Panverse

Panverse - All-Original Novella Anthology Series

They are now reading for Panverse Four (publication date Sept 1, 2012). They'll be reading very selectively, and submissions will remain open until the anthology is filled.

What they're looking for in Panverse Four:

Pro-level novellas of between 17,500 and 40,000 words. They are particularly interested in core SF stories, as well as Fantasy and Alternate History. With Fantasy, note that they gravitate toward urban and edgy, though they do have a weakness for non-sappy stories involving Faërie or Sidhe characters. Your story should be original and unpublished in any medium including web publication.

Depth of characterization will count for a lot—however clever the idea, if they don't care for the protagonist, they'll reject it. They like stories that instill wonder. Give them a character they care for, a world both interesting and well-developed, and a story that carries them along, and you've probably got a sale.

What they don't want in Panverse Four:

Military SF, High Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Horror, RPG, superhero, shared-universe stuff, etc. Vampires and Cthulhu-mythos stories are strongly discouraged unless you've done something absolutely original with either theme. No gratuitous or wildly excessive sex or violence: what this means is that sex or violence which serves the plot is okay, within limits; the same goes for language. Think R-rated rather than XXX-rated.

Response Time:

They'll respond to all submissions inside six weeks; if you haven't heard after that time, please ping them. If they're on the fence over a story, they'll keep you in the loop rather than leave you wondering. Yes, they've been on the other side of the slush pile, and it's their intention to maintain a gold standard in this regard.

How to Submit Stories:

Your submission should be professionally formatted, with paragraphs indented but not separated by line breaks.

Please send only your best work, and take the time to proofread and format it properly. If your submission completely ignores these guidelines or is full of typos, they're unlikely to read it. Please send them only one story at a time. No simultaneous or multiple submissions.

NO 'BOOK BLURB', please: I don't want to know in advance what the story's about! There's no better way to annoy me in a submission than to ignore this rule.

A cover letter is optional, but please keep it very short.

If they really, really like a story but feel some edits or rewriting are needed, they'll make suggestions and discuss them with you rather than just bounce the story outright. They're doing this because they want to help you make this story the best it can be. If you're not open to constructive editing, don't submit to them.

Finally, please don't expect critiques or reasons for rejection. If your story is rejected, it's probably because it either doesn't conform to their needs, or doesn't grab them enough to make them want to publish it.

Email them your submission at pansubs (at) gmail (dot) com as an attachment in either docx, doc, or rtf format. Write SUBMISSION: (Story Name) in the subject line. Stories pasted into the email will be deleted. Please don't attach anything except the story.

Payment and rights:

Each contributor will receive $75 on publication. They buy FNASR for a period of one year.

Here's the deal: they're working on a shoestring, and they're going to be to spending time and money on getting this series—and YOU—noticed. Expect reviews in LOCUS, TANGENT ONLINE, ASIMOV'S and several other prominent venues; they'll blog about this anthology, notify everyone on their large email list, and generally market their butts off; and of course Panverse Four will be available in all digital formats via Amazon.com and other online outlets.

If you're thinking, "Waitaminnit! The pro mags would pay me 6 cents a word!" by all means try them first—they're rooting for you! But the sad truth is that the very few remaining pro markets between them only have room for maybe 10-15 novellas a year, and they're not known for taking chances on novellas by new authors.

Panverse, on the other hand, exists primarily to publish authors writing at these longer lengths, and their titles have received several excellent reviews in LOCUS, ASIMOV'S and elsewhere. Stories from Panverse Two made both the LOCUS and TANGENT ONLINE reading lists, and Alan Smale's AH story, 'A Clash of Eagles,' is currently on the shortlist for the 2011 Sidewise Award.

The Panverse series is the premier anthology for all-original SF/F novellas in the market today. Check their website for more details.

The Angler

Since I haven't come across a new anthology market, today's post will include a writing market looking for short stories:

Submitting to The Angler

Note: Submissions are open.

Thank you for your interest in The Angler. If you have a story you wish to submit, please consider the advice in the “What to submit” section below. In a lot of cases you will probably have to make some small revisions to your story to make it suitable for The Angler. If you haven’t noticed already, The Angler is published by an active beer writer, amateur craftbrewer, fisherman, and idler. Most of the readers coming to this site are craft beer enthusiasts, folks that are into the do-it-yourself mode, and people in life’s slow lane. I don’t insist that you must have a reference to craft beer or fishing in your story, but it helps. If you do reference a craft beer, I’ll leave the choice of which one to reference up to you. (Think about the one brewed locally in your area.)

I accept less than 25% of the stories submitted to The Angler. Depending on the backlog, it might take me a month or so to get back to you with a decision. I’ll do my best to get back to you promptly. If you don’t hear from me in one month. Please send a follow-up. Occasionally things get gobbled up by the spam bucket.

Submission Guidelines

Flash fiction and short stories under 1000 words can be submitted by email. For works longer than 1000 words, please send an excerpt and a summary of the whole work.

Paste the plain text of your story into the body of the email. The subject of the email should begin with the word “Submission”. You may also include the title of your story. If you send an attachment, make sure it’s in Rich Text Format (.rft). If you story is accepted, you’ll need to send in this file anyway.

Together with your submission, please include a cover letter stating where you heard about The Angler. Also include a contributor biography written in the third person, not to exceed 250 words. In your biography, please provide a selection of your prior publications, if any, and links if the publications are in online magazines or journals.

Simultaneous submission of the same story to a different magazine is fine, just let me know if some other lucky editor has the privilege of publishing your story before I do. Also, previously published work is fine, as long at you hold the copyright and have permission from the original publisher. If you have posted your story on your website, that’s fine with me. I don’t consider posting of stories on personal, author websites as being prior publication. You should include information about simultaneous submission and the prior publication history of the story in your cover letter.

Please limit yourself to only one submission per author at a time. Once I have made a decision concerning your submitted work, you may then submit another work for consideration.

Authors retain the copyright for the work submitted to The Angler. All I ask for is the permission (1) to keep a permanent archive copy of the work on the magazine’s website, and (2) to reprint your story in a future print or online anthology. If your work is published originally in The Angler and then some other publisher with excellent taste in literature reprints your work, I ask that The Angler be acknowledged as the original publisher and a link provided to this web site. Submission implies consent to this request.

What to submit

What I’m looking for are well written stories. I’m interested in literary fiction. Rarely will I consider a genre-piece for publication unless the story pushes or bends the genre formula. I prefer works with strong characters, an original voice, and fresh situations.

I am especially interested in publishing experimental fiction. Here’s a list of some of the writers whose experimental writings I enjoy: Alain Robbe-Grillet, Jorge Luis Borges, James Joyce, and Julio Cortazar. I’m also a consumer of books by the OuLiPo-ists, cf. Raymond Queneau, George Perec, Italo Calvino, etc.

Important: Because the readership of The Angler consists primarily of intelligent craft beer and whiskey drinkers who appreciate fine food and stimulating conversation, stories that contain references to the following elements have a higher chance of being accepted: craft beer, brewing (at home or commercial), scotch and other whiskies, pubs, bars, restaurants, etc. Also, I like a good fishing story. Stories which explore pub culture are especially welcome. I’m looking for “mundane” stories — not boring stories, but stories that are in and of the world — stories about people living.

Please do not send poetry. I am not qualified to evaluate poetry. I enjoy reading poetry, but am not in a postion to publish it.

I’m also looking for creative non-fiction on the following topics: literature, writing, the writing life, authors, food, dining, beer, brewing, wine, cheese, the gourmet life, travel, jazz, film as art, fishing, loafing, doing-it-yourself, the craft lifestyle, quitting your day job, etc. Please send a query letter first.

Each issue of The Angler will have a title. The title of the first issue is “Repetition.” The title is not intended to dictate a strict theme; if authors have stories that fit with the title then that’s a bonus.

Submit all work and query letters to theangler at donavanhall dot net. I’ll try to be prompt in letting you know my decision concerning publication.

The Angler is listed with the Duotrope Digest. Please use their response tracker to report my response time in providing you a decision concerning publication.