CANDLE IN THE ATTIC WINDOW

Candle in the Attic Window, an anthology of Gothic fiction, will open to submissions January 1-February 28, 2011. Do not send any submissions before this date. Yes, they mean it.

The anthology will be available in print and as an e-book in 2011, and is edited by the eldritch duo of Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Paula R. Stiles. Cover art work is by Nacho Molina Parra.

What They Want

Remember those Gothic paperbacks of the 60s? Yes, the ones featuring the heroine in the white gown running from the creepy mansion. Well, they want her (or it could be him) back!

They are seeking tales and poetry of Gothic horror. While they will consider different time periods, they are not fixed on only exploring an English Victorian country manor. They want a variety of settings. Can you do Gothic Brazil? Gothic Malaysia? How does Gothic take shape in the modern, blue-glass towers of Vancouver? Show us how the terror-stricken governess can morph into the computer programmer that discovers a deadly secret in Hong Kong. Or transport us to 18th century Moscow, where that candle burns bright – and deadly. They want Gothic tales reimagined for a modern audience.

Take the classic Gothic and shake it up a bit. Surprise us. But most of all, scare us.

Further fiction guidelines below. For poetry, send up to three poems pasted in the body of the e-mail with a cover letter. Poems paid at $10 CAD per poem. A physical contributor’s copy and e-book copy are provided.

Length

Short fiction (2,000 words) to novelette (10,000 words). Keep in mind they have a payment cap of $70 CAD, so your long novelette might be better served by finding another home.

Payment

One cent per word (minimum $30 CAD) up to a maximum of $70 CAD; one physical copy of the anthology and one e-book copy.

Payment made via PayPal or Canadian check upon acceptance.

They are purchasing first English print and electronic rights for the anthology.

Reprints

Considered, with a few caveats:

1. Indicate where and when the story was originally published in your cover letter.

2. Reprints offered should not be easily available in print or online.

3. Payment is a flat $30 CAD for reprints.

If you published it in a small collection in 1985 and it’s no longer on the market, that’s fine. If it was published in a German magazine and never translated to English, they’d like to see it. If it appeared in a now-defunct zine, that’s okay, too. If it was in a recent issue of an English-language zine that is currently online, no.

Submitting

E-mail them at innsmouthfp AT gmail.com. Subject line: Gothic Antho, [Title of your Story, Author's Name]. The subject line is important; otherwise, the story might go into the wrong pile.

Do not send simultaneous submissions. Do not send more than one submission because they will not consider more than one at a time and will make you resubmit any simultaneous submissions after they answer on the previous one. If they reject one story, you can send another one.

Include a cover letter with the story word count, salient writing credits and any reprint information (if applicable). Yes, they do read cover letters, so please include the information (Paula gets cranky when stories arrive sans byline, title or cover letter).

Attach story as RTF (preferred) or Word document. Use standard manuscript format. Italics as italics, bold as bold. No fancy fonts.

Stories can be sent in English, French, or Spanish.

Submissions are accepted from January 1-February 28, 2011. Do not send anything before or after that date. If you do, they will ignore it.

They will reject some stories as they come in and send others to the hold pile. Final story selection will take place in March 2011.

Tremblers - A Brand New Market

Trembles is a brand new horror magazine slated for its first release in January 2011 and released 5 times a year (Jan., Mar., May., July., and Sept.) with a double year-end issue in November. The publication will appear online and in electronic and print form and all stories accepted will cross into all three formats.

Guidelines

Horror. Simple as that. To give you an idea of what to send, some authors we like are Brian Keene, Peter Straub, Stephen King, Richard Laymon, Clive Barker, Shirley Jackson, Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft.

• Flash Fiction (1,000 words or less)
• Short Story (1,001 to 6,000 words)
• Poetry (up to 50 lines)

Format

Please send manuscripts as a .DOC, .DOCX or .RTF attachment totrembleshorrormag@gmail.com with a cover letter in the body of an e-mail. Do not send your manuscript in the body of an e-mail, it will automatically be deleted. Make sure your manuscript uses standard formatting like 12-pt New Time Roman font and double-spacing. On the first page of your manuscript, please include your name, address, phone and e-mail in the upper-left corner and the word count rounded to the nearest hundred in the upper-right.

Payment

Trembles provides a token payment of $5 for short stories and $2 for flash fiction and poetry in exchange for First North American Serial rights. You will also receive a contributor’s copy in electronic form.

Please send any questions to the above e-mail address.

Bad-Ass Faeries 4

Bad-Ass Faeries 4 - It's Elemental

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edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail, L. Jagi Lamplighter, Lee C. Hillman, and Jeffrey Lyman

Submit To: Danielle Ackley-McPhail, greenfirephoenix (at) aol (dot) com

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Deadline: June 2011, Release Date: May 2012, Word Limit:3500-7000 words

Familiarity with the existing Bad-Ass Faeries titles is recommended if you have not submitted to us previously. They are your best guide to the types of stories we are looking for in this series. You can fine excepts at www.sidhenadaire.com/excerpts.htm or you can find the complete books for sale in print or ebook via the publisher's website or on the major book-selling sites.Genre: Urban Fantasy

Premise: A collection of unconventional stories about bad-ass elemental faeries with a focus on urban fantasy. Faeries should interact with the human world in some capacity visualized as tough, and for this collection, in a logical profession that is linked to their element: truckers, deep-sea fishermen, cowboys, police, firemen, freedom fighters, crocodile wrestlers, paratrooper, sled-dog driver, etc. We are not really looking for specific known figures from faerie mythology so much as types of faeries from myth and legend with a very clearly defined affinity for one specific element. (Please see below for some recommendations, and also note the category for those already spoken for).

Earth Air Fire Water Spirit Taken

Book will have four (or five) sections, one for each element: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, (Spirit). This means that competition will be fiercer because we will be accepting stories by section as well as by overall quality.

Submission Don’ts

1) Don’t call your faeries elementals, we want specific faeries from myth and legend that are affiliated to one of the elements. Please see below for some recommendations.

2) Don’t include faeries from all of the elements in your story…it will not improve your chances and it will limit us in our ability to select and place a story. Each story should have one primary element incorporated into the plot. Not saying you can’t mention the others or have them as secondary aspects of the story, but we don’t want a bunch of submissions that are Gang of Four style or this element against that element. We want bad-ass stories of elemental faeries using their unique natures to get the job done…whatever it is.

3) Please note that we are not looking for erotica, or extreme violence, language, or gore.

Submission Do’s

1) Use standard submission format: Double spaced, tab indent (NOT auto indent), double hyphen with no spaces before or after to indicate emdashes. Ellipses with no spaces before or after. Use the actual formats for bold, italics and underline. Formatting Guidelines.

2) Include COMPLETE contact information at the top of your submission. Snailmail and email address, including phone number.

3) Include a short author bio with your submission (do NOT use all caps or quotation marks to indicate titles, please make sure they are Title Case and in italics.)

4) Authors MUST submit a proposal before writing and submitting their stories. This is the only way we can avoid overlap among the submissions. The editors do not want to be put in a position of having to reject an otherwise exemplary story because it happens to have too many similarities to something we have already accepted.

5) Include an author’s note about the specific type of faerie you have selected for absolute clarity and to provide some background information to the editors about the particular myth dealing with that faerie. This is optional, but helpful. Anything that makes the editors’ jobs easier is a good thing.

Specifics:

Publisher: Mundania Press, www.mundania.com

Collection will be published in print, ebook and possibly limited edition hardcover.

Contributors will receive one comp copy of the book and an equal share of the royalties, which are 20% for print and 50% for electronic.

More information.

Historical Lovecraft Anthology

Historical Lovecraft anthology opening this September to submissions. The anthology will be available in print and as an e-book in 2011, and is produced and edited by the eldritch duo of Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Paula R. Stiles.

What They Want

Historical fiction with a Lovecraftian twist. Stories should be set in a variety of places, cultures and time periods. While they might buy one story set in 1920s New England, they want to stray far from the normal Lovecraft milieu. If you’re going to do 1920s, why not ship them off to China and tell the story from the point of view of a native of Shanghai? Some examples of ideas they’d like to see:

• There’s something afoot in Henry VIII’s court.
• A Mayan warrior discovers evil lurking in Tikal.
• A trader in Byzantium finds a rare artifact.
• The Pharaoh’s latest advisor is a man of vast knowledge and even vaster secrets.
• The Necronomicon! Take them to Damascus as Alhazred pens the manuscript. Or to the printing of the 17th century edition in Spain.
• Journey to Inuit Canada, where the ice holds prisoner an old foe.
• Political intrigue in Edo leads to blood, tragedy and a brush with a fearsome entity from beyond the stars.
• What happened to Machu Picchu? How bloody were its last days?
• How did the jungle really claim Angkor Wat?
• The rainforests of the Congo groan under Belgian tyranny at the turn of the 20th century. What deadly deals are made to free it?

Please note that for their purposes they consider historical anything up to 1937 (the year of Lovecraft’s death).

If you are curious to know what they enjoy reading, look at some of the fiction issues ofInnsmouth Free Press. The latest one is here.

Length

From flash fiction (1,000 words or under) to novelette (10,000 words). Keep in mind they have a payment cap of $50 CAD, so your long novelette might be better served by finding another home.

Payment

One cent per word up to a maximum of $50 CAD. One physical copy of the anthology and one e-book copy.

Payment made via PayPal or Canadian check upon acceptance.

They are purchasing first English print and electronic rights for the anthology.

Reprints

Considered, with a few caveats:

1. Indicate where and when the story was originally published in your cover letter.
2. Reprints offered should not be easily available in print or online.
3. Payment is a flat $25 CAD for reprints.

If you published it in a small collection in 1985 and it’s no longer on the market, that’s fine. If it was published in a German magazine and never translated to English, they’d like to see it. If it appeared in a now-defunct zine, that’s okay, too. If it was in a recent issue of an English-language zine that is currently online, no.

Submitting

E-mail them at innsmouthfp AT gmail.com. Subject line: Historical Antho, [Title of your Story, Author's Name]. The subject line is important; otherwise, the story might go into the wrong pile.

Do not send simultaneous submissions. Do not send more than one submission. If they reject one story, you can send another one.

Include a cover letter with the story word count, salient writing credits and any reprint information (if applicable). Yes, they do read cover letters, so please include the information (Paula gets cranky when stories arrive sans byline, title or cover letter).

Attach story as RTF (preferred) or Word (doc, not docx) document. Use standard manuscript format. Italics as italics, bold as bold. No fancy fonts.

Stories can be sent in English, French or Spanish.

Submissions are accepted from September 1, 2010 to January 3, 2011. Do not send anything before or after that date.

They will reject some stories as they come in and send others to the hold pile. Final story selection will take place in January 2011.

It Came From Her Purse

Sam's Dot Publishing is pleased to announce the opening to submissions of an anthology to be titled It Came From Her Purse. We are looking for original short stories in the genres of science fiction and fantasy, and we will consider a very few horror stories. We will also consider original poetry and illustrations. We will remain open to submissions from 1 May 2010 until we are filled at 65,000 words, and anticipate publication in the spring of 2011.

We leave the subject matter up to the writers, so long as the story is related in some way to the title of the anthology and especially to the tone of the title. It may be helpful to think of the title as that of a Roger Corman movie. We also hope to receive some humorous submissions, but please bear in mind that trying to be funny often falls flat. If you wish to write something humorous or off-beat, use a light touch. Subtlety and absurdity combine well for humor.

All submissions must contain contact information both in the e-mail and on the first page of the manuscript. D'you get that? We may delete without comment or reply any submission that does not contain this information.

Lead editor for the "Purse Project" is Karen L. Newman. The associate editor is Georgia Middleton. Just so you know . . .

Response time is expected to be one month. Stories will be either declined or held over for consideration; in either case you will be notified within a month. If your story is held over for consideration, it could be up to three months before a decision is made.

You may submit more than one piece, but please submit only one piece at a time. The subject line of each submission must read Submission: and the title of the submission.

We will consider reprint stories and poems. However, we will accept no more than two reprint stories and two reprint poems.

Stories:

Stories should be between 2,000 and 5,000 words. Submit your story as a Word or rtf attachment to fromherpurse at yahoo dot com [you will have to combine the elements of this e-mail address. We're fighting spam].

Poems:

Poems should be no longer than 100 lines. Submit your poem in the body of an e-mail to fromherpurse at yahoo dot com [you will have to combine the elements of this e-mail address. We're fighting spam].

Illustrations:

Black & White illustrations should be submitted as jpeg attachments. The preferred size is 800 by 1100 and 300dpi. Submit your illustration as a jpeg attachment to fromherpurse at yahoo dot com [you will have to combine the elements of this e-mail address. We're fighting spam].

Cover Art:

Again, submit your art as a jpeg attachment. The preferred size is 800 by 1100 and 300dpi. Submit your cover art as a jpeg attachment to fromherpurse at yahoo dot com [you will have to combine the elements of this e-mail address. We're fighting spam].

Payment:

Stories: $10.00 each

Poems: $3.00 each

Illustrations: $5.00 each

Cover art: $20.00

If you have any questions, please query the submissions address and put query in the subject line. Good luck, and we're looking forward to reading your work.

Guidelines.

Last Man Anthology

Sponsored by Sword & Saga Press and The Last Man Anthology.
Submissions are being accepted for the first annual “End of the World Contest.”
Deadline is September 30, 2010.

Contest winners will be notified by October 31, 2010 and published in the November 2010 issue of the Last Man Magazine.
Entry fee $5 (See below).

First Prize:
$75 cash prize
A free six week course on SF & Fantasy Writing, a $120 value.
A copy of the Last Man Anthology, a $15
Publication in the first edition of The Last Man Magazine, Winter, 2010.
Feature “author’s spotlight,” an interview with the writer about his or her craft, novels/short stories/work-in-progress.
A copy of the first issue of the LM Magazine, a $6 value.

Second and Third Prize:
A copy of the Last Man Anthology, a $15 value.
Publication in the Last Man Magazine.
A copy of the first issue of the LM Magazine, a $6 value
The theme of your submission should be the end of the world.
It can be Earth, or any other interstellar planet.
Genre is open. Bring us your best catastrophe, disaster, and woe.

Please include the following in your electronic submission: 

- A cover letter with brief bio and contact information including your e-mail address

- A short fiction story up to 7500 words, as a Word doc. attachment

- In the body of the email please include your Unique Google Transaction Number
- Email submissions with the title and word “contest” in the header to LastManAnthology@aol.com.

-Writers who have submitted to the LMA prior to June 1st may send two stories for the one $5 entry fee. Just include the transaction
number on both submissions.

The Last Man Anthology

The Last Man Anthology is seeking submissions:


We are a print publication bringing together the best of catastrophic literature. This anthology is a tribute to Mary Shelley's novel, "The Last Man." Submissions to the Last Man Anthology will be accepted until filled. The anthology will be released August 30, 2010 in celebration of Mary Shelley's birthday.

Word count: 1500-8888 words.

All fiction should focus on the theme of catastrophic literature, and present interesting and innovative ideas that lend to the conception of being the last. Show us the last man, woman, robot, alien, planet, universe. The last person to do what. The last planet to do what. Show us the end of the world. What world is up to you to decide. The characters or world must show the last of something. Stories should be science fiction in nature, although genre-bending is acceptable. No alternate history.

Email submissions to LastManAnthology[@]aol.com. Attachments in doc. or docx. Subject header should read: Last Man Anth/title/word count. Please include a bio, any creative writing or college classes you've taken, if any. In a few sentences tell us what your favorite book is and why. Lastly, in a few sentences explain why science fiction is important to you.

Visit our website for complete instructions: http://lastmananthology.weebly.com/

Distant Realms

Library of Science Fiction & Fantasy Press is pleased to announce open
submissions for “Distant Realms”, an anthology of novella length Fantasy.

Fantasy sometimes needs big brush strokes to paint a world, or room to
spread and grow to show the entire picture, and that can make the novella
the perfect length. It’s a length often neglected in modern genre fiction,
but it has the potential to deliver incredible stories. We believe very
strongly in that potential and invite you to help us find it.

The details:

There are a lot of different opinions on how many words it takes to make a
novella. For Distant Realms, we’re looking for stories that run between
20,000 and 30,000 words. Those two numbers make fairly solid barriers and
it makes us sad to reject things solely based on length.

We prefer your submission be in standard manuscript format and attached to
your e-mail as an rtf file. For a good reference on what standard
manuscript format entails, please see William Shunn’s web
pageon the subject.

Payment for inclusion in this anthology will be $100, two contributor’s
copies of the book, and the everlasting knowledge of being involved in
something special. In return, you’ll be giving Library of Science Fiction &
Fantasy Press two year exclusive print and electronic rights from the date
of publication; not to the world you’ve created, just to the story.

Submissions are open and will close at midnight on 31 Mar 2010. This is a
fairly large window, but we recognize the size and scope of a novella can
require a great deal more time than a short story. If you don’t have one
ready to go, we’d like to give you a chance to write and polish one from
scratch.

Submissions and Queries should be sent to distanteditor@gmail.com with
‘Submission – Distant Realms’ or ‘Query – Distant Realms’ in the subject
line, as applicable.

Caveats:

Strange Horizons provides a wonderfully detailed (yet certainly
incomplete) list
of overused themes and
plots.
We’re not saying don’t do it, because it’s always possible to bring
something new to a cliché, but if you’ve picked something from this list as
your main focus, try to stand it on its head.

Because there is only room for 4 or 5 stories in Distant Realms, submissions
will be taken in two stages, building a shortlist of possible inclusions.
Rejections will happen, but final decisions on acceptances won’t be made
until ALL submissions have been read.
The speculative elements you choose, whatever they are, must be integral to
the story. If you can write the same story without them, then it’s not a
genre story. That said, our definition of Fantasy is very broad. If you
can say Fantasy when you look at your story, please send it because we want
to read it.

Stories of Life and Adventure with the VW Bus

I'm collecting stories for an anthology that I hope to get published in 2010.

Although I have about 25 stories so far, some long and some short, I'm still looking for tales of travel adventure; tidbits of daily life with a VW Bus; memories of your first sighting of a Bus; the first Bus you ever owned; weddings and celebrations where VW Buses held a prominent position; stories of Bus enthusiasm passed down from generation to generation--–anything related to the glories (and predicaments) of VW Busing.

Photos and artwork are welcome. Word length can be from 200 to 3000, whatever is sufficient to tell your tale.

I would be grateful for any leads to other material.

Please contact me if you need more info.

type2tom@gmail.com

http://storiesoflifeandadventurewiththevwbus.blogspot.com/

Zombidays: Festivities of the Flesheaters

Submissions are now open. A deadline has not been set, but as the book fills an advanced closing date will be announced.

Stories must include zombies and be about, involve, or be set on one of the holidays listed below.

The theme/spirit of the holiday must be clearly evident.
No stories with religous aspects or themes will be accepted.

word count 5k - 8k only
rich text format only
courier font size 12
indent paragraphs
double space
use italics - do not underline
no page numbers

Stories should be presented where a sumbmission should only require copy editiing.

Submissions that do not meet guidelines will not be accepted.

Place your contact information on first page, upper left - name, address, phone number, and email.

On the upper right please state the name of the holiday you are using and the word count.

Place your name/pen name under the title.

Send submissions to zombidays@gmail.com

Please mention any of your previous work, a brief explanation of who you are, and where you have learned of the submission request.

You may submit multiple stories, but only one story per author may be published.

Published authors will receive 1 center per word and 1 contributor copy.

You may find updates on the anthology and information regarding the publisher - the Library of the Living Dead Press here:

http://libraryofthelivingdead.lefora.com/2009/12/22/zombidays-submissions-open/

LIST OF THE ACCEPTED HOLIDAYS

April Fools Day
Arbor Day
Australia Day
Boxing Day
Canada Day
Christmas
Columbus Day
Earth Day
Easter
El Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)
Father's Day
Ground Hog Day
Guy Fawkes Night
Halloween (can include Mischief Night)
Hanukkah
Human Rights Day
Independence Day/4th of July
Kwanza
Labor Day
Mardi Gras
May Day
Memorial Day
Mother's Day
New Years Eve/Day
New Zealand/Waitangi Day
Presidents, Inauguration, or Election Day (USA)
Rosh Hashanah
St. Patrick's Day
Thanksgiving (can include Black Friday)
Valentimes Day
Veterans, Remembrance, Armistice, ANZAC Day
Victoria Day

Silver Boomer Books Anthologies

Silver Boomer Books

http://silverboomerbooks.com/submissions.html

Silver Boomer Books is looking for submissions for two upcoming anthologies:

A Pinch and A Dash: Recipes from Home and Long Ago

Flashlight Memories (childhood reading)

They are also interested in "speculative submissions for:

The Faith of Our Mothers (faith of real women at least a generation older)

Out of the Kitchen (women pioneers in professions)

Life Spinning Moments (comments or events that changed the course of a life)

Payment is US$5 for poetry, US$10 for prose plus a contributor' s copy.

Payment upon publication.

Music for Another World Anthology

Submission Guidelines

Forgive the lengthy guidelines but I hope by being as specific as possible I'll save both my time and yours. If a story does not fit the submission guidelines it will be rejected without a second glance.

What I'm looking for
The obvious points:
I'm looking for Fantasy and Science Fiction Stories. I am quite broad with definitions, but a fantasy story must have an element of fantasy, and a science fiction story must contain an element of science/technology and speculation about science. I like merged-genre stories, but be warned that I don't want the anthology dominated by 'slipstream' stories.

Story length is ideally between 2000 and 6000 words. However, I will consider stories outside of this range.

The unique points:
Music must be integral to the story: for example, the story might be about music, or the life of musicians, or the effect of a musical instrument, or perhaps a piece of music -- or anything else that I haven't thought of!

This next requirement is equally important. I'm not only looking for great characters, great plot, great entertainment and great prose, but I'm also looking for stories that are intellectually exciting. This is something Science Fiction and Fantasy is best equipped to deliver, so I am going to be explicit about wanting this in the anthology.

What I'm NOT looking for:

• A story where the author has changed the lead character from a schoolteacher to a musician, or where the magical object has been changed from a cursed handbag to a cursed violin. Music MUST be integral to the story. If the musical element can obviously be exchanged for something or someone else -- brilliant though the story may be -- it won't fit my anthology.

I'm also NOT looking for:

• Gore-fests
• Sword and Sorcery
• Fan fiction
• Mozart fighting zombies

Submission Format:
Electronic submissions only. In RTF format. Email to mark.musicanthology'@'gmail.com

If you have an off-the-wall idea you would like to check out with me in advance, please do so. I can be contacted at mark.musicanthology'@'gmail.com

Background info for submitters: What's 'Strange Fiction'?
I'm using it as a convenient term to lump together Fantasy and Science Fiction. 'Speculative Fiction' would also do, but it has acquired snobby associations. I'm happy to celebrate The Geek.

Background info for submitters: The Anthology

The book will be published to good standard in paperback, PDF and ePub. Sales will mainly be online as the cost of selling through the big retailers is exorbitant. I will send review copies to sites and associations that are likely to cover it. I will also invest in publicity activities when the anthology is near completion -- but the scope of this will depend on what is practical when I get to that point. The anthology will contain about 10 stories.

I'll give updates here on submission and book progress -- so if you are a story submitter follow this site for news.