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.