I'm on Fire

Flame Tree Publications have announced several new submission opportunities including After Sundown, an anthology of horror stories edited by Mark Morris and following on from his excellent New Fears series. As the anthology is mostly invite-only, there are just four spaces up for grabs. The submission period is 21st October to 3rd November. Ideal submission length is about 4000 words.

Well I know what I'll be doing this Halloween... Okay, maybe before, during and freaking-out just after.

Hopefully.

You can also submit to Adventures in Space, an anthology of Chinese and English Science Fiction stories. Pro-rate. 6,000 to 8,000 words. Submission period: 7th October to 20th October. Fire up those space ships.

If at first you don't succeed

At the beginning of the year, I compiled a list of markets I'd love to have stories accepted by but which I figured were impossible. That is so not the attitude. Nowhere is impossible, we just have to make sure we're good enough. The latter is a 2010 rule, as I kind of failed in 2009.

On the list of impossible places in 2009 were (and nope, no acceptances at time of going to press):

Weird Tales (subbed twice)
Sybil's Garage (didn't sub at all)
Fantasy Magazine (subbed eight times)
Fantasy and Science Fiction (subbed once)
Black Static (didn't sub)
Interzone (didn't sub)
Lone Star Stories (subbed four times, Eric closed the magazine so I wouldn't sub again - true story)

Beneath Ceaseless Skies (subbed four times - fabulous constructive criticism every time)
Clarkesworld (subbed 6 times - they make it too easy for us)
The New Yorker (didn't sub)
Asimov's (subbed twice)
Cemetery Dance (didn't sub)

Anyhow, I haven't yet compiled my list for next year but I do know that I will be adding at least one new market to my list of 'I so have to get a story accepted by...' And that is, Shock Totem. One: The first issue was fantastic. Two: They're pro pay. Three: I've grown rather fond of their forum.

Other newbie contenders for the list for 2010 are Brain Harvest and Lightspeed. Dream big little ones, dream big.

Blood-Spattered Blog Post

My flash story A Blood-Spattered Letter from Mr. Grim is today's story over at the wonderful, Everyday Weirdness making July 1st full of goodness. Those with weak dispositions or scary spouses should ignore the link.

And don't forget Necrotic Tissue and Apex Magazine reopen today for submissions. What did I say: July 1st full of goodness. I've had two stories burning a hole in my inbox all week.

Starting Saturday, I'm going to be adding a new regular blog feature - Somebody Else Saturday - where I intend to pimp other people instead of me, me, me. I've already composed this Saturday's post for the first victim person I want to promote. Maybe it's you, then again, maybe it isn't.

BlogEnvy

Some of you will have already guessed that I'm a BlogWhore TM. Well on one of my daily travels around the internet I discovered the blog of Brandon Bell. Go check it out. Oh, and try not to get BlogEnvy TM because it's one of the best looking blogs I've stumbled across.

I've broken my 'write one short story a month in 2009' rule and my wrists have been duly slapped. I've submitted Shiny Black Hearts to 'Weird Tales' and Dead Sharp Tail to the 'Dead Bait' anthology. I was working on something for 'Space Cops', but it began wandering further and further away from the guidelines so I've put it aside and declared I'm not going to write another short story during January. We'll see how long that lasts.

And Google fact of the day - someone found my blogspot blog by typing 'i hate cate .com'. I'm assuming they mean Miss. Blanchett and not me. Gulp!

You know that guy Bradley Sands, well he's...

Bust Down the Door and Eat all the Chickens, has an interesting anthology looking for submissions.

Here are the guidelines for: Bradley Sands is a **** (word removed due to the fact the blogger also writes for children).

Just because the anthology is entitled BRADLEY SANDS IS A **** does not mean that every story must feature Bradley Sands.

- Titling your story is futile as all stories will be called "Bradley Sands is a ****."
- The story need not be about the evisceration/ridicule/humiliation of Bradley Sands.
- The story should be bizarro/irreal/surreal. If you don't know what that means you should probably do some research.
- If I reject you, it doesn't mean I don't like you or your writing. It means the story wasn't correct for this anthology. No hard feelings.
- Send your story as an attachment. Include your authorial name and email address with the story. If this isn't included, you will not get a response. Sorry.

Here are some more guidelines:

BRADLEY SANDS IS A **** strives to be the most ill-conceived, poorly planned e-anthology out there. Please send your stories to me, Andersen Prunty, at andersenprunty@yahoo.com. Include "Bradley Sands is a ****" in the subject line. I will send you an email letting you know it has been received. I will kind of edit the anthology. Every story will be titled "Bradley Sands is a ****." I should come away from your submissions feeling that Bradley Sands is a ****. How you make me feel this way is entirely up to you.

Submissions should be 1000 words or less.

They should be bizarro, weird, funny, angry, or a combination.

You are welcome to submit them to me whenever but I will not begin reading them until September 1, 2008 (This is a lie. Please see above.) I will stop reading them December 1, 2008 (This is still true). In January 2009, the selected stories will appear as a free .pdf e-anthology published by BUST DOWN THE DOOR AND EAT ALL THE CHICKENS and co-edited by Bradley Sands. Readers will vote on the selected stories (I don't actually have any idea how we'll do this. Send me an email if you would like to help or have any ideas). The author of the winning story will be paid 100 American dollars and the much sought after title of Bradley Sands' arch-nemesis.

How can you not send something to this? :) And if I've left any **** words un-**** - oops!

I want a room in their hotel

So, I'm sure a few of you have received an email from the guys over at Hotel Guignol about your submission, but if you haven't or if you are still wondering if you should send a script/story for their consideration, check out their short horror film Olivia which is entered in the Master of the Macabre competition.

And make sure you keep watching beyond the credits...

Did you watch it? I bet you really, really, really want them to accept your story now. I know I do.

Add another one to the list...

Apex Digest have announced the below Halloween Contest.

This year’s theme is: ELECTION HORROR

Guidelines:Your story must incorporate the theme of ELECTION HORROR.
Word count maximum is 1,000.
Your story must have first rights available.
Submit your story to halloween@apexdigest.com.
Submissions are open NOW.
Deadline is 11:59 PM, October 15th, EST.

This year’s celebrity judge is noted SF author Jay Lake!

Winner receives payment of 10 cents per word and publication in Apex Digest Online.
Second place receives payment of 5 cents per word and publication in Apex Digest Online.
Third place receives a free Apex Book Company hardcover.
Fourth place receives a free Apex Book Company trade paperback.
Winning and second place story will be published on November 4th (election day).
Good luck and have fun writing some election horror!

Catastrophia

PS Publishing is looking for stories for it's Catastrophia anthology.

Here's a brief outline of the guidelines:

Edited by Allen Ashley

Guidelines
Catastrophia will be a collection of stories loosely themed around the theme of catastrophes, disasters and post-apocalyptic fiction. I will be looking for original, unpublished stories which deal in a modern manner with these classic SF- and Horror-based tropes.

Rights and other technical details
I’m looking only for original material – no reprints. I will be buying First British and First North American Rights for your story with a one-year moratorium subsequent to publication. I can offer 3p/6c a word up to a maximum payment of £100 / $200 per story. The book will be published by PS Publishing and the current expected pub date is summer 2010.

Submissions
.The submission period will open on 1st August 2008 and will last until 31st May 2009 or whenever the book is full. Unless specified otherwise, all submissions should be sent as disposable hard copies to:

Allen Ashley
Editor: Catastrophia
110d Marlborough Road
Bounds Green
London, N22 8NN
England

Please include an email address for reply or a stamped and addressed envelope. Response time will be three months or less.

Stories should ideally be in the range of 2000 to 6000 words although both longer and shorter tales will be considered.

From the Asylum News

For those of you who have submitted something to Things Aren't What They Seem, the anthology from the guys over at 'From the Asylum'. I just checked out their site and it seems things are delayed due to a death in the family. They should be back up and running in August.

Bite Me!

Received an email from Paige McCoy the editor of Necrotic Tissue yesterday to say that my story 'Halloween Watch' (still not loving that title), along with a few others, had survived all cuts and slices from over 60 submissions. I should add this is for their 100 word Bite Contest. Now it's a case of keeping my fingers crossed that I don't hear back until August 1st when they will be announcing the winner, runners up and those folks who have made it into the issue. If I hear back before it means I'm out...*

*Note to family & friends: Please don't buy any more nail varnish or manicure sets for me as I have no longer have nails on my fingers... Chocolate however is still approved.

Heir and a Spare

Five days into July... Well four really as I haven't started writing today (cough!) unless you count this post.

So where was I... Five days into July and I've already completed two short stories. Okay they are not technically or officially or by most peoples standards 'short stories' but they are 100% undeniably titchy.

That is, they are both 100 words, including the title, short.

I've sent the first Halloween Watch (the title stinks but ho-hum it was all I could think of) to Necrotic Tissue for their 100 Word Halloween 'Bite' Contest. The second, Bug Eyed, is waiting to be dispatched - hence the heir & a spare title - to Necrotic Tissue if the first submission is rejected. They normally have quick return times so I should be able to get two in within the submission period. And if, good heavens, the first is accepted I will send Bug Eyed to them in October when they reopen for submissions.

Bought myself a basket full of DVDs this morning. Can't wait to watch them all - Fido, 30 Days of Night, Stardust, The Brave One, Untraceable and Rendition. It feels as if I haven't seen a good movie in forever. Ooh, and it's the last Doctor Who tonight... That Tennant bloke and his Tardis better survive...

And that was June... Plus, one

Okay, here is my usual round up of what I did last month plus a wee extra. That is, it is my blog's 1st Anniversary - YAY! One year ago I was a very lonely blogger with no one to link to, no comments and not a clue what I was doing (okay, not everything has changed!). If you are very, very bored check out my first post and the hideous first attempt at a story after a few years away. I'll cringe with you.

Anyhow, let's resume with normal service. Here's what I did in June...

1. I sent out THE POISONED APPLE - Yay! . Current response figures are 0 full requests (gulp!), 2 partial requests (please), 7 rejections (3 form / 4 personal - one outstanding one that made my heart thump-thump-thump for about three hours despite the fact it was a rejection.)

2. Three Flash Short Stories completed.

Gasoline - Very short, a wee bit silly and not at all scary. Sent to Susurrus Magazine.

Selling Happiness - Already retired. Was very bored, couldn't sit still long enough to work on something long so sent a wee bit of 150 word silliness off to 'Alien Skin'. Got a 'cute' but 'no' response. Seriously the word cute consigned the thing to the dustbin. :)

Beneath a Hungry Sky - Sent to Northern Haunts.


3. Five Short Stories completed.

Through The Warped Eye of Death - has to be one of the swiftest returns on this. Written, rejected and accepted (by Sand) within the space of a month.

Sneakers on Asphalt - Probably officially a flash at 994, but I'm claiming it a short to make me appear more productive. Sent to the Terrifying Toys Competition. Fingers crossed and all that. Very surreal, hoping its scary.

Manipulating Paper Birds - I love this story. So there. Great rejection from 'The Black Garden'. Sent it along to 'Clarkesworld' - how brave am I?

Cold Coffee Cups & Curious Things - My attempt at scary without the surreal (okay there may be touches) - sent to Malpractice: An Anthology of Bedside Terror.

The Flat-Packed Golfer - Sent to the new 'golfing' related magazine (see previous post) Stymie.

4. And to the most important part. I've finally started work on my next MG novel 'Matchsticks, Moths & Machinations' with 4658 words completed so far. Expect a title change sometime this decade. I'm having so much fun writing it.

A Hole in One (groan!)

Here's an unusual new magazine for you. Erik Smetana is putting together a magazine with the excellent title, Stymie.

Now don't let the golf theme put you off, in fact let it inspire you. Here are the fiction guidelines:

We want fiction, we crave it. We want mystery, lit fic, noir, humor, spec fic, whatever -- just so long as it (your submission) somehow involves golf. We have a penchant for flash fiction and would prefer nothing over 3000 words.

You can read an interview with Erik over at A J Brown's blog.

Oh, and talking of things golf related, and to get you in the golfing mood (I think someone mixed lawn feed with my morning cereal,) check out Back Spin by the fantabulous Harlan Coben. Despite being a horror writer, my favourite author writes thrillers. I'm sure there's a rule against that somewhere, but rules were made to broken.

Oh, and as a side note: Erik designed the above 'The Poisoned Apple' banner... The one I had before was, well... Crap!

Querying, querying, querying...

What a day!

I finally got around to buying some ink for my printer so that I could send out 'The Poisoned Apple'. Two queries in and having turned over many pages in the Children's Writers & Artists Yearbook, I was feeling very despondent. The submission process stresses me out - I think it's the idea of all those brown envelopes that are going to boomerang back. Then I decided to pop over to the Verla Kay Children's board and check out some details on agents in the US... Had more fun over there.

I've sent out a few e-queries. Better yet, I have so far received two responses. The first one a 'doesn't fit their current needs' with a note that bolstered my confidence ie 'great title' (it doesn't take much). The second one was a request for a partial!!! Will send that on its way first thing tomorrow. All the way to New York - sigh!

If at first you don't succeed

Oh, I am so glad my first attempt at a story for The Black Garden anthology was rejected as it spurred me on to try again, and I really, really like my second attempt. Whether Christopher does is another matter of course.

Have just submitted Manipulating Paper Birds. Gulp!

Now, having deserved a well-earned rest, I'm off to watch the 3rd Planet of the Apes movie. I'm working my way through the box set - the 2nd movie was laughably atrocious, I hope this one fears better. Ooh, actually typing that makes me wonder if that's an omen for the above submission. Maybe it will be better luck third time around with that too... Have I ever mentioned that I'm an optimistic pessimist???

A short one.

The drawback to having over twenty flash / short stories in the submission process is it makes it darn difficult to find a market to send something to.

Through the Warped Eye of Death was rejected earlier in the week by The Black Garden - super fast, courteous, encouraging (It was an intriguing story...) reply.

Off to continue my hunt.

Through my warped eye.

I've finished my story Through the Warped Eye of Death and have submitted it to The Black Garden anthology. I spent half of yesterday trying to come up with a decent title. Okay, now for the really cheesy part. That is, what inspired me to write this... (Guidelines aside of course.) I hope I painted my story black enough.

Submitted

At last - it's only taken a couple of months - I have composed the query letter for 'The Poisoned Apple'. My first submission - to one of the top agencies, of course - should be hitting their desks right about now.

I found Query Shark's blog invaluable. After writing (one moment, I just need my fingers for counting) eight horror novels and one other childrens' novel, all of which are collecting dust and cluttering up my study, I guess I need all the help I can get.

Crawling out of the graveyard...

Woo-Hoo! According to a posting on the SF Reader Forum, the anthology Strange Worlds of Lunacy is 100% finished and should be available to buy on Amazon really, really soon. I'm so excited. I feel as if this is my first publication. I stopped submitting/writing short stories about 7 years ago to concentrate on writing novels and then about two/three years ago my writing came to an almost stop (with no more than 20,000 words a year, written in half-hearted dribs and drabs). All these years later I feel like a different (hopefully improved) writer and hence the feeling as if this is publication number one. Wow, how long winded can one person be to simply say - WOO-HOO, I'm excited.

In other news. Did a little tidying up of 'The Poisoned Apple' (for the uninitated - my children's novel) over the weekend and added about 2,500 words. All I need to do now is finish that darn synopsis, write the query letter and send it out there... Wherever there may be.

I have completed the first draft of my story, The Graveyard of Dead Vehicles, which I intend to submit to the Wolfsong Anthology. It needs the usual tidying up and the reference to 'blood' toned down. A note of what the publisher doesn't want from their submission guidelines: "Really bloody horror. Violence is ok if it is necessary for the plot, but splatter and gore isn’t." I need to find a way to reference the death of the MC's wolf without smearing it's blood all over the manuscript.

Submission Frenzy

Four days into the New Year - YAY for 2008 - and I have sent out 14 submissions so far... YAY, I have moved my butt...

Lucy Baxter & The Evil Emporium, which stumbled after one submission , and subsequent rejection, to one agent (what a wimp!) is presently riding in a little red post van or sitting in a large grey sack awaiting posting to nine different UK based agents. The synopsis has been updated - with a little fun added to the mix. What the heck the worse that can happen is they say no - not armageddon or puppies exploding on the high street (random thought - apologies)... It's not so bad really and I do, honest I do, love answering a switchboard...

My picture book should have arrived on the desks of four UK publishers this morning, and has also received its first rejection which was kinda cool as it was from a US agent with a fabulous reputation of replying within hours, if not minutes, so I played brave and emailed it off. Nice, courteous, short response in less than an hour. No messing about. Like that.