Saturday, January 23, 2010

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.

Friday, January 8, 2010

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/



Thursday, January 7, 2010

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

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

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.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

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.