Some Calls for submissions

TWO DARKHART ANTHOS
We will be paying 1¢ per word and a copy of the anthology. We prefer stories under 6,000 words. Payment will be upon publication. Also, please indicate in your email to WHICH anthology your are submitting even though we do provide separate emails below.

We are getting some submissions that seem to be forgetting the basics so there they are in repeated in short form:

(1) Submissions should be in standard MS format, except for 1" margins and 12 point font. Do not paste the text into the email window. We prefer attachments in Microsoft Word document or in Rich Text Format (RTF). or text (if you must).

(2) All submissions hould have contact information in the cover letter and in the document: Name, address, phone # and email.

No Simultaneous submissions

(3) Multiple submissions are fine, but only one story will be accepted. If you're submitting to both anthologies, fine. Do it one MS at a time. Do not submit multiple MS to each anthology, wait until you hear back from the editors before submitting again. Yes, you may submit to BOTH anthologies.

(4) Include brief publishing history, BIOs will be asked for if the story is accepted.

(5) Dark Hart is buying FNASR. (First North American Serial Rights.)

(6) If the story has been printed already let us know. Reprints are being considered last for this anthology. Given the repsonse we are already received, we doubt we will be using Reprints.

HERE ARE THE DETAILS and THEMES for the SHORT STORY ANTHOLOGIES:

Note the titles on these anthologies may be added to and/or changed slightly as they develop.

(1) Terrible Beauty: Beauty that causes people to do unspeakable things, beauty that masks something else. Use this theme in a unique way, and get back to us. Maximum story length: 7,000 words. We want variety, surprises and fresh ideas. There is no set or expected way to approach this topic, so go for it! SF, Urban, and Historical settings are fine.

If it is NOW October 1st or beyond, send your submission for the Terrible Beauty Anthology to:

terriblebeauty@darkhart.com

(2) Traps! Theme guidelines: Use the two quotes from Dorothy Parker (1893 - 1967), the famed wit of the Algonquin Club in NYC, provided below as inspiration. Please use both some way in your story—not literally, but creatively. See above for what we look for. Ditto on all points: 7,000 words max., etc. Make it intricate, but easily comprehensible. Yes, we do know that is an oxymoron.

Trapped, like a trap in a trap.

By the time you swear you're his
Shivering, sighing
And he swears his love for you is
Infinite, undying
Lady, make a note of this
One of you is lying

If it is NOW October 1st or beyond, send your submission for the Traps Anthology to:

traps@darkhart.com


WHO WE ARE AND THE BASICS:

DarkHart Press is a small independent trade publisher based in Ward Hill, Massachusetts. We publish 4-6 novels/short story anthologies per year and our authors are paid royalties. Please query via email or snail mail before sending your novel.

Note: We are not a subsidy press. We pay our authors and DarkHart pays for all associated costs of advertising, printing and promoting the books we publish. if you have any other questions, please ask.

We do accept short story submissions via email—but ONLY for anthologies during the times when we are reading and the stories should relate to themes we are looking for, however, longer works (novellas/20,000 words +) or novels should be sent via snail mail to our mailing address. Please send queries or short story manuscripts to: submissions@darkhart.com.

For all other submissions, please use this address:

DarkHart Press
PO Box 8009
Ward Hill, MA 01835

Our Philosophy, Aims and Publishing Needs:


DarkHart Press publishes these types of fiction:


• Horror
• Dark Fantasy or Dark Fiction this includes, Science Fiction with dark elements
• Cross-genre that includes these elements—romance can be up to an equal component or subplot, but we do not publish romance novels with dark/horror elements.

http://www.darkhart.com
Submission Guidelines
Short Fantasy Fiction for inclusion in
Paper Blossoms,
Sharpened Steel:
Tales of Fantasy from the Far East

Guidelines


The anthology will feature roughly twenty-five short stories between
3,000 and 9,000 words.

We are looking for stories of fantasy in East Asian-based settings. We want tales that are heavily influenced by Chinese, Korean, or Japanese folklore and history. We are not looking for stories set in the modern day. The mid-to-late 1800's is as late as you should venture. Submissions need not be set in our world, but can be set in created worlds that are influenced by the cultures listed above.
Examples of books and movies with similar themes include (but are not limited to): Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn (novel), Shaman Warrior by Park Joong-Ki (Korean manwha), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (movie, the fourth book in the Crane-Iron Pentalogy by Wang Dulu, and a graphic novel series), the Chinese legend of Hua Mu Lan, the Tomoe Gozen trilogy by Jessica Amanda Salmonson, and Kwaidan
by Jung and Jee-Yun (graphic novel).

No electronic submissions. Please include a SASE for reply.
Submission Period: May 15, 2007 to December 15, 2007
Reading Period: December 15, 2007 to January 15, 2008
Responses will be mailed by January 31, 2008

Rights: 1st World Publication Rights in the English Language
Pay: 5 cents per word upon acceptance of final draft, as an advance
on pro rata (based on final page-count) share of 35% of net revenue


Mail your story to
Fantasist Enterprises
PBSS Anthology
PO Box 9381
Wilmington, DE 19809
USA

Short Fantasy Fiction of Any Theme or Sub-genre
We are always looking for short fantasy stories to be entered into the "Fantastical Visions Contest" for possible inclusion in our next Fantastical Visions anthology. For more information on the contest,
see the Contest Page.


Fantasist Enterprises



SPEC THE HALLS
Spec the Halls is a contest for speculative winter holiday-themed fiction, artwork, and poetry. The holiday may be fictional or real; it may be Christmas as we know and love it, or it may be something much stranger.
What do I mean by speculative? I mean science fiction, fantasy, or even horror, of traditional and modern varieties. Mixed genres or slipstream is okay. Horror must be of the supernatural, dark science fiction, or dark fantasy variety. However, although I am including horror, I am not accepting relentlessly downbeat submissions. This is a celebration of the holiday season, so I have a couple of caveats. There must be at least one sympathetic character (for fiction and poetry), and there must be at least a glimmer of hope at the end.

Do not submit a retelling of the Christmas story without a speculative element!

This year, I'm trying something new. There will be two versions of this contest: paid entry, and free. The free version will remain the same as last year--you must post the story in a publicly accessible place and a link will be posted on this website. The paid entry version won't require it to be posted online.


Paid Entry Guidelines | Free Entry Guidelines

Paid Entry Guidelines
Deadlines:
Entries must be first received between Thanksgiving (November 23rd) and Christmas (December 25th). Winners will be announced before Groundhog Day.
Entry Fees:
Fiction - $5
Artwork - $2.50
Poetry - $1
Prizes:
One prize is given for each category. The prize is 70% of entry fees received, and will be paid through PayPal. Not to mention the joy and delight of spreading the spirit of Christmas...and twisting it to your own ends. As this is the first year Spec the Halls has a paid entry category, I can't predict the number of entries.
Specifications:
Multiple submissions are accepted.
Reprints are perfectly okay, though I'd like to know where the work previously appeared.

Fiction may be of any length, from short-short to novella, but if it runs past 10,000 words it better be pretty amazing.

Artwork may be in any medium, so long as it fits the theme. The image size must be no more than 1000 pixels wide and no more than 800 pixels high.

Poetry may be in any style, from medieval traditional to free-form.

How to submit:
Paypal your entry fee to specthehalls@gmail.com with your submission title in the Note field.
Then email specthehalls@gmail.com.

What to put in the submission email:

A subject line in the following format: "Paid Submission - [Fiction/Artwork/Poetry] - [Submission Title]". For example, "Paid Submission - Fiction - The Nightmare Before Christmas".

Your full legal name and mailing address.

A pseudonym, if you would like to use this on your story instead of your real name.

A note stating whether or not there is violence, sex, or swearing in your story.

No attachments.

Legalese:
By submitting work to this contest, you agree that this work is entirely your own, that you have the rights to it, and that it in no way violates the rights of another entity. If your submission is chosen to win, you agree to grant exclusive rights allowing it to be published on the Spec the Halls website for a period of two months after the contest winners are announced and to grant non-exclusive reprint rights during the contest period (Thanksgiving through Groundhog Day) next year. You understand that a winning submission will be archived on the site as the site manager determines, though it will be removed at your request except during the two time periods defined above. If you are under eighteen, your parent or guardian has given their agreement to your submitting under these terms.

Free Entry Guidelines
Deadlines:
Entries must be first posted between Thanksgiving (November 23rd) and Christmas (December 25th). They must stay online until Groundhog Day (February 2nd) or until the winners are announced (Groundhog Day is the outside deadline that I'm setting myself for the decision). However, it should be noted that submitting earlier (when there's less competition) will increase a submission's chances of being a "Featured Submission."
Prizes:
One prize is given for each category. The prize is $25 for fiction, $15 for artwork, and $5 for poetry. Not to mention the joy and delight of spreading the spirit of Christmas...and twisting it to your own ends. Prizes will be paid through PayPal.
Specifications:
There is no entry fee.
One submission only per category. You may submit to more than one category.

Reprints are perfectly okay, though I'd like to know where the work previously appeared.

Fiction may be of any length, from short-short to novella, but if it runs past 10,000 words it better be pretty amazing.

Artwork may be in any medium, so long as it fits the theme. The image size must be no more than 1000 pixels wide and no more than 800 pixels high.

Poetry may be in any style, from medieval traditional to free-form.

How to submit (and here's where it gets interesting):
The point of this contest is to share the (speculative) spirit of Christmas. To submit, you must place your story/artwork/poem on the internet in a publicly accessible forum. This means your website, your blog, a shared documents/images service that allows you to share with everyone, or an online community that you belong to. This should be an ad-free space with no pop-ups, and it should not be cluttered up with lots of links. I understand that some free website providers have banner ads that cannot be removed, and I will make allowances for this. If you like, you are welcome to put up a simple "donate" or "tip" button from PayPal or a similar service on your submission page. You must be able to provide a static address link for your submission. Do not use weird fonts or text/background colors for poetry or fiction submissions.
When you post your submission online, you must include the following text in the upper left-hand corner:

This [story/artwork/poem] is a part of the Spec the Halls contest for speculative winter holiday-themed fiction, artwork, and poetry. You may find descriptions of and links to other entries at Spec the halls
It should be noted that many online magazines count posting a short story online on your website as publication, in terms of giving up first publication rights if not in terms of publishing credit. If you are not comfortable with this, consider submitting to the paid entry version of Spec the Halls.
After you've posted your submission, send an email to specthehalls@gmail.com

What to put in the submission email:

A subject line in the following format: "Submission - [Fiction/Artwork/Poetry] - [Submission Title]". For example, "Submission - Fiction - The Nightmare Before Christmas".

A link to your submission page.

Your full legal name and mailing address.

A pseudonym, if you would like to use this on your story instead of your real name.

A note stating whether or not there is violence, sex, or swearing in your story.

No attachments.

For fiction, a brief promotional "teaser" of thirty words or less. This should not be a summary of the work. Think of the cover copy on the back of a book.

For artwork, a link to a "sample" of your submission. This sample should be 100 x 100 pixels. This sample may be a scaled-down version of your artwork, it may be a small portion of the piece, or it may be a combination of the two.

(For poetry, the teaser will be the first two lines of the poem, so no teaser needs to be included.)

Legalese:
By submitting work to this contest, you agree that this work is entirely your own, that you have the rights to it, and that it in no way violates the rights of another entity. If your submission is chosen to win, you agree to grant exclusive rights allowing it to be published on the Spec the Halls website for a period of two months after the contest winners are announced and to grant non-exclusive reprint rights during the contest period (Thanksgiving through Groundhog Day) next year. You understand that a winning submission will be archived on the site as the site manager determines, though it will be removed at your request except during the two time periods defined above. If your submission is not chosen to win, you understand that the site may at its discretion continue to link to the submission unless you request otherwise. If you are under eighteen, your parent or guardian has given their agreement to your submitting under these terms.
What I will do with submissions:
I will post links to all submissions on the contest website, along with the submission teaser or sample, updated weekly. There will be a weekly "featured submissions" page, where I'll put up a very short beginning excerpt of fiction and poetry or a mid-size sample of artwork, along with a link to the submission. A weekly email containing the same information will be sent out on a roughly weekly basis. You may subscribe to this by sending an email to specthehalls@gmail.com with "Subscribe" in the subject line.
Spec The halls guidelines



BAD A$$ Faeries and CRY HAVOC
Hello All,

Well, the deadline for Bad-A$$ Faeries and Cry Havoc are rapidly drawing near. We are starting to get submissions, but nowhere near where we hoped we would be. To that end, I am copying everyone that expressed an interest, as well as those I feel might be intrigued by the project. (Feel free to circulate this announcement.)

Please send a query email with your idea so I can direct you in another direction if someone is already working on something similar.

To give the new-comers some details about the anthologies here are the basics:

Title: Bad-A$$ Faeries 2: Just Plain Bad

Premise: Urban Fantasy stories about tough faeries. Basically in professions or with interests that you would least likely expect faeries to be in. For this volume a faerie must be the antagonist. In other words, both bad-a$$ and bad. This is not to say there can't be good faeries in the story as well. (for those that aren't sure what constitutes urban fantasy, it is a story in a modern setting with fantasy elements).

Word Count: approximately 5000 to 7000 words

Payment: One comp copy per author and a pro rata portion of $1.25 each book sold

Deadline: November 30, 2007

Submission Guidelines: Please see my website at
www.sidhenadaire.com

Ideas to Avoid:
(Used in first volume) Biker Faeries, mob faeries, detective faeries, ghetto faeries, assassin faeries, ossuary faeries, cowboy faeries, indian faeries, street urchin faeries, Puck,?gang faeries

(Submitted for second volume) Nazi elves, world war two faeries, faerie reaper,
pirate faeries, heavy metal faeries, faerwolf, corporate raider faeries, repo
faerie, evil tooth faerie

Stories We Might Like to See: bounty-hunter faerie,?hocky or rugby player faerie,?mercenary faeries, teamster faeries, construction worker faeries, robber faeries/bandit faeries...that kind of thing. And one thing I'd really like to see...a cops-and-robber faeries story.

Keep in mind, though a faerie has to be a bad guy, that doesn't mean their can't
be good faeries in the story too...

Second Anthology:

Title: Cry Havoc - Stories of Conflict Between Men, Monsters, and Machines

Premise: collection is broken into section: Pure Fantasy (Men vs. Monsters, no tech), Historic Fantasy (any combination of the three, primitive tech (like DiVinci or such), Urban Fantasy (any combination of the three, modern-day tech), Soft Sci Fi (any combination of the three, future projection tech based on current design or theory), and Hard Sci Fi (Men vs. Machines, anything you can imagine, even if the science doesn't yet support it)

Word Count: approximately 5000 to 7000 words

Payment: One comp copy per author and a pro rata portion of $1.00 each book sold

Deadline: November 30, 2007

Submission Guidelines: Please see my website at
www.sidhenadaire.com

We have an off balance amount of submissions for Historic and Urban Fantasy, and
Soft Sci Fi, so focusing on one of the other sections might be advised.

Thank you and best regards,

Danielle Ackley-McPhail
Author of Yesterday's Dreams
Author of Tomorrow's Memories
Editor of Bad-A$$ Faeries




The Tampa Review Prize for Poetry
http://tampareview.ut.edu
Hardback Book Publication • $1000 Award • Selected Poems in Tampa Review

GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION
Manuscripts must be previously unpublished. Some or all of the poems in the
collection may have appeared in periodicals, chapbooks, or anthologies, but
these must be identified.

1. Manuscripts should be typed, with pages consecutively numbered. Clear
photocopies are acceptable. Manuscripts must be at least 48 typed pages; we prefer
a length of 60 -100 pages but will also consider submissions falling outside this range.

2. Please submit your manuscript as loose pages held only by a removable clip or rubber band and enclosed in a standard manilla file folder. Do not staple or bind your manuscript.

3. Entries should include two title pages, one with author's name, address, phone number, and e-mail address (if available), and one with no author information. Author's name should not appear within the manuscript.

4. Entries must include a table of contents and a separate acknowledgments page (or pages) identifying prior publication credits.

5. Submissions must be postmarked by December 31. Simultaneous submissions are permitted, but the University of Tampa Press must be notified immediately if the manuscript is accepted elsewhere.

6. Include a nonrefundable handling fee of $20.00 for each manuscript submitted. Make check or money order payable to "University of Tampa Press".

7. The winning entry will be announced in Spring/Summer, together with a list of finalists. Enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard for notification of receipt of manuscript, and a stamped, self-addressed envelope for notification of contest results. No manuscripts will be returned. All contestants enclosing SASE will be notified following the final selection.

Manuscripts should be sent to:
The Tampa Review Prize for Poetry
University of Tampa Press
401 West Kennedy Blvd.
Tampa, FL 33606
http://tampareview.ut.edu




JAN

CFS: Alligator Juniper-Genre Blur

SPECIAL CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: GENRE BLUR

In our 2008 issue of Alligator Juniper, we’ll be featuring a special section on genre blur. Introduced by Margot Singer’s essay “On Genre and Voice in Creative Nonfiction,” which claims “there is no such thing as non-hybrid form” and “that voice is the only formal distinction between fiction and nonfiction,” this special feature in AJ will explore work that challenges easy categorization and expands or destroys our notion of “genre.”

We’re looking for submissions that revel in their inherent hybrid nature, that combine and confuse genre, that experiment with voice and form. We’re looking for writing that fills in the cracks: lyric essay, prose poem, flash fiction, fictional essay, epistolary half-truth, mythic memoir…whatever you can think of that pushes us to consider—and re-consider—how to categorize the work.

Because of our limited space, shorter pieces (500-3,000 words) are encouraged, although we will consider longer pieces of merit.

Deadline for submission is January 1, 2008. Send a cover letter with a paragraph containing your explanation of how your piece blurs genre, in addition to an SASE to:

Alligator Juniper
Prescott College
220 Grove Avenue
Prescott, AZ 86301

Questions: Contact Rachel Yoder at aj@prescott.edu or (928) 350-2012

Homepage: http://www.prescott.edu/highlights/alligator_juniper/index.html
http://community.livejournal.com/specficmarkets/194856.html#cutid1



FEBRUARY

ECOTONE: RE-IMAGINING PLACE
Guest editors: Sebastian Matthews and Camille T. Dungy
CALL FOR POEMS BY BLACK AMERICAN POETS
Deadline: February 15, 2008

The introduction to the Oxford Book of Nature Writing, claims that “the most
convincing nature writing is… a history of our views about ourselves.” This is most certainly true; however, the prevalence and scope of Black writing with nature as a core theme has been generally underestimated. Many poems by Black American writers incorporate treatments of the natural world that are historicized or politicized, thus inclining readers to consider these poems political poems, historical poems, protest poems, socio-economic commentary, anything but nature poems. This is particularly true when the definition of what constitutes literature about nature or the environment is limited to poems that address the pastoral or the rugged, spaces and subjects removed or distanced from human contact. Such compartmentalization excludes African American nature poetry, which frequently engages contemporary and historic concerns within social, political, and cultural contexts. The result of such assumptions is that lists of American nature writers rarely include many African American names.

As guest editors for the journal Ecotone: Re-imagining Place, we’re making a call for poems by Black poets about and engaging the natural world. Founding Editor David Gessner says this about Ecotone’s mission: “Much of our best writing grows out of the land. More specifically, it grows from rich, overlapping areas, those unstable, uncategorizable places that aren’t one thing or another. Biological ecotones are areas of great species diversity and biological density, of intense life and death; literary ecotones are the places where words come most alive. These edges—between genres, between science and literature, between land and sea, between urban and rural, between the personal and biological, between the animal and spiritual—are not only more alive, but more interesting and worthy of exploration.” Black poetry in America has recorded perspectives on the natural world as different as the Black perspective on this country. We’re looking for poems that re-imagine the boundaries of the genre, poems that remind readers that we are always part of the natural world, even when we feel most alienated from it.

Please submit up to 4 poems, by February 15, 2008, for an Ecotone feature issue on nature poetry by Black American poets. Send poems c/o Guest Editors, Ecotone, P.O. Box 9594, Asheville, NC, 28815. Include your name, address, email and an SASE.

--Camille T. Dungy & Sebastian Matthews
Guest Editors of Ecotone: Re-Imagining Place


CLOCKWORK PHOENIX
Tales of Beauty and Strangeness
GUIDELINES
CLOCKWORK PHOENIX: Tales of Beauty and Strangeness is a new annual anthology series edited by Mike Allen, to be published by Norilana Books starting in 2008. The anthology's literary focus is on the high end, and it is open to the full range of the speculative and fantastic genres.

Editor Mike Allen says: " Clockwork Phoenix is a home for stories that sidestep expectations in beautiful and unsettling ways, that surprise with their settings and startle with the ways they cross genre boundaries, that aren't afraid to experiment with storytelling techniques. But experimentation is not a requirement: the stories in the anthology must be more than gimmicks, and should appeal to genuine emotions, suspense, fear, sorrow, delight, wonder. I will value a story that makes me laugh in its quirky way more than a story that tries to dazzle me with a hollow exercise in wordplay.

"The stories should contain elements of the fantastic, be it science fiction, fantasy, horror or some combination thereof. A straight psychological horror story is unlikely to make the cut unless it's truly scary and truly bizarre. The same applies to a straight adventure fantasy or unremarkable space opera -- bring something new and genuine to the equation, whether it's a touch of literary erudition, playful whimsy, extravagant style, or mind-blowing philosophical speculation and insight. Though stories can be set in this world, settings at least a hair or more askew are preferred. I hope to see prose that is poetic but not opaque. I hope to see stories that will lead the reader into unfamiliar territory, there to find shock and delight."

RIGHTS PURCHASED: First English Language Rights and non-exclusive electronic rights. The anthology will be published by Norilana Books in a trade paperback edition in the Spring of 2008, to be followed by an electronic edition to be produced later.

PAYMENT: $0.02 a word on acceptance as an advance against royalties, then a pro rata share of royalties after earnout, plus a contributor copy.

WORD LENGTH: Up to 10,000 words, with longer stories having to be exceptional.
DEADLINE: February 1, 2008.

HOW TO SUBMIT: Submissions are electronic only. Please submit your story via e-mail, as an RTF file attachment. Your e-mail subject line should say "Submission: Story Title". Include a brief cover letter in the body of your email. It should have your name, address, e-mail address, title of story, number of words, and brief biographical information in case we don't know you, with most recent publishing
credits, if applicable. We are open to new writers and seasoned veterans alike.

We look forward to reading your most inspired work.


FAR FAR AWAY
Far Far Away (tenative title) will be a themed print anthology about the worlds that exist alongside our own, unseen, be they on the other side of the looking-glass, in virtual reality, or in the sewers under the city. We especially like slipstream or cross-genre. Also: humor, SF/Fantasy, experimental, and/or surreal. Stories without any element of genre may be considered if they do a fantastic job of making Mundania seem like a foreign world. Elements of horror are fine, but we'd rather you evoke a sense of wonder than dread. Show us what exists just outside of the everyday, and turn what's under our noses into a land far, far away.
Guidelines

Deadline: February 29, 2008
No reprints.
Fiction from 100 to 6,000 words, and we may publish one novella of 10,000 to 15,000 words.
Submit work in the body of the email, or attached as a rtf, doc, or odt.
If your work is selected, we will purchase FNASR at the following rates:

$10 for flash (<1000 words)
$25 forshort stories (1000 + words),
and $50 for a novella of >10,000.

You will get an e-mail confirmation that we received your story, but you may not get your acceptance or rejection until after the submission deadline. To accomodate this, we will allow you to send up to four submissions to a total word count of 6,000 words (whichever comes first) OR one novella up to 15,000 words. Simultaneous subs
okay, if marked as such, and please notify us as soon as you can it your story is accepted elsewhere.

Submissions go to Adicus R. Garton and Brian Worley, editors.
Subject line like this (or our spam filters may eat it): FFAsub/Title/name

susurrusantho (at) yahoo.com

Recommended Reading:

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clark
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
Otherland by Tad Williams
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zalazny
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum


http://susurruspress.com/FFAgls.htm


Anthology Guidelines - "Subtle Edens - The Elastic Book of Slipstream"

This book will be a mixture of fiction and non-fiction. To be edited by Allen Ashley. To be published as an original paperback by Elastic Press in Autumn 2008.

General Information:

All works must be original to the author(s), not under consideration anywhere else and not previously published. Any quotations from other people's work must be either public domain, approved by the quoted
author or fall under the "body of a review" copyright allowance. As a general rule: Write your own material, don't rely on someone else's!

Fiction:

Allen Ashley has made the following provocative statements:

"Slipstream is essentially a 1990s and noughties extension and subtle reconfiguration of New Wave science fiction."

"How do I define science fiction? Somewhere between 1967 and 1974."

Slipstream uses the tropes and ideas of science fiction, fantasy and horror but is not bound by their rules and will often make those elements only a minor feature of the story rather than its raison d'être. Likewise, a plot and set-up may appear conventionally literary but fall outside the staid boundaries of the mainstream.
Slipstream may start off with a science fictional or broadly realistic appearance but then take a sideways step into its own unique microcosm or socio-psychological state. Slipstream writers may sometimes experiment with form, presentation and the usurpation of traditional techniques but these are not ends in themselves. As with all great literature, Slipstream is concerned with people, perceptions and the human experience. Slipstream contains and proudly maintains a strain of solipsism and encourages the individual viewpoint and the unique vision. We appreciate the sentiments behind the recent coining of the phrase "The New Weird" but reject this notion as limiting and somewhat off-target.

In a sound bite, Slipstream is somewhere between the literary aspirations of the mainstream and the pulp excitement of genre fiction.

Slipstream is a living genre. J. G. Ballard called science fiction the true literature of the twentieth century. Here in the noughties, we believe Slipstream is a vital genre and is the only true literary response to the challenges of the new millennium.

As you can see, Allen is already halfway through his anthology introduction. But then again, maybe Slipstream is the genre that ultimately defies easy categorisation. Throw off the constraints of branding, marketing and labelling! Make Slipstream what you believe it to be.

How to Submit Stories:

If all the above hasn't put you off - and it ought to have done, folks! - then we'd really like to read your work. Stories should be written in English, be original, unpublished, not under consideration elsewhere and no longer than 5000 words in length. Standard presentation rules apply. Please send "Disposable" paper copy plus C5 stamped addressed envelope. We can reply by email if you prefer.
Overseas contributors: we will only reply by email. The editor prefers to relax on a sofa and enjoy reading a hard copy of your opus - he was brought up on books, you know. For email submissions, please query first to check what mood he's in.

Send your manuscripts to: Allen Ashley, Editor - "Subtle Edens", 110 Marlborough Road, Bounds Green, London N22 8NN, England.

Please allow 8 weeks response time.

Please email Allen if you have any queries about this anthology, no matter how trivial or, indeed, testing!
www.elasticpress.com.


Presentation Guidelines for the Novice:
Typed; double spaced; white paper; black ink; one side of paper only; title and author name at head of each page; page number on each page; word count on final page or title page; manuscripts in English. Use a
conventional, legible font such as Times New Roman, Arial or Courier New set at 12 or 14 pitch.

Non Fiction:
We will be publishing a few non-fiction articles within the body of the book but all of these have now been commissioned.

Please Note:
Submission period closes: on Friday 29th February 2008 or when we're full, whichever is appropriate. Watch the Elastic Press site for regularly updated information.

You will be paid for your work in copy / copies of the book. Elastic Press receives no Lottery or Arts Council funding and is completely independent from any multinational media organisations. We survive because discerning readers buy our books. Thank you.

With their titles having been regularly short-listed for prestigious awards, Elastic Press made the great leap forward in 2005 and won two British Fantasy Society Awards - Best Anthology ("The Alsiso Project"
Ed. Andrew Hook) and Best Small Press.


Bite Size Guidelines:
"Subtle Edens - The Elastic Book of Slipstream" - anthology.
Allen Ashley requires:
Original Slipstream stories up to 5000 words.
Payment: via Contributor copy / copies.
Response Time: 8 weeks.
Closing date: 29th February 2008.
Send "Disposable" hard copy manuscripts to:

Allen Ashley, Editor - "Subtle Edens", 110 Marlborough Road, Bounds
Green, London N22 8NN, England.


http://www.elasticpress.com/subtle-edens-guidelines.htm

2008
NEW WOMEN’S VOICES
Finishing line press
10th Year Anniversary CHAPBOOK COMPETITION
A prize of $1,000 and publication will be awarded by Finishing Line Press for a chapbook-length poetry collection. Open to women who have never before published a full-length poetry collection. Previous chapbook publication does not disqualify. All entries will be considered for publication. The top-ten finalists will be offered publication and will be included in the New Women's Voices Series. Submit up to 26 pages of poetry, PLUS bio, acknowledgments, SASE and cover letter with a
$15 entry fee by

Deadline: Feb. 15, 2008 (POSTMARK).
Judith Montgomery will final judge.
Winner will be announced on our website: www.finishinglinepress.com

Send to:
2008 NEW WOMEN’S VOICES
CHAPBOOKCOMPETITION
Finishing Line Press
P O Box 1626
Georgetown, KY 40324



MARCH

IN BAD DREAMS
In Bad Dreams - Volume Two: Where Death Stalks
(An Anthology of Contemporary Horror)
Edited by Mark S. Deniz & Sharyn Lilley
The unnatural sea creature off the coast of Maputo in Mozambique; the blood sucking vampire in Valdivia, Chile; or the disease ridden hag in Braitslava, with her words of poison. Vampire, werewolf, spirit; creatures of the night; the paranormal; abominations or just plain misunderstood.
Some may run to their deathly embrace; others will flee the largest cities, thinking themselves safer in a city with less victims to attract 'their' attentions. All will find it is not safe, there is nowhere to go, for wherever you run, you can be sure 'they' are waiting; watching and waiting...

We want your best urban supernatural stories; we want disturbed original tales from every corner of the globe. We want stories set in the cities least used (from a literary sense). While we won't automatically reject an excellent story based in London, the same story set in Manchester will be more likely to get our attention.

We don't want light and fluffy tales. We don't want clichés. Give us a dark and scary, terrifyingly real world. A world where you need to pinch yourself to make sure you are awake and not actually living In Bad Dreams.

We are looking for original pieces of fiction, not previously published in any format.

Payment: $20 AUD plus a contributor copy

Word length: 2,000 - 5,000 words (longer stories will need to be discussed with us before submitting)

Reading period: begins on 1st October 2007.

Deadline: 1st March 2008. This is not a rolling submission project and so we will inform authors as to whether they are successful or not as soon as possible after this date.

To submit: Send your original, previously unpublished submission, in rich text format, as an attachment only. Put 'IBD2: Submission' followed by your story title in the subject line of your email. Send to submissions@eneitpress.com

In the body of your e-mail please include your mailing address, contact e-mail address and the word count of your story.


http://www.eneitpress.com/index.php?page=8

**************************************

IN THE TELLING
Reply to: gailashton@btinternet.com AND
suerichardson@sacredwrites.freeserve.co.uk
Deadline: March 31st 2008
---

'In the Telling', an anthology of new writing edited by Susan Richardson and Gail Ashton, to be published by Cinnamon Press, seeks poems that tell any kind of story - old and new, real and imagined, fairytales, myths, urban legends, about people, places, artefacts - in fresh ways.

Please email up to 4 previously unpublished poems, maximum 50 lines each, in a single attachment to BOTH editors:
gailashton@btinternet.com gailashton (at) btinternet.com and
suerichardson@sacredwrites.freeserve.co.uk suerichardson (at) sacredwrites.freeserve.co.uk by March 31st 2008.
Please write 'submission: In the Telling' in the subject line.

www.cinnamonpress.com




May
BEST NEW PARANORMAL ROMANCE 2007,
I am looking for stories from all branches of sf/f/h that also include a strong "romance" element or, conversely, romance that is fantastic, supernatural, paranormal, futuristic, etc. As far as I know, no one has ever attempted this type of "best of" anthology, so definitions are ambiguous. If in doubt, send it.

This is a reprint anthology so I am only reading material published in 2006 for it. E-published material is acceptable, but please -- no self-published fiction! I strongly suggest that authors contact their publishers/editors to send review copies of books and magazines (or PDFs of them) or to supply URLs or e-versions.

This is an exciting opportunity to showcase outstanding short fiction, but it is also a new project. Unlike other "year's bests" I don't yet have established relations with many publishers so I am hoping for cooperation from all sides.\