
== Include a brief blurb summing up the story and word count.
== Attach the story in a standard formatted .rtf or word document
== Put “STIFF THNGS SUBMISSION: TITLE OF YOUR STORY” in the subject of the email.
Email address: submissions [at] cometpress [dot] us
Thursday, October 15, 2015
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 (although there aren't any this month). 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 guidelines on one page, so after you click through you might have to scroll a bit.
***
31 October 2015 -- Alien Artifacts and Were- -- ed. Joshua Palmatier; Zombies Need Brains LLC
[NOTE: This is two books with the same editor and publisher, the same deadline, and nearly identical guidelines. I'm listing them together (as the editor did) to save space.]
Zombies Need Brains LLC is accepting submissions to its two science fiction and fantasy anthologies ALIEN ARTIFACTS and WERE-. Stories must be submitted in electronic form as an attachment with the title of the story as the file name in .doc or .docx format. The header of the email should include the name of the anthology the submission is for along with the title of the submission (for example: WERE-: WereJellyfish Gone Wild!). The content of the email should also include which anthology the manuscript is intended for. Please send multiple submissions in separate emails. Manuscripts should be in manuscript format, meaning double-spaced, 12pt font, standard margins on top, bottom and sides, and pages numbered. Please use New Times Roman font. The first page should include the Title of the story, Author’s name, address, and email, and Pseudonym if different from the author’s name. Italics and bold should be in italics and bold.
Stories for this anthology must be original (no reprints or previously published material), no more than 7,500 words in length, and must satisfy the theme of the anthology.
ALIEN ARTIFACTS is to feature stories where some type of left-behind alien tech has been found and how it may affect our society, our humanity, or the characters. It can be an artifact discovered on Earth in our past or during current times, OR PREFERRABLY, an artifact that we run across while exploring space in the future. I want to stress this: the story must feature an alien artifact (not an alien). Aliens can appear in the story, but the genesis of the story must be some kind of alien artifact. Stories featuring more interesting alien artifacts, and twists on how they are discovered or how they affect our society/humanity, while being set in the future, will receive more attention than those set in the present or past. In other words, we don’t want to see 100 stories dealing with an archeological dig discovering a long buried alien artifact. If we do, it’s likely that only one at most would be selected for the anthology. So be creative and choose something different and use it in an unusual and unexpected way. We are looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark.
WERE- is to feature stories where some type of were-creature OTHER than a werewolf is the main character. Werewolves can appear in the story, but they cannot be the main character or the central focus of the story. I want to stress this: the story must feature a were-creature! Stories featuring more interesting were-creatures, and twists on how they are integrated into the story, will receive more attention than those with more mundane creatures. In other words, we don’t want to see 100 stories dealing with a were-cat. If we do, it’s likely that only one at most would be selected for the anthology. So be creative and choose something different and use it in an unusual and unexpected way. We are looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark.
The deadline for submissions is October 31st, 2015. Decisions on stories should be completed by the end of December 2015. Please send submissions to Joshua@zombiesneedbrains.com. You will receive a receipt email within a few days of receiving the submission. Notices about decisions on the stories will be sent out no later than the end of January 2016.
If your story is selected for use in the anthology, you should expect a revision letter by the end of January 2016. Revisions and the final draft of the story will be expected no later than the end of February 2016. These dates may change due to the editor’s work schedules. Zombies Need Brains LLC is seeking non-exclusive world anthology rights (including electronic rights) in all languages for the duration of one year after publication/release of the anthology. Your story cannot appear elsewhere during that year. Pay rate will be an advance of a minimum of 6 cents per word for the short stories. For each additional $5000 raised above the Kickstarter minimum of $10,000, we will increase this advance pay rate by 1 cent per word. The anthology will be published as an ebook and an exclusive mass market paperback edition, distributed to the Kickstarter backers. The book would be available after that to the general public in ebook and trade paperback formats. Advances would be immediately earned out by the success of the Kickstarter. Royalties on additional sales beyond the Kickstarter will be 25% of ebook cover price and 10% of trade paperback cover price, both split evenly (not by word count) between the authors in the anthology and the editors of the anthology.
Questions regarding these submission guidelines should be sent to Joshua@zombiesneedbrains.com. Thank you.
***
30 November 2015 -- SNAFU: Unnatural Selection -- ed. Geoff Brown and Amanda J. Spedding; Cohesion Press
Anacondas, piranha, giant crocodiles/alligators/lizards, mutated bears near nuclear power stations, prehistoric sharks. These are a few of my favourite things.
All of these featured heavily in books and films of the 70s and 80s, when bio-horror was at its modern peak. For this anthology of military-bio-horror stories, we are looking for you to take us back to those days.
Think Greg McLean’s Rogue, Lake Placid, Eight-legged Freaks, Anaconda, Meg, Prophecy, Deep Blue Sea, and other modern films/books where people (in this case soldiers) are fighting against mutated or ultra-dangerous animals.
Stories must include a strong military-combat aspect.
We STRONGLY suggest you read some of the earlier SNAFUs to see what it is we like.
~ Payment: AUD4c/word and one contributor copy in each format released
~ Wordcount range: 2,000 – 10,000 words (query for shorter or longer)
~ Submissions open September 1, 2015. Closing date is November 30th, 2015 (anything submitted before or after this time will be deleted without being read or replied to). No selections will be made until after the period closes.
Projected publication date: August 2016
Please follow these guidelines when submitting to us:
1. Please put your full contact details on the first page of the manuscript top left, with word count top right.
2. Standard submission format, with minimal document formatting.
3. Courier or Times New Roman set at 12pt. Italics as they will appear. No underlining.
4. Double spaced.
5. Please don’t use TAB or space bar to indent lines. Use ‘styles’ only. If unsure or using a program that has no styles, do not indent at all. That’s still cool.
7. NO SPACE between paragraphs unless a line-break is required. ONE SPACE after full stops.
8. Please put full contact details on the first page of the manuscript (yes, I said this twice… it’s important).
9. Send your submission to Geoff Brown at editor@cohesionpress.com as an attachment (.doc/.docx/.rtf).
10. In the subject line of your email, please put Unnatural Selection: [STORY TITLE] (Replace [STORY TITLE] with your actual story title. Yes, unfortunately I do need to state this)
NO MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS
NO SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS
NO REPRINTS
Please include a brief ‘hello, this is who I am’ in your email body as a cover letter.
Blank emails with attachments will be deleted.
For a guide to standard submission format, see: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html
The only variations to this format are that italics MUST appear as they will be used – no underlining – and again, only one space after a full stop.
Anyone that fails to follow these guidelines will likely see their story gobbled up by giant spider/crocodile hybrids.
***
15 December 2015 -- It's Come to Our Attention -- Third Flatiron
Under the radar: things that are happening quietly, without a lot of fanfare, that may still be extremely significant or make a big difference.
Stories should be submitted in either Microsoft Word (using double spacing), RTF, or plain text. They should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words. Flash humor pieces (Grins and Gurgles) should be short, around 600 words.
Please don't send simultaneous or multiple submissions. If a story has been rejected, you can then send another.
Submit by email to flatsubmit@thirdflatiron.com either as an attachment (Word) or in the body of the mail (text).
In the Subject: line of the email, please put flatsubmit:Title_of_Your_Work to avoid being deemed a canned meat product based on ham.
If the work is for the humor section, please note that in the body of your email. A brief bio and a one- or two-sentence synopsis in the body of your email would also be helpful to us.
Your story must be original work, with the digital rights unencumbered. Accepted stories will be paid at the flat rate of 3 cents per word (U.S.), in return for the digital rights to the story for six months after publication. All other rights will remain with the author. We no longer offer royalties. If your story is selected as the lead story, beginning July 1, 2014, we will pay a flat rate of 6 cents per word (SFWA professional rate), in return for the permission to podcast or give the story away as a free sample portion of the anthology.
Third Flatiron will price and market your story to various e-publishing venues. We will format the story for the most popular electronic readers and platforms. You agree that we may distribute a sample (portion of the story) to potential customers.
For non-U.S. submissions, we prefer to pay via PayPal, if you have such an account.
Authors selected for publication will also be entitled to one free online copy of the anthology.
***
15 December 2015 -- Cthulhusattva: Lovecraftian Tales of the Black Gnosis -- Martian Migraine Press
Martian Migraine Press is now open to submissions for our fourth annual anthology, Cthulhusattva: Lovecraftian Tales of the Black Gnosis.
When it comes to Lovecraftian fiction, readers are already well familiar with the standard protagonists. Men of Science. Hardened, world-weary investigators. Sensitive artists, and the like. All of whom eventually learn too much, as they come into contact with forbidden books, foul thaumaturgies, and the human (and not-so-human!) servants of the Great Old Ones. Through curiosity, stupidity, hubris (and oftentimes a combination of these) such foolhardy individuals are blasted to madness in the deadly light that breaks through into their existence when they dare tread the shadowed paths of the Mythos! Surely death would be preferable!
But…
What of the opposite numbers to your standard Lovecraftian hero? What of those servants of the Great Old Ones? The cultists. Sorcerers. Witches. Lone madmen and women. What of those who go seeking that dark enlightenment of their own free will? What of the individuals who choose to cast off from the shores of humanity’s placid island of ignorance, who choose to voyage far on those black seas of infinity that surround that island?
Whatever else can be said about the Mythos (within the Lovecraftian world-view, naturally) it remains that the madness which underlies it is THE TRUTH OF EXISTENCE. The light may be deadly, yes, but it is still light, and it still reveals! Remember, too, that the Great Old Ones and their servants, have been around for a very long time. What wisdom, what insights into Life, Death, and Reality might be gained by currying their favour? What would be the price of that wisdom, and more… would it be worth it?
For Cthulhusattva: Lovecraftian Tales of the Black Gnosis, we are looking for stories that explore these themes, and these intrepid, intelligent, and yes, more than a little insane characters! However, we’re not interested in dyed-in-their-woolen-robes hooded cultists or card-carrying gibbering lunatics with knives behind their backs, laying in wait for the Randolph Carters and Professor Armitages of the world. Instead, give us stories that examine what it means to truly learn the nature of the Universe and come out the other side, smiling! Remember, the Old Ones are apathetic to human needs and desires, and are as likely to ignore a supplicant as devour them. So, consider how one might go mad at contact with them, but still live and move and have an affect in the world. We want to see tales of Mythos mystics, spiritual sorcerers, monstrous monks, and preternatural philosophers, and we want to see them in a diverse range of settings, not just Arkham. The world is vast and strange: show us the bizarre and mind-expanding traditions of far-flung locales! Take us from the deep past to the unimagined future! Give us stories that prove you can hear the Call of Cthulhu… and return as a Cthulhusattva!
(Savvy Migraineers may detect a possible connection to our non-fiction release of 2014, editor Scott R Jones' When the Stars Are Right: Towards an Authentic R'lyehian Spirituality… and they’d be right! If you’d like to study up on the Black Gnosis, and the kind of person crazy enough to seek it, we’d be more than happy to send you an electronic copy of WTSAR for your edification! Just pop an email to bookstore@martianmigrainepress.com with your preferred format — mobi, epub, or PDF — and we’ll send one along!)
Final count for the anthology will be 18 stories, released as a softcover paperback and as an electronic book in multiple formats.
Submission period closes December 15, 2015. The anthology will be released in early May 2016.
SUBMITTING
Please use Standard Manuscript format when submitting. That’s double spaced, left justified, Times New Roman or Courier or something at least readable, a header on the first page (at least) with your author info and word count and… well, you know the drill. RTF or DOC files preferred, but DOCx and text files also accepted. Obviously, you could send us something that’s not in Standard Manuscript format, but it will lower your chances of it being looked at seriously.
We will look at both original work and REPRINTS.
To submit a story to Cthulhusattva: Lovecraftian Tales of the Black Gnosis send an e-mail (with the story file attached, not in the body of the email) to: submissions@martianmigrainepress.com, with subject line: GNOSIS, title of your story, and your name.
LENGTH AND GENRE
For short fiction, we’d like to see anything from 1,500 to 7,000 words.
FLASH FICTION: got something under 1500 words? Send it in. However, the following still applies…
NO POETRY.
PAYMENT
All accepted submissions will be paid .03CAD per word, via Paypal, as well as a contributor copy (paperback) of the anthology, and copies in all electronic formats (mobi, EPUB, and PDF). Authors are also entitled to copies of three additional Martian Migraine Press titles of their choosing.
REPLIES AND QUERIES
We will try to acknowledge receipt of your submission within a week of its arrival in our inbox. The submission period itself will close on December 15, 2015 and we should be responding to all submissions, yay or nay, by early January 2016. If you haven’t heard from us by January 15, 2016, please query.
***
25 December 2015 -- Mysterion -- ed. Donald S. Crankshaw and Kristin Janz; Enigmatic Mirror Press
We're looking for speculative stories--science fiction, fantasy, horror--with Christian themes, characters, or cosmology.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
== Stories can be up to 10,000 words.
== The anthology will be published in ebook and POD formats.
== We pay 6 cents/word for original stories (or original translations of stories that have not previously appeared in English), and 3 cents/word for reprints.
== We are seeking one year of exclusive worldwide print and electronic distribution rights for original works (with exceptions for Best of the Year anthologies), and non-exclusive worldwide print and electronic distribution rights in perpetuity for both original works and reprints.
== No multiple or simultaneous submissions. Send us only one story at a time, and don't send us a story that's currently with someone else or send someone else a story to which we have not yet responded. Don't re-submit a rejected story unless we request revisions.
== We hope to have responded to everyone within one month of the submission window's closing. Feel free to query if it's been longer than two months.
== Stories must be double spaced, in 12-point Courier or Times New Roman font. The story title, your byline, a word count, and contact information should appear on the first page, and your last name, story title, and page number should appear in the header information of all other pages. We're not particular about whether you use italics or underlining for emphasis, how many spaces are after the period, or whether you use straight or smart quotes.
== Submissions may be sent to the email address:
submissions at mysterionanthology dot com
== Submit your stories via email as an attachment in .doc, .docx, or .rtf format. The subject of your email should be FICTION: by . The email body should contain a list of your three or four best publications (if any), and any pertinent biographical details: tell us if you're an astronaut writing about space travel, but not if you're an astronaut writing about the elf-dwarf war. Invert that if you're an elf. If you've met us personally, feel free to mention it. Finally, let us know if the story is previously published and where it first appeared--even if it appeared on your blog or twitter stream. Don't try to summarize your story or explain why it's a good fit for our anthology (if it's a good fit, we should be able to tell by reading it).
THEME GUIDELINES
== The story must have a speculative element. It needs something beyond the everyday. We love science fiction and fantasy, enjoy good ghost stories, and think there's great fiction material hidden in the mysteries of Christian theology--cherubim, leviathan, nephilim, visions, prophecy, and more.
== The story must engage with Christianity. We want stories with Christian characters whose faith affects their actions, with Christian themes such as grace and redemption, or with a Christian view of the supernatural. Note that we're not saying that you must be a Christian. We are not in a position to judge your faith, and won't try. Nor does your story need to be unambiguously pro-Christian. If you can tell a good story that meaningfully engages with Christianity, we want to read it.
== Read more about what we're looking for in our Theme Guidelines.
Markets with specific deadlines are listed first, "Until Filled" markets are at the bottom (although there aren't any this month). 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 guidelines on one page, so after you click through you might have to scroll a bit.
***
31 October 2015 -- Alien Artifacts and Were- -- ed. Joshua Palmatier; Zombies Need Brains LLC
[NOTE: This is two books with the same editor and publisher, the same deadline, and nearly identical guidelines. I'm listing them together (as the editor did) to save space.]
Zombies Need Brains LLC is accepting submissions to its two science fiction and fantasy anthologies ALIEN ARTIFACTS and WERE-. Stories must be submitted in electronic form as an attachment with the title of the story as the file name in .doc or .docx format. The header of the email should include the name of the anthology the submission is for along with the title of the submission (for example: WERE-: WereJellyfish Gone Wild!). The content of the email should also include which anthology the manuscript is intended for. Please send multiple submissions in separate emails. Manuscripts should be in manuscript format, meaning double-spaced, 12pt font, standard margins on top, bottom and sides, and pages numbered. Please use New Times Roman font. The first page should include the Title of the story, Author’s name, address, and email, and Pseudonym if different from the author’s name. Italics and bold should be in italics and bold.
Stories for this anthology must be original (no reprints or previously published material), no more than 7,500 words in length, and must satisfy the theme of the anthology.
ALIEN ARTIFACTS is to feature stories where some type of left-behind alien tech has been found and how it may affect our society, our humanity, or the characters. It can be an artifact discovered on Earth in our past or during current times, OR PREFERRABLY, an artifact that we run across while exploring space in the future. I want to stress this: the story must feature an alien artifact (not an alien). Aliens can appear in the story, but the genesis of the story must be some kind of alien artifact. Stories featuring more interesting alien artifacts, and twists on how they are discovered or how they affect our society/humanity, while being set in the future, will receive more attention than those set in the present or past. In other words, we don’t want to see 100 stories dealing with an archeological dig discovering a long buried alien artifact. If we do, it’s likely that only one at most would be selected for the anthology. So be creative and choose something different and use it in an unusual and unexpected way. We are looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark.
WERE- is to feature stories where some type of were-creature OTHER than a werewolf is the main character. Werewolves can appear in the story, but they cannot be the main character or the central focus of the story. I want to stress this: the story must feature a were-creature! Stories featuring more interesting were-creatures, and twists on how they are integrated into the story, will receive more attention than those with more mundane creatures. In other words, we don’t want to see 100 stories dealing with a were-cat. If we do, it’s likely that only one at most would be selected for the anthology. So be creative and choose something different and use it in an unusual and unexpected way. We are looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark.
The deadline for submissions is October 31st, 2015. Decisions on stories should be completed by the end of December 2015. Please send submissions to Joshua@zombiesneedbrains.com. You will receive a receipt email within a few days of receiving the submission. Notices about decisions on the stories will be sent out no later than the end of January 2016.
If your story is selected for use in the anthology, you should expect a revision letter by the end of January 2016. Revisions and the final draft of the story will be expected no later than the end of February 2016. These dates may change due to the editor’s work schedules. Zombies Need Brains LLC is seeking non-exclusive world anthology rights (including electronic rights) in all languages for the duration of one year after publication/release of the anthology. Your story cannot appear elsewhere during that year. Pay rate will be an advance of a minimum of 6 cents per word for the short stories. For each additional $5000 raised above the Kickstarter minimum of $10,000, we will increase this advance pay rate by 1 cent per word. The anthology will be published as an ebook and an exclusive mass market paperback edition, distributed to the Kickstarter backers. The book would be available after that to the general public in ebook and trade paperback formats. Advances would be immediately earned out by the success of the Kickstarter. Royalties on additional sales beyond the Kickstarter will be 25% of ebook cover price and 10% of trade paperback cover price, both split evenly (not by word count) between the authors in the anthology and the editors of the anthology.
Questions regarding these submission guidelines should be sent to Joshua@zombiesneedbrains.com. Thank you.
***
30 November 2015 -- SNAFU: Unnatural Selection -- ed. Geoff Brown and Amanda J. Spedding; Cohesion Press
Anacondas, piranha, giant crocodiles/alligators/lizards, mutated bears near nuclear power stations, prehistoric sharks. These are a few of my favourite things.
All of these featured heavily in books and films of the 70s and 80s, when bio-horror was at its modern peak. For this anthology of military-bio-horror stories, we are looking for you to take us back to those days.
Think Greg McLean’s Rogue, Lake Placid, Eight-legged Freaks, Anaconda, Meg, Prophecy, Deep Blue Sea, and other modern films/books where people (in this case soldiers) are fighting against mutated or ultra-dangerous animals.
Stories must include a strong military-combat aspect.
We STRONGLY suggest you read some of the earlier SNAFUs to see what it is we like.
~ Payment: AUD4c/word and one contributor copy in each format released
~ Wordcount range: 2,000 – 10,000 words (query for shorter or longer)
~ Submissions open September 1, 2015. Closing date is November 30th, 2015 (anything submitted before or after this time will be deleted without being read or replied to). No selections will be made until after the period closes.
Projected publication date: August 2016
Please follow these guidelines when submitting to us:
1. Please put your full contact details on the first page of the manuscript top left, with word count top right.
2. Standard submission format, with minimal document formatting.
3. Courier or Times New Roman set at 12pt. Italics as they will appear. No underlining.
4. Double spaced.
5. Please don’t use TAB or space bar to indent lines. Use ‘styles’ only. If unsure or using a program that has no styles, do not indent at all. That’s still cool.
7. NO SPACE between paragraphs unless a line-break is required. ONE SPACE after full stops.
8. Please put full contact details on the first page of the manuscript (yes, I said this twice… it’s important).
9. Send your submission to Geoff Brown at editor@cohesionpress.com as an attachment (.doc/.docx/.rtf).
10. In the subject line of your email, please put Unnatural Selection: [STORY TITLE] (Replace [STORY TITLE] with your actual story title. Yes, unfortunately I do need to state this)
NO MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS
NO SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS
NO REPRINTS
Please include a brief ‘hello, this is who I am’ in your email body as a cover letter.
Blank emails with attachments will be deleted.
For a guide to standard submission format, see: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html
The only variations to this format are that italics MUST appear as they will be used – no underlining – and again, only one space after a full stop.
Anyone that fails to follow these guidelines will likely see their story gobbled up by giant spider/crocodile hybrids.
***
15 December 2015 -- It's Come to Our Attention -- Third Flatiron
Under the radar: things that are happening quietly, without a lot of fanfare, that may still be extremely significant or make a big difference.
Stories should be submitted in either Microsoft Word (using double spacing), RTF, or plain text. They should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words. Flash humor pieces (Grins and Gurgles) should be short, around 600 words.
Please don't send simultaneous or multiple submissions. If a story has been rejected, you can then send another.
Submit by email to flatsubmit@thirdflatiron.com either as an attachment (Word) or in the body of the mail (text).
In the Subject: line of the email, please put flatsubmit:Title_of_Your_Work to avoid being deemed a canned meat product based on ham.
If the work is for the humor section, please note that in the body of your email. A brief bio and a one- or two-sentence synopsis in the body of your email would also be helpful to us.
Your story must be original work, with the digital rights unencumbered. Accepted stories will be paid at the flat rate of 3 cents per word (U.S.), in return for the digital rights to the story for six months after publication. All other rights will remain with the author. We no longer offer royalties. If your story is selected as the lead story, beginning July 1, 2014, we will pay a flat rate of 6 cents per word (SFWA professional rate), in return for the permission to podcast or give the story away as a free sample portion of the anthology.
Third Flatiron will price and market your story to various e-publishing venues. We will format the story for the most popular electronic readers and platforms. You agree that we may distribute a sample (portion of the story) to potential customers.
For non-U.S. submissions, we prefer to pay via PayPal, if you have such an account.
Authors selected for publication will also be entitled to one free online copy of the anthology.
***
15 December 2015 -- Cthulhusattva: Lovecraftian Tales of the Black Gnosis -- Martian Migraine Press
Martian Migraine Press is now open to submissions for our fourth annual anthology, Cthulhusattva: Lovecraftian Tales of the Black Gnosis.
When it comes to Lovecraftian fiction, readers are already well familiar with the standard protagonists. Men of Science. Hardened, world-weary investigators. Sensitive artists, and the like. All of whom eventually learn too much, as they come into contact with forbidden books, foul thaumaturgies, and the human (and not-so-human!) servants of the Great Old Ones. Through curiosity, stupidity, hubris (and oftentimes a combination of these) such foolhardy individuals are blasted to madness in the deadly light that breaks through into their existence when they dare tread the shadowed paths of the Mythos! Surely death would be preferable!
But…
What of the opposite numbers to your standard Lovecraftian hero? What of those servants of the Great Old Ones? The cultists. Sorcerers. Witches. Lone madmen and women. What of those who go seeking that dark enlightenment of their own free will? What of the individuals who choose to cast off from the shores of humanity’s placid island of ignorance, who choose to voyage far on those black seas of infinity that surround that island?
Whatever else can be said about the Mythos (within the Lovecraftian world-view, naturally) it remains that the madness which underlies it is THE TRUTH OF EXISTENCE. The light may be deadly, yes, but it is still light, and it still reveals! Remember, too, that the Great Old Ones and their servants, have been around for a very long time. What wisdom, what insights into Life, Death, and Reality might be gained by currying their favour? What would be the price of that wisdom, and more… would it be worth it?
For Cthulhusattva: Lovecraftian Tales of the Black Gnosis, we are looking for stories that explore these themes, and these intrepid, intelligent, and yes, more than a little insane characters! However, we’re not interested in dyed-in-their-woolen-robes hooded cultists or card-carrying gibbering lunatics with knives behind their backs, laying in wait for the Randolph Carters and Professor Armitages of the world. Instead, give us stories that examine what it means to truly learn the nature of the Universe and come out the other side, smiling! Remember, the Old Ones are apathetic to human needs and desires, and are as likely to ignore a supplicant as devour them. So, consider how one might go mad at contact with them, but still live and move and have an affect in the world. We want to see tales of Mythos mystics, spiritual sorcerers, monstrous monks, and preternatural philosophers, and we want to see them in a diverse range of settings, not just Arkham. The world is vast and strange: show us the bizarre and mind-expanding traditions of far-flung locales! Take us from the deep past to the unimagined future! Give us stories that prove you can hear the Call of Cthulhu… and return as a Cthulhusattva!
(Savvy Migraineers may detect a possible connection to our non-fiction release of 2014, editor Scott R Jones' When the Stars Are Right: Towards an Authentic R'lyehian Spirituality… and they’d be right! If you’d like to study up on the Black Gnosis, and the kind of person crazy enough to seek it, we’d be more than happy to send you an electronic copy of WTSAR for your edification! Just pop an email to bookstore@martianmigrainepress.com with your preferred format — mobi, epub, or PDF — and we’ll send one along!)
Final count for the anthology will be 18 stories, released as a softcover paperback and as an electronic book in multiple formats.
Submission period closes December 15, 2015. The anthology will be released in early May 2016.
SUBMITTING
Please use Standard Manuscript format when submitting. That’s double spaced, left justified, Times New Roman or Courier or something at least readable, a header on the first page (at least) with your author info and word count and… well, you know the drill. RTF or DOC files preferred, but DOCx and text files also accepted. Obviously, you could send us something that’s not in Standard Manuscript format, but it will lower your chances of it being looked at seriously.
We will look at both original work and REPRINTS.
To submit a story to Cthulhusattva: Lovecraftian Tales of the Black Gnosis send an e-mail (with the story file attached, not in the body of the email) to: submissions@martianmigrainepress.com, with subject line: GNOSIS, title of your story, and your name.
LENGTH AND GENRE
For short fiction, we’d like to see anything from 1,500 to 7,000 words.
FLASH FICTION: got something under 1500 words? Send it in. However, the following still applies…
NO POETRY.
PAYMENT
All accepted submissions will be paid .03CAD per word, via Paypal, as well as a contributor copy (paperback) of the anthology, and copies in all electronic formats (mobi, EPUB, and PDF). Authors are also entitled to copies of three additional Martian Migraine Press titles of their choosing.
REPLIES AND QUERIES
We will try to acknowledge receipt of your submission within a week of its arrival in our inbox. The submission period itself will close on December 15, 2015 and we should be responding to all submissions, yay or nay, by early January 2016. If you haven’t heard from us by January 15, 2016, please query.
***
25 December 2015 -- Mysterion -- ed. Donald S. Crankshaw and Kristin Janz; Enigmatic Mirror Press
We're looking for speculative stories--science fiction, fantasy, horror--with Christian themes, characters, or cosmology.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
== Stories can be up to 10,000 words.
== The anthology will be published in ebook and POD formats.
== We pay 6 cents/word for original stories (or original translations of stories that have not previously appeared in English), and 3 cents/word for reprints.
== We are seeking one year of exclusive worldwide print and electronic distribution rights for original works (with exceptions for Best of the Year anthologies), and non-exclusive worldwide print and electronic distribution rights in perpetuity for both original works and reprints.
== No multiple or simultaneous submissions. Send us only one story at a time, and don't send us a story that's currently with someone else or send someone else a story to which we have not yet responded. Don't re-submit a rejected story unless we request revisions.
== We hope to have responded to everyone within one month of the submission window's closing. Feel free to query if it's been longer than two months.
== Stories must be double spaced, in 12-point Courier or Times New Roman font. The story title, your byline, a word count, and contact information should appear on the first page, and your last name, story title, and page number should appear in the header information of all other pages. We're not particular about whether you use italics or underlining for emphasis, how many spaces are after the period, or whether you use straight or smart quotes.
== Submissions may be sent to the email address:
submissions at mysterionanthology dot com
== Submit your stories via email as an attachment in .doc, .docx, or .rtf format. The subject of your email should be FICTION:
THEME GUIDELINES
== The story must have a speculative element. It needs something beyond the everyday. We love science fiction and fantasy, enjoy good ghost stories, and think there's great fiction material hidden in the mysteries of Christian theology--cherubim, leviathan, nephilim, visions, prophecy, and more.
== The story must engage with Christianity. We want stories with Christian characters whose faith affects their actions, with Christian themes such as grace and redemption, or with a Christian view of the supernatural. Note that we're not saying that you must be a Christian. We are not in a position to judge your faith, and won't try. Nor does your story need to be unambiguously pro-Christian. If you can tell a good story that meaningfully engages with Christianity, we want to read it.
== Read more about what we're looking for in our Theme Guidelines.
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Finished the Afghan
I finished the afghan I'm giving my mom for Christmas. It's pretty huge. Which was deliberate -- I wanted it to work as a throw on her bed, and not just a lap-blanket sort of thing -- but still, I was kind of O_O when I spread it across our king size bed to take pics.
This is looking up from the foot of the bed. Note a copy of Charles's Adventures of an Arkansawyer on my nightstand. :)
A closeup showing the pattern. It's a basic feather-and-fan that I worked out on a paper towel, fiddling and swatching and fiddling and swatching till I had something I liked. One thing I noticed is that if you do a F&F pattern with a stockinette ground, which is how you usually see it, the rippled edges will curl up, which looks like a mistake. :/ I experimented a bit and found that if you knit that edge with a garter stitch ground, it lays flat, so the first few inches and last few inches of the afghan are in garter stitch, which you can see more clearly below. The texture is a bit odd, but I'll take that in exchange for an edge that lays nicely flat.
This took me about six weeks or so to do. I've been knitting while I watch Netflix on my computer, and I've been watching a lot of Netflix. :)
Angie
This is looking up from the foot of the bed. Note a copy of Charles's Adventures of an Arkansawyer on my nightstand. :)
A closeup showing the pattern. It's a basic feather-and-fan that I worked out on a paper towel, fiddling and swatching and fiddling and swatching till I had something I liked. One thing I noticed is that if you do a F&F pattern with a stockinette ground, which is how you usually see it, the rippled edges will curl up, which looks like a mistake. :/ I experimented a bit and found that if you knit that edge with a garter stitch ground, it lays flat, so the first few inches and last few inches of the afghan are in garter stitch, which you can see more clearly below. The texture is a bit odd, but I'll take that in exchange for an edge that lays nicely flat.
This took me about six weeks or so to do. I've been knitting while I watch Netflix on my computer, and I've been watching a lot of Netflix. :)
Angie
Thursday, October 1, 2015
Anthology -- Recycled Pulp
Recycled Pulp is out, with one of my stories, plus a lot of other great reads. This is another one of the books from the Anthology Workshop I talk about every year -- this particular one was filled in March of '14. Yes, it took a while to get to the point of release; it depends how the publisher decides to schedule the books. I imagine she looks at genres and audiences and spaces things out sort of evenly. I dunno, I'm just a writer. :)
This book was fun to write for. John came up with a list of 250 ultra-pulpy titles. Everyone who wanted to submit sent in three numbers at random between 1 and 250, and got three of the titles. We chose one to write about, but we had to write a modern, non-pulpy story that still fit the title. My story is called "Crypt of the Metal Ghouls." :D
There was no other subject restriction on the story except that it had to fit the title chosen, so the book has a wide variety of genres and subgenres; this is a great book for someone who loves short fiction in general.
In his intro to my story, John said,
This next story was one I was hoping to get. I already knew that with the random titles I was throwing at the submitting authors, I'd be getting an even bigger grab bag of stories and genres that would somehow have to be woven together into a cohesive anthology. But even so, the reader in me was hoping that some authors could take the title they’d chosen and turn it into something that would both reinvent it and hit my story buttons. Angela Penrose did both, spectacularly. This is the second story of hers that I've purchased (her first, as well as her first pro sale, was "Staying Afloat" published in Fiction River: How to Save the World), and I hope to be buying many more in the future—especially if she keeps giving me great post-apocalyptic action stories like this one.
I've read all the stories in this book, and there's a lot of excellent reading here.
Available:
in paperback on Amazon
in e-book on Amazon
in e-book on B&N
in e-book on Kobo
in e-book on Smashwords
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Writing Characters Who Aren't Like You
Someone on a mailing list posted this link (thanks Lyn!) and I had to pass it on. Daniel Jose Older, an SFF writer and editor, wrote an article called 12 Fundamentals of Writing "The Other" (And The Self). If you write, or have considered writing, about characters who are different from you in some basic way, this'll give you some good stuff to think about.
I particularly like #5 -- "Racist writing is craft failure." Absolutely. It's easy to reach for obvious traits or characteristics without thinking about it, and have your hand fall onto a racist (sexist, homophobic, etc.) cliche. If bigoted cliches end up in your story, they're like any other cliches and make the writing weaker and more shallow.
Good stuff, check it out.
Angie
I particularly like #5 -- "Racist writing is craft failure." Absolutely. It's easy to reach for obvious traits or characteristics without thinking about it, and have your hand fall onto a racist (sexist, homophobic, etc.) cliche. If bigoted cliches end up in your story, they're like any other cliches and make the writing weaker and more shallow.
Good stuff, check it out.
Angie
Monday, September 21, 2015
Shooting Open Locks
So you're a writer and your character wants to shoot a lock off a gate or a door or something, to get to where they need to be. Does that actually work? What kind of gun/ammo would you need? How many shots? Let's find out!
Seriously, this is a fun video. :)
Also, that dude is a pretty awesome shot. O_O
Angie
Seriously, this is a fun video. :)
Also, that dude is a pretty awesome shot. O_O
Angie
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Loosed Upon the World Is Out
Loosed Upon the World, the cli-fi (climate fiction) SF anthology edited by John Joseph Adams, released today. I have a story in it, along with a bunch of other great writers.
The table of contents has a lot of great names in it, including Paolo Bacigalupi, Robert Silverberg, Tobias Buckell, Margaret Atwood, Nancy Kress, and more. This is a beefy collection of stories, and everyone should find a lot of good stuff in it.
Available to Order:
in hardcover from Amazon
in paperback from Amazon
in e-book from Amazon
in hardcover from B&N
in paperback from B&N
in e-book from B&N
in e-book from Kobo
in e-book from OmniLit
So far as I can tell, it's not up in the Apple store yet.
This is my first reprint. Getting a letter from the editor asking if he could have my story for an up-coming anthology was just as exciting as my first story acceptance almost ten years ago. Having a well-known editor come to me for a story, rather than me having tobeg and plead submit something? That's completely awesome. :)
Angie
The table of contents has a lot of great names in it, including Paolo Bacigalupi, Robert Silverberg, Tobias Buckell, Margaret Atwood, Nancy Kress, and more. This is a beefy collection of stories, and everyone should find a lot of good stuff in it.
Available to Order:
in hardcover from Amazon
in paperback from Amazon
in e-book from Amazon
in hardcover from B&N
in paperback from B&N
in e-book from B&N
in e-book from Kobo
in e-book from OmniLit
So far as I can tell, it's not up in the Apple store yet.
This is my first reprint. Getting a letter from the editor asking if he could have my story for an up-coming anthology was just as exciting as my first story acceptance almost ten years ago. Having a well-known editor come to me for a story, rather than me having to
Angie
Monday, September 14, 2015
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 (although there aren't any this month). 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 guidelines on one page, so after you click through you might have to scroll a bit.
Note that It's Come to Our Attention, a Third Flatiron anthology, has had its deadline pushed back. They're currently closed to submissions; don't send anything in until 15 October.
***
1 October 2015 -- Myriad Lands -- ed. David Stokes; Guardbridge Books
An Anthology of Non-Western Fantasy
Beyond the familiar tropes of knights and dragons, there is a whole world of possibilities for fantasy literature.
This collection seeks to explore the stories available in non-traditional fantasy.
We are looking for secondary world fantasy, where the world building and story telling is based on sources other than medieval Europe.
These can be based on other Earth cultures, examples such as Barry Hughart's fantasy China in Bridge of Birds, or Aliette de Bodard's magical Aztec Empire in Servant of the Underworld. Alternately, they could have a totally original setting, such as M.A.R. Barker's Tekumel, N.K. Jemisin's Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, or China Mieville's Bas-Lag.
LENGTH: 1000-6000 words. We will consider a select few longer works, but query first.
RIGHTS SOUGHT: First Worldwide print and electronic English Language rights. Exclusivity for 1 year from date of release. Non-exclusive rights to keep the anthology in print afterwards.
PAYMENT: £0.03/word (approx. 5¢/word US). Contributor's copy. Payment will be made when story line-up is finalized.
PROCEDURE: attach an RTF or DOC or Plain Text file in an email. Send to fiction@guardbridgebooks.co.uk
In the e-mail include your:
== Legal Name (to whom a payment would be made out)
== Pen Name (if any - how you would like to be credited in print)
== Mailing Address
== Word Count
== Brief summary of publication credits (no need to list them all)
We will judge submissions based on the writing, not on your cover letter, so don't spend too much effort trying to impress us with it.
Please make the file name the same as the title of the story. (ex. TheLordOfTheRings.rtf, although, please, keep your stories shorter than that!)
Please, no simultaneous or multiple submissions. In other words, don't send them to me while you are sending them to someone else, and send only one story at a time.
We will review stories continuously as they come in. If we reject one submission and there is still time, you may submit another. If we like your story, we may ask to hold for final consideration once all submissions are in.
Reprints of previously published material might be considered for exceptional stories, depending on original publication and copyright issues. Please make it very clear in your cover e-mail if your story is already published elsewhere. We will not include many of these and payment will be negotiated individually.
If there are additional elements, like special formatting, illustrations or maps, absolutely necessary for the story, please mention them in the e-mail.
We welcome submissions from writers from a diversity of communities. Writers with experience of Asian, African, Latin American, Oceanic, or indigenous cultures are especially encouraged to apply.
I DO NOT WANT:
== Stereotypes or clichéd portrayal of cultures.
== Stories based purely on showing the strangeness or exoticism of a culture.
== Standard sword-and-sorcery plots with foreign sounding names.
== Explicit and excessive depictions of violence, torture, or rape. (A fight scene is fine, a full page describing the blood and entrails pouring from a wound is excessive.)
== Modern day or urban-fantasy.
I DO WANT:
== Engaging stories with interesting characters.
== Unique stories that flow from the modes of life in their subject cultures.
== Social structures and Governments other than medieval European feudalism/monarchy, cultural traditions other than European.
== Vivid descriptions of lands, peoples, customs (but avoid infodumps or travelogues where possible).
If you have any questions, contact info@guardbridgebooks.co.uk .
I hope to see lots of great stories. Good Luck!
***
1 October 2015 -- Untethered: A Magic iPhone Anthology -- ed. Janine A. Southard; Cantina Publishing
iPhones are magic.
I mean, do you know how yours works? Could you take it apart and put it back together? We can’t go out without our smartphones. They organize our lives, find our locations, and sync with all our other tech. We sleep with them beside our pillows. Yet… their workings are a mystery.
What does “magic iPhone” mean to you? Consider the supervillain who mind-controls a city’s populace, or the employee who stamps the runes that make your iPhone 8s so lightweight.
This anthology is based on the success of anthology editor Janine A. Southard’s recent novel, Cracked! A Magic iPhone Story, which stars an explicitly magical iPhone (found by story gamers in modern-day Seattle). That iPhone comes pre-loaded with a romance finder app of dubious morality that not only sends its users on terrible dates, but also sucks their life forces.
Editor’s Note: I’m looking for stories that cleverly incorporate the idea of a “magic iPhone” into any setting you like. I will, of course, be psyched to read variations on my crazy romance app, but I’m also excited to read something totally different. I’m accepting all genres except straight-up erotica or hard-core horror. (We’re aiming this anthology at general audiences, after all.) I think the idea lends itself well to comedy and dark fantasy, but… I guess that was obvious already.
How to submit: Send your story in .doc, .docx, or .rtf format to Janine A. Southard at untethered.subs@cantinapublishing.com.
Note about brands: In Cracked! A Magic iPhone Story the titular device was, clearly, an iPhone. Cantina Publishing acknowledges that not everyone rates an iPhone as their favorite device, but the concept of the magic iPhone is the element which will tie together stories in this anthology. You are welcome to feature alternate devices in addition to the iPhone, but be respectful in the event of brand/model comparisons. “iPhone” is a registered trademark of Apple Inc.; Cantina Publishing is not affiliated with Apple Inc. (aside from having listings in the Apple iBooks Store); Cantina Publishing has received no incentive from Apple Inc. for featuring their product in this anthology.
Rights and compensation: Originals only, no reprints. We will purchase first publishing rights for inclusion in this anthology (ebook and print) and one year of exclusivity for $100 (further funding may be possible, subject to Kickstarter project fund availability). Authors retain the rights to the individual stories; Cantina Publishing exercises rights to the anthology as a whole. Each author will also receive a POD copy of the finished work.
General Guidelines:
Do send: Your story with your contact details, name (and pseudonym, if applicable), and word count on the first page of a .doc, .docx, or .rtf document. Please use italics instead of underlining. Cantina Publishing recommends using a really common workhorse font like Times New Roman or Calibri at whatever the default setting is for your word processor. (Font selections are subject to change before publication. Still, the submissions reader will remember you as “the jerk who sent something all in wingdings.” So we don’t recommend that particular level of creativity.) 3,000-7,000 words recommended.
Don’t send: Fanfic of any kind. (Unless specified by the call for submissions.) Grotesque horror. Anything over 10,000 words without querying first.
***
31 October 2015 -- Alien Artifacts and Were- -- ed. Joshua Palmatier; Zombies Need Brains LLC
[NOTE: This is two books with the same editor and publisher, the same deadline, and nearly identical guidelines. I'm listing them together (as the editor did) to save space.]
Zombies Need Brains LLC is accepting submissions to its two science fiction and fantasy anthologies ALIEN ARTIFACTS and WERE-. Stories must be submitted in electronic form as an attachment with the title of the story as the file name in .doc or .docx format. The header of the email should include the name of the anthology the submission is for along with the title of the submission (for example: WERE-: WereJellyfish Gone Wild!). The content of the email should also include which anthology the manuscript is intended for. Please send multiple submissions in separate emails. Manuscripts should be in manuscript format, meaning double-spaced, 12pt font, standard margins on top, bottom and sides, and pages numbered. Please use New Times Roman font. The first page should include the Title of the story, Author’s name, address, and email, and Pseudonym if different from the author’s name. Italics and bold should be in italics and bold.
Stories for this anthology must be original (no reprints or previously published material), no more than 7,500 words in length, and must satisfy the theme of the anthology.
ALIEN ARTIFACTS is to feature stories where some type of left-behind alien tech has been found and how it may affect our society, our humanity, or the characters. It can be an artifact discovered on Earth in our past or during current times, OR PREFERRABLY, an artifact that we run across while exploring space in the future. I want to stress this: the story must feature an alien artifact (not an alien). Aliens can appear in the story, but the genesis of the story must be some kind of alien artifact. Stories featuring more interesting alien artifacts, and twists on how they are discovered or how they affect our society/humanity, while being set in the future, will receive more attention than those set in the present or past. In other words, we don’t want to see 100 stories dealing with an archeological dig discovering a long buried alien artifact. If we do, it’s likely that only one at most would be selected for the anthology. So be creative and choose something different and use it in an unusual and unexpected way. We are looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark.
WERE- is to feature stories where some type of were-creature OTHER than a werewolf is the main character. Werewolves can appear in the story, but they cannot be the main character or the central focus of the story. I want to stress this: the story must feature a were-creature! Stories featuring more interesting were-creatures, and twists on how they are integrated into the story, will receive more attention than those with more mundane creatures. In other words, we don’t want to see 100 stories dealing with a were-cat. If we do, it’s likely that only one at most would be selected for the anthology. So be creative and choose something different and use it in an unusual and unexpected way. We are looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark.
The deadline for submissions is October 31st, 2015. Decisions on stories should be completed by the end of December 2015. Please send submissions to Joshua@zombiesneedbrains.com. You will receive a receipt email within a few days of receiving the submission. Notices about decisions on the stories will be sent out no later than the end of January 2016.
If your story is selected for use in the anthology, you should expect a revision letter by the end of January 2016. Revisions and the final draft of the story will be expected no later than the end of February 2016. These dates may change due to the editor’s work schedules. Zombies Need Brains LLC is seeking non-exclusive world anthology rights (including electronic rights) in all languages for the duration of one year after publication/release of the anthology. Your story cannot appear elsewhere during that year. Pay rate will be an advance of a minimum of 6 cents per word for the short stories. For each additional $5000 raised above the Kickstarter minimum of $10,000, we will increase this advance pay rate by 1 cent per word. The anthology will be published as an ebook and an exclusive mass market paperback edition, distributed to the Kickstarter backers. The book would be available after that to the general public in ebook and trade paperback formats. Advances would be immediately earned out by the success of the Kickstarter. Royalties on additional sales beyond the Kickstarter will be 25% of ebook cover price and 10% of trade paperback cover price, both split evenly (not by word count) between the authors in the anthology and the editors of the anthology.
Questions regarding these submission guidelines should be sent to Joshua@zombiesneedbrains.com. Thank you.
***
30 November 2015 -- SNAFU: Unnatural Selection -- ed. Geoff Brown and Amanda J. Spedding; Cohesion Press
Anacondas, piranha, giant crocodiles/alligators/lizards, mutated bears near nuclear power stations, prehistoric sharks. These are a few of my favourite things.
All of these featured heavily in books and films of the 70s and 80s, when bio-horror was at its modern peak. For this anthology of military-bio-horror stories, we are looking for you to take us back to those days.
Think Greg McLean’s Rogue, Lake Placid, Eight-legged Freaks, Anaconda, Meg, Prophecy, Deep Blue Sea, and other modern films/books where people (in this case soldiers) are fighting against mutated or ultra-dangerous animals.
Stories must include a strong military-combat aspect.
We STRONGLY suggest you read some of the earlier SNAFUs to see what it is we like.
~ Payment: AUD4c/word and one contributor copy in each format released
~ Wordcount range: 2,000 – 10,000 words (query for shorter or longer)
~ Submissions open September 1, 2015. Closing date is November 30th, 2015 (anything submitted before or after this time will be deleted without being read or replied to). No selections will be made until after the period closes.
Projected publication date: August 2016
Please follow these guidelines when submitting to us:
1. Please put your full contact details on the first page of the manuscript top left, with word count top right.
2. Standard submission format, with minimal document formatting.
3. Courier or Times New Roman set at 12pt. Italics as they will appear. No underlining.
4. Double spaced.
5. Please don’t use TAB or space bar to indent lines. Use ‘styles’ only. If unsure or using a program that has no styles, do not indent at all. That’s still cool.
7. NO SPACE between paragraphs unless a line-break is required. ONE SPACE after full stops.
8. Please put full contact details on the first page of the manuscript (yes, I said this twice… it’s important).
9. Send your submission to Geoff Brown at editor@cohesionpress.com as an attachment (.doc/.docx/.rtf).
10. In the subject line of your email, please put Unnatural Selection: [STORY TITLE] (Replace [STORY TITLE] with your actual story title. Yes, unfortunately I do need to state this)
NO MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS
NO SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS
NO REPRINTS
Please include a brief ‘hello, this is who I am’ in your email body as a cover letter.
Blank emails with attachments will be deleted.
For a guide to standard submission format, see: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html
The only variations to this format are that italics MUST appear as they will be used – no underlining – and again, only one space after a full stop.
Anyone that fails to follow these guidelines will likely see their story gobbled up by giant spider/crocodile hybrids.
***
15 December 2015 -- It's Come to Our Attention -- Third Flatiron
[***Updated -- was 30 September. Do not submit before 15 October.]
Under the radar: things that are happening quietly, without a lot of fanfare, that may still be extremely significant or make a big difference.
Stories should be submitted in either Microsoft Word (using double spacing), RTF, or plain text. They should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words. Flash humor pieces (Grins and Gurgles) should be short, around 600 words.
Please don't send simultaneous or multiple submissions. If a story has been rejected, you can then send another.
Submit by email to flatsubmit@thirdflatiron.com either as an attachment (Word) or in the body of the mail (text).
In the Subject: line of the email, please put flatsubmit:Title_of_Your_Work to avoid being deemed a canned meat product based on ham.
If the work is for the humor section, please note that in the body of your email. A brief bio and a one- or two-sentence synopsis in the body of your email would also be helpful to us.
Your story must be original work, with the digital rights unencumbered. Accepted stories will be paid at the flat rate of 3 cents per word (U.S.), in return for the digital rights to the story for six months after publication. All other rights will remain with the author. We no longer offer royalties. If your story is selected as the lead story, beginning July 1, 2014, we will pay a flat rate of 6 cents per word (SFWA professional rate), in return for the permission to podcast or give the story away as a free sample portion of the anthology.
Third Flatiron will price and market your story to various e-publishing venues. We will format the story for the most popular electronic readers and platforms. You agree that we may distribute a sample (portion of the story) to potential customers.
For non-U.S. submissions, we prefer to pay via PayPal, if you have such an account.
Authors selected for publication will also be entitled to one free online copy of the anthology.
Markets with specific deadlines are listed first, "Until Filled" markets are at the bottom (although there aren't any this month). 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 guidelines on one page, so after you click through you might have to scroll a bit.
Note that It's Come to Our Attention, a Third Flatiron anthology, has had its deadline pushed back. They're currently closed to submissions; don't send anything in until 15 October.
***
1 October 2015 -- Myriad Lands -- ed. David Stokes; Guardbridge Books
An Anthology of Non-Western Fantasy
Beyond the familiar tropes of knights and dragons, there is a whole world of possibilities for fantasy literature.
This collection seeks to explore the stories available in non-traditional fantasy.
We are looking for secondary world fantasy, where the world building and story telling is based on sources other than medieval Europe.
These can be based on other Earth cultures, examples such as Barry Hughart's fantasy China in Bridge of Birds, or Aliette de Bodard's magical Aztec Empire in Servant of the Underworld. Alternately, they could have a totally original setting, such as M.A.R. Barker's Tekumel, N.K. Jemisin's Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, or China Mieville's Bas-Lag.
LENGTH: 1000-6000 words. We will consider a select few longer works, but query first.
RIGHTS SOUGHT: First Worldwide print and electronic English Language rights. Exclusivity for 1 year from date of release. Non-exclusive rights to keep the anthology in print afterwards.
PAYMENT: £0.03/word (approx. 5¢/word US). Contributor's copy. Payment will be made when story line-up is finalized.
PROCEDURE: attach an RTF or DOC or Plain Text file in an email. Send to fiction@guardbridgebooks.co.uk
In the e-mail include your:
== Legal Name (to whom a payment would be made out)
== Pen Name (if any - how you would like to be credited in print)
== Mailing Address
== Word Count
== Brief summary of publication credits (no need to list them all)
We will judge submissions based on the writing, not on your cover letter, so don't spend too much effort trying to impress us with it.
Please make the file name the same as the title of the story. (ex. TheLordOfTheRings.rtf, although, please, keep your stories shorter than that!)
Please, no simultaneous or multiple submissions. In other words, don't send them to me while you are sending them to someone else, and send only one story at a time.
We will review stories continuously as they come in. If we reject one submission and there is still time, you may submit another. If we like your story, we may ask to hold for final consideration once all submissions are in.
Reprints of previously published material might be considered for exceptional stories, depending on original publication and copyright issues. Please make it very clear in your cover e-mail if your story is already published elsewhere. We will not include many of these and payment will be negotiated individually.
If there are additional elements, like special formatting, illustrations or maps, absolutely necessary for the story, please mention them in the e-mail.
We welcome submissions from writers from a diversity of communities. Writers with experience of Asian, African, Latin American, Oceanic, or indigenous cultures are especially encouraged to apply.
I DO NOT WANT:
== Stereotypes or clichéd portrayal of cultures.
== Stories based purely on showing the strangeness or exoticism of a culture.
== Standard sword-and-sorcery plots with foreign sounding names.
== Explicit and excessive depictions of violence, torture, or rape. (A fight scene is fine, a full page describing the blood and entrails pouring from a wound is excessive.)
== Modern day or urban-fantasy.
I DO WANT:
== Engaging stories with interesting characters.
== Unique stories that flow from the modes of life in their subject cultures.
== Social structures and Governments other than medieval European feudalism/monarchy, cultural traditions other than European.
== Vivid descriptions of lands, peoples, customs (but avoid infodumps or travelogues where possible).
If you have any questions, contact info@guardbridgebooks.co.uk .
I hope to see lots of great stories. Good Luck!
***
1 October 2015 -- Untethered: A Magic iPhone Anthology -- ed. Janine A. Southard; Cantina Publishing
iPhones are magic.
I mean, do you know how yours works? Could you take it apart and put it back together? We can’t go out without our smartphones. They organize our lives, find our locations, and sync with all our other tech. We sleep with them beside our pillows. Yet… their workings are a mystery.
What does “magic iPhone” mean to you? Consider the supervillain who mind-controls a city’s populace, or the employee who stamps the runes that make your iPhone 8s so lightweight.
This anthology is based on the success of anthology editor Janine A. Southard’s recent novel, Cracked! A Magic iPhone Story, which stars an explicitly magical iPhone (found by story gamers in modern-day Seattle). That iPhone comes pre-loaded with a romance finder app of dubious morality that not only sends its users on terrible dates, but also sucks their life forces.
Editor’s Note: I’m looking for stories that cleverly incorporate the idea of a “magic iPhone” into any setting you like. I will, of course, be psyched to read variations on my crazy romance app, but I’m also excited to read something totally different. I’m accepting all genres except straight-up erotica or hard-core horror. (We’re aiming this anthology at general audiences, after all.) I think the idea lends itself well to comedy and dark fantasy, but… I guess that was obvious already.
How to submit: Send your story in .doc, .docx, or .rtf format to Janine A. Southard at untethered.subs@cantinapublishing.com.
Note about brands: In Cracked! A Magic iPhone Story the titular device was, clearly, an iPhone. Cantina Publishing acknowledges that not everyone rates an iPhone as their favorite device, but the concept of the magic iPhone is the element which will tie together stories in this anthology. You are welcome to feature alternate devices in addition to the iPhone, but be respectful in the event of brand/model comparisons. “iPhone” is a registered trademark of Apple Inc.; Cantina Publishing is not affiliated with Apple Inc. (aside from having listings in the Apple iBooks Store); Cantina Publishing has received no incentive from Apple Inc. for featuring their product in this anthology.
Rights and compensation: Originals only, no reprints. We will purchase first publishing rights for inclusion in this anthology (ebook and print) and one year of exclusivity for $100 (further funding may be possible, subject to Kickstarter project fund availability). Authors retain the rights to the individual stories; Cantina Publishing exercises rights to the anthology as a whole. Each author will also receive a POD copy of the finished work.
General Guidelines:
Do send: Your story with your contact details, name (and pseudonym, if applicable), and word count on the first page of a .doc, .docx, or .rtf document. Please use italics instead of underlining. Cantina Publishing recommends using a really common workhorse font like Times New Roman or Calibri at whatever the default setting is for your word processor. (Font selections are subject to change before publication. Still, the submissions reader will remember you as “the jerk who sent something all in wingdings.” So we don’t recommend that particular level of creativity.) 3,000-7,000 words recommended.
Don’t send: Fanfic of any kind. (Unless specified by the call for submissions.) Grotesque horror. Anything over 10,000 words without querying first.
***
31 October 2015 -- Alien Artifacts and Were- -- ed. Joshua Palmatier; Zombies Need Brains LLC
[NOTE: This is two books with the same editor and publisher, the same deadline, and nearly identical guidelines. I'm listing them together (as the editor did) to save space.]
Zombies Need Brains LLC is accepting submissions to its two science fiction and fantasy anthologies ALIEN ARTIFACTS and WERE-. Stories must be submitted in electronic form as an attachment with the title of the story as the file name in .doc or .docx format. The header of the email should include the name of the anthology the submission is for along with the title of the submission (for example: WERE-: WereJellyfish Gone Wild!). The content of the email should also include which anthology the manuscript is intended for. Please send multiple submissions in separate emails. Manuscripts should be in manuscript format, meaning double-spaced, 12pt font, standard margins on top, bottom and sides, and pages numbered. Please use New Times Roman font. The first page should include the Title of the story, Author’s name, address, and email, and Pseudonym if different from the author’s name. Italics and bold should be in italics and bold.
Stories for this anthology must be original (no reprints or previously published material), no more than 7,500 words in length, and must satisfy the theme of the anthology.
ALIEN ARTIFACTS is to feature stories where some type of left-behind alien tech has been found and how it may affect our society, our humanity, or the characters. It can be an artifact discovered on Earth in our past or during current times, OR PREFERRABLY, an artifact that we run across while exploring space in the future. I want to stress this: the story must feature an alien artifact (not an alien). Aliens can appear in the story, but the genesis of the story must be some kind of alien artifact. Stories featuring more interesting alien artifacts, and twists on how they are discovered or how they affect our society/humanity, while being set in the future, will receive more attention than those set in the present or past. In other words, we don’t want to see 100 stories dealing with an archeological dig discovering a long buried alien artifact. If we do, it’s likely that only one at most would be selected for the anthology. So be creative and choose something different and use it in an unusual and unexpected way. We are looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark.
WERE- is to feature stories where some type of were-creature OTHER than a werewolf is the main character. Werewolves can appear in the story, but they cannot be the main character or the central focus of the story. I want to stress this: the story must feature a were-creature! Stories featuring more interesting were-creatures, and twists on how they are integrated into the story, will receive more attention than those with more mundane creatures. In other words, we don’t want to see 100 stories dealing with a were-cat. If we do, it’s likely that only one at most would be selected for the anthology. So be creative and choose something different and use it in an unusual and unexpected way. We are looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark.
The deadline for submissions is October 31st, 2015. Decisions on stories should be completed by the end of December 2015. Please send submissions to Joshua@zombiesneedbrains.com. You will receive a receipt email within a few days of receiving the submission. Notices about decisions on the stories will be sent out no later than the end of January 2016.
If your story is selected for use in the anthology, you should expect a revision letter by the end of January 2016. Revisions and the final draft of the story will be expected no later than the end of February 2016. These dates may change due to the editor’s work schedules. Zombies Need Brains LLC is seeking non-exclusive world anthology rights (including electronic rights) in all languages for the duration of one year after publication/release of the anthology. Your story cannot appear elsewhere during that year. Pay rate will be an advance of a minimum of 6 cents per word for the short stories. For each additional $5000 raised above the Kickstarter minimum of $10,000, we will increase this advance pay rate by 1 cent per word. The anthology will be published as an ebook and an exclusive mass market paperback edition, distributed to the Kickstarter backers. The book would be available after that to the general public in ebook and trade paperback formats. Advances would be immediately earned out by the success of the Kickstarter. Royalties on additional sales beyond the Kickstarter will be 25% of ebook cover price and 10% of trade paperback cover price, both split evenly (not by word count) between the authors in the anthology and the editors of the anthology.
Questions regarding these submission guidelines should be sent to Joshua@zombiesneedbrains.com. Thank you.
***
30 November 2015 -- SNAFU: Unnatural Selection -- ed. Geoff Brown and Amanda J. Spedding; Cohesion Press
Anacondas, piranha, giant crocodiles/alligators/lizards, mutated bears near nuclear power stations, prehistoric sharks. These are a few of my favourite things.
All of these featured heavily in books and films of the 70s and 80s, when bio-horror was at its modern peak. For this anthology of military-bio-horror stories, we are looking for you to take us back to those days.
Think Greg McLean’s Rogue, Lake Placid, Eight-legged Freaks, Anaconda, Meg, Prophecy, Deep Blue Sea, and other modern films/books where people (in this case soldiers) are fighting against mutated or ultra-dangerous animals.
Stories must include a strong military-combat aspect.
We STRONGLY suggest you read some of the earlier SNAFUs to see what it is we like.
~ Payment: AUD4c/word and one contributor copy in each format released
~ Wordcount range: 2,000 – 10,000 words (query for shorter or longer)
~ Submissions open September 1, 2015. Closing date is November 30th, 2015 (anything submitted before or after this time will be deleted without being read or replied to). No selections will be made until after the period closes.
Projected publication date: August 2016
Please follow these guidelines when submitting to us:
1. Please put your full contact details on the first page of the manuscript top left, with word count top right.
2. Standard submission format, with minimal document formatting.
3. Courier or Times New Roman set at 12pt. Italics as they will appear. No underlining.
4. Double spaced.
5. Please don’t use TAB or space bar to indent lines. Use ‘styles’ only. If unsure or using a program that has no styles, do not indent at all. That’s still cool.
7. NO SPACE between paragraphs unless a line-break is required. ONE SPACE after full stops.
8. Please put full contact details on the first page of the manuscript (yes, I said this twice… it’s important).
9. Send your submission to Geoff Brown at editor@cohesionpress.com as an attachment (.doc/.docx/.rtf).
10. In the subject line of your email, please put Unnatural Selection: [STORY TITLE] (Replace [STORY TITLE] with your actual story title. Yes, unfortunately I do need to state this)
NO MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS
NO SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS
NO REPRINTS
Please include a brief ‘hello, this is who I am’ in your email body as a cover letter.
Blank emails with attachments will be deleted.
For a guide to standard submission format, see: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html
The only variations to this format are that italics MUST appear as they will be used – no underlining – and again, only one space after a full stop.
Anyone that fails to follow these guidelines will likely see their story gobbled up by giant spider/crocodile hybrids.
***
15 December 2015 -- It's Come to Our Attention -- Third Flatiron
[***Updated -- was 30 September. Do not submit before 15 October.]
Under the radar: things that are happening quietly, without a lot of fanfare, that may still be extremely significant or make a big difference.
Stories should be submitted in either Microsoft Word (using double spacing), RTF, or plain text. They should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words. Flash humor pieces (Grins and Gurgles) should be short, around 600 words.
Please don't send simultaneous or multiple submissions. If a story has been rejected, you can then send another.
Submit by email to flatsubmit@thirdflatiron.com either as an attachment (Word) or in the body of the mail (text).
In the Subject: line of the email, please put flatsubmit:Title_of_Your_Work to avoid being deemed a canned meat product based on ham.
If the work is for the humor section, please note that in the body of your email. A brief bio and a one- or two-sentence synopsis in the body of your email would also be helpful to us.
Your story must be original work, with the digital rights unencumbered. Accepted stories will be paid at the flat rate of 3 cents per word (U.S.), in return for the digital rights to the story for six months after publication. All other rights will remain with the author. We no longer offer royalties. If your story is selected as the lead story, beginning July 1, 2014, we will pay a flat rate of 6 cents per word (SFWA professional rate), in return for the permission to podcast or give the story away as a free sample portion of the anthology.
Third Flatiron will price and market your story to various e-publishing venues. We will format the story for the most popular electronic readers and platforms. You agree that we may distribute a sample (portion of the story) to potential customers.
For non-U.S. submissions, we prefer to pay via PayPal, if you have such an account.
Authors selected for publication will also be entitled to one free online copy of the anthology.
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