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.

A Cup of Comfort® for Mothers:

Stories that celebrate the women who gave us everything

While it's true that each of us has "only one mother the wide world over," there are many different ways to be a mother and many different forms and flavors of mother-child relationships. And in this Cup of Comfort anthology we want to capture it all—with personal stories about a wide range of mothering and mother-child experiences, including those that test your mettle as well as those that enrich your life. The book will include stories written both by mothers and about mothers (by their adult children, spouse, own mother). Any topic and tone goes, as long as it’s meaningful to mothers and suitable for Cup of Comfort. Whether a story is endearing or entertaining, inspiring or insightful, humorous or heartwarming, poignant or empowering, or all of the above, it must be uplifting and authentic. And most should be about living mothers/children. Although a story may be about a deceased mother (or a deceased child, if written by the mother), it should focus on her life, not on her death. Narrative essays preferred. Story length: 1000–2000 words.

Submission Deadline: May 15, 2009 Submit Your Story Now
Finalist Notification: June 1, 2009

Bylines 2010

We are now accepting submissions for Bylines 2010 Writers Desk Calendar and we invite dedicated, serious writers who have been published and paid for their work to submit an entry. All genres and disciplines are welcome.

Submission Guidelines

We're looking for succinct personal stories about the writing life. The oh-wow success tales, the naked truth about what motivates you, the heartache of rejection, the toughest lessons, the joy and pain of freelancing. Humor is good, so is pathos. Please avoid routine, trite, ordinary stories. Read the many insightful submissions in the current Bylines and you'll see what we mean. We strongly urge you to read these entries so you understand what we're looking for. Click on the links below for three examples of entries from previous Bylines.

Andrew Bill
Karuna Eberl
Nora Frances Horn

The best way to see what we're looking for is to obtain a copy of Bylines 2009. For order information, click on the "order Bylines" button at the left.

Writer's Bio
A few sentences about yourself. You're not dry and boring, so your bio shouldn't be either. Give us your accomplishments but round out your profile so our readers feel like they'd like to meet you for coffee. Or a beer.

Submission Length
The combined word count of your essay and bio should not exceed 300 words. We want room for your photo. However, don't send your photo yet. We'll let you know if your submission has been chosen and request your picture then.

Writer's Photo
If your submission is accepted, we will require a high resolution photograph. You may send a digital image as long as the resolution is 300 dpi or higher. If you do not have a high resolution digital image, please send us a quality snap shot that we may use. Please note, your photograph will not be returned. Do not send us your photo until you are notified that your submission has been accepted for the calendar.

Submission Method
Send your submission within the body of your email (NOT as an attachment) to: info@bylinescalendar.com. Include your full name, address, phone number, email address and website. Do not mail hard copies.

Deadline
Submissions must be received no later than February 1, 2009. Writers will be notified by April 15.

Fine Print
We reserve the right to edit submissions and bios chosen for Bylines but you will have the opportunity to approve any changes. Bylines has one-time use rights. Submissions and photographs will not be returned. We will accept previously published work; just let us know when and where it appeared. Writer agrees that pull quotes from their submission may be used on the Bylines web page, or in other marketing.

Writer Compensation
1. Exposure and promotion. Bylines is sold at bookstores nationwide and on the Internet. Your website and email address are listed in the calendar (with your permission), and we provide a link from our website to yours. If you're the outgoing type, we help arrange book signings at your local bookstore and/or interviews with your local media. We also send out hundreds of press releases. 2. You get one free calendar and discounts on additional purchases. 3. Money. It's only $5, but at least you can count us as a paying market. Remember, this is a labor of love, a tribute to writers and a break-even project.

Publisher
Sylvia Forbes
sylvia@bylinescalendar.com

Zoland Poetry Anthology

Submission Guidelines
Please submit no more than 10 pages of previously unpublished poetry per reading period.

Work may be submitted online: submission@zolandpoetry.com
or via mail to: Zoland Poetry / 384 Huron Ave / Cambridge, MA 02138

All submissions must include: Name, Address, Phone, & Email

• Fax submissions are not accepted.
• Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, if noted in the cover letter.
• Submissions will not be returned, though receipt of material will be confirmed,
  if a self-addressed, stamped postcard is provided.
• All poets will be contacted by May 1, if their work has been accepted.

Submissions will be accepted for the fourth Zoland Poetry annual beginning in early summer 2008 through March 15, 2009. We are no longer reading for the third annual, which will be out March 2009.

Payment Schedule
Payment for poetry submissions is $25/page with a maximum of $200. Zoland purchases First World Rights, non-exclusive one-time anthology rights, and the right to publish a selection of the work on the website. Copyright remains with the author. All authors and translators will receive two copies of the book, along with payment, which is made just after publication of the annual volume. Authors are responsible for proofing their respective pages from galleys.

Translations will be considered only if a letter, signed by the author or his/her agent granting rights to the translated work, accompanies the submission. Translators should also include brief biographical information about the author and hard copy of the original language text. Upon acceptance of the translation, electronic copy of the original language text will be requested for the website.

Contact
General queries: info@zolandpoetry.com

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To support the author of this blog, consider buying her books.

Pumping Your Muse (Creative writing book)

Windwalker (Fantasy)

Beyond the Fifth Gate (Fantasy)

For more about the author of this blog check out Theinkslinger.net.

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.

Call for submissions for 2009 Legend Press short story collection

We are publishing the fourth in our acclaimed series of short story-collections and are looking for talented, vibrant authors to submit stories for consideration. Our short-fiction series, called ‘The Short Story Reinvented’, is designed for today’s busy, but discerning, reader. Short fiction is the perfect answer for the modern reader on the move who wants to read easily accessible, sleek contemporary fiction. Through this series we hope to reaffirm the short story’s inimitable place in the mainstream market.

We plan to publish the new collection at the end of March 2009 and are calling for writers to send in their submissions by 31st October 2008. A summary and full description of the brief are given below. We look forward to reading, and hopefully publishing, your work!

Guidelines

· Short-story of approximately 9,000-12,000 words

· Actions/thoughts to occur/take place in a single room

· Stream-of-consciousness-style

· Non-genre-specific

· Thought-provoking and original. We want to feel moved and inspired by these stories.

Submission procedure

· Please submit stories to Lucy Boguslawski, Publishing Assistant by email to submissions@legend-paperbooks.co.uk by 31^st October 2008. If you would like to organise an alternative method of suubmission please email the same address.

· Any questions or queries, just let us know and we’ll try to get back to you as soon as we can – email submissions@legend-paperbooks.co.uk.

· Visit the books and reviews page of our website for details of the first three collections in the series, The Remarkable Everyday, Seven Days and Eight Hours.

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Check out my new young adult fantasy Beyond the Fifth Gate.