Candlelight

A Dark Anthology of Horror, Science Fiction, and Fantasy

We’re looking for stories--tales, if you will--that would be read by candlelight. If the power went out, night fell, and all you had left were candles, we want the tales that you would want to read. If that means something creepy, eerie, or haunting, so be it. If that means stories of other worlds beyond the stars, that works just as well. Even if it means stories of ancient worlds where castles still stand and knights still ride, that will fit. Anything and everything that could be read in the dark, with the storm raging just beyond the windows. Anything that could be read by candlelight.

The anthology will be all about imagination. Horror, science fiction, and fantasy are all perfectly acceptable. And if yours is a half-breed of the others, so much the better. High fantasy will be taken--think Michael A. Stackpole or Robert Jordan--as will a more modern fantasy such as most of Stephen King’s work. Science fiction, whether military or hard, will be accepted. And horror, of course, of any kind--though we are much more interested in tales that get inside your head than tales with gratuitous violence. Think “Bag of Bones” more than “Cell.” To that end, if your story has a dark twist, it will be very well received. If it is creepy and makes you shiver with the lights off, if it makes you want to close your closet and lock your doors before going to sleep, it will be a great fit. Because candlelight implies a certain amount--a large amount, actually--of shadow.

Submissions:

Stories should be between 2000 and 5000 words.

Simultaneous submissions are fine, as long as that is noted in the email. Multiple submissions are not; send one at a time, then wait for us to respond before submitting again.

No postal submissions. Send your electronic submissions to the following:

candlelightsubs(at)gmail.com - Replace the (at) with @.

In the subject line, put SUBMISSION: Story Title.

All submissions should be in Standard Manuscript Format. Use Courier New as the font. Double space. Indent paragraphs. Put a word count at the beginning and make sure to put your last name, the title, and the page number on the top of each page. For an example of Standard Manuscript Format, go here:

http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html

All manuscripts should be attached to the email, in either .doc or .rtf format. Feel free to use the body of the email as a brief cover letter, listing previous publishing credits (if any), your name, etc. Don’t bother with a further bio--we’ll ask you for one if we decide to publish your work.

We are asking for First Publishing Rights for as long as the anthology is in print. When it goes out of print, all rights revert to the author.

Unfortunately, we cannot afford to pay for stories at this time. But Candlelight will be published in a Perfect Bound Trade Paperback through lulu.com, and that’s something a lot of other publications can’t claim. Your list of publishing credits will be that much longer, and your story will be on the page in black and white, sitting on a bookshelf or coffee table or nightstand.

We look forward to reading your work.

http://www.jonathanjschlosser.com

July 15, 2008