Between October 15th and December 15th we will be accepting short story submissions for the fiction anthology "Cities of Crystal and Bone", edited by Christiana Ellis (Space Casey, Nina Kimberly the Merciless), Phil Rossi (Crescent, Notes from the Vault) and Will Ross (One Eighteen: Migration, Barfly).
This podcast and the accompanying self published book will be a collection of weird fiction tales of strange worlds and fantastic settings.
This is a paying market, with rates of 50.00USD for selected stories.
Submission Guideline (the Musts)
- Submissions should be 1000 (minimum) to 6000 words (maximum) and must be in plain text format.
- Submissions must tell a story, though there is some flexibility, (a history, if it told a fascinating story in and of it's self would be an example of this.) A maximum of two stories per author may be submitted, if both are acceptable the stronger piece would be the one selected.
- Submitters must agree to their work being podcasted and published in the self published "Cities of Crystal and Bone" book to be made available for sale along with the podcast.
- Due to copyright issues we cannot accept "fan fiction" style stories in other author's worlds. Homages are fine, but for example we'd prefer a story in the style of the Cthulhu mythos, to one that actually takes place inside it.
- Poetry is acceptable, as long as it follows the above guidelines.
Selection Criteria (the Shoulds)
Stories can be in any genre, but a fantastic or alien setting, either real or imagined, should be critical to the story in some way. A detective story on an alien planet, or a romance in a dark Lovecraftian dream city would both be acceptable, but we would prefer that the world be more than just a simple set piece for a traditional story. Though the anthology is unrated, we are most likely to choose stories between the G and R ratings. The further past PG-13 the content is, the more solid the story will need to be to justify it. IE though you MAY submit "Zombie Sex Bot Planet", those Zombie Sex Bots had better be damned compelling!We would prefer that these worlds be either a completely new creation of the author, or at the least a fresh or exciting take on an existing style of world. Humanoid aliens with forehead wrinkles, elves, dwarves, and dragons are all welcome, but you'll get extra points for things only in your imagination.
If we have to decide between two pieces that are of essentially the same quality in terms of story, originality and vividness of description will tip the scales. That being said, story is still king. A great location is nothing without an interesting story. Selected authors will be notified by December 31st, 2008.
How to Submit
Send your submission to citiesofcrystalandbone@gmail.com in the following format.
Example:
(Subject Line) - The Name of Your Story
Body of the message
Name
Penname (if any)
Address (need for contract purposes.)
Dear Sir or Madam,
I'm submitting my story entitled "Such and Such" for consideration. It has been previously printed in "such and such" (if any). Thank you for your kind consideration.
So and so
-And then the complete text of your story.
