NEWS!!!
I’m excited to share the news that our forthcoming anthology Guilty Pleasures will include
Ramsey Campbell’s ‘The Doll’ from his 1987 collection ‘Scared Stiff – Tales of Sex and Death’!
Guidance:
While sex and horror often go hand in hand, I’m not looking for torture porn or extreme Gross-out graphic tales of gore or violence. Story comes first. My memory isn’t as good as it used to be, so make me remember it!
*I’m not interested in non-consensual encounters that portray rape or bullying or bigotry in a good light, nor anything involving animals** or children.
**Although furry tales (and fluffy tails!) are welcome!
And remember the golden rule, “If in doubt, pull out!”
Steve.
Email submissions to me: dillonstephen@hotmail.com with the subject Guilty Pleasures and your proof-read, ready-to-go drabble or double-drabble story attached. Submit up to 10 drabbles if you like as we’ll have plenty of room in this one.
I’m not fussy about formatting (Word is preferred. PDF at a push. No Google docs.) Please do use “Double-Quotation” marks “like this” rather than ‘singles’. And please spell check, word count, and grammar check.
Q&A
Will I be paid? As this is a fun drabble anthology, it’s a non-paying market although published authors will receive a complimentary eBook (pdf) and up to 5 download codes for Kindle or ePub for $1. Also see below.
When is the Deadline? I will close end of August, unless I get inundated, in which case I will post here and give a week’s advance notice – Steve
Will it be printed? Yes, through print-on-demand. You may order up to five print copies direct through me at contributor discount rate plus shipping.
Does size matter? Yes. Exactly 100 or 200 words please.
Can I be explicit? If you need to, although often subtlety and reticence are more effective. Overuse or repeated unsavoury terms or words will probably just leave a bad taste in my mouth.
Will you accept humour? Yes, if it’s funny… see below.
Can I submit more than one story? Yes, you can submit up to ten but quality counts, and please submit all in one email, thanks!
What type of horror do you prefer, Steve? Generally, I prefer supernatural and psychological (I’m a huge Ramsey Campbell fan), as well as creature features. Also stories within stories, stories with subtexts and several layers. I appreciate with drabbles (even doubles!) it’s going to be hard. Phnarr, phnarr 🙂 Clearly, I do like humour as well, even if at times it may be a bit puerile. Who needs to be sensible all the time?
What type of horror don’t you like, Steve? Generally I steer clear of body horror and gore, but if written well, I can stomach it. Remember, I’m a huge fan of Clive Barker as well 😀
June: Stay tuned for a new callout…
Stay tuned for an exciting new callout from Things In The Well! This will be a slight departure from our ‘normal’ (!) series of themed anthologies. Just a hint for now:
Things in the Well are planning to scare the pants off you!
– Steve Dillon, series editor, Things in the Well
http://ThingsInTheWell.com
June: Trickster’s Treats #3 – 7 Deadly Sins
SUBMISSIONS CLOSED!
- Pride (A difficult one because there are antithetical meanings – some good, some harmful. Conceitedness; over-inflated self of self-worth; excessive self-admiration, vanity, self-love, etc. could all be seen as negative forms of pride.)
- Greed (Any kind of greed apart from gluttony – see below. Selfishness, acquisitiveness, pursuit of money, power, objects, often at the expense of others, etc.)
- Gluttony (A special kind of greed connected with the consuming of food, etc. Habitual or temporary overindulgence, over-consumption, consuming more than our fair share, etc.)
- Lust (Strong sexual desire for someone (or something like money, power, love, overwhelming desire or cravings, etc. Note it could be construed as a positive urge, e.g. for freedom, validation, etc. but this might still lead to destructive actions due to its overwhelming nature)
- Envy (Jealousy, grudging admiration for another, resentful longing to possess something, someone, or some quality or condition belonging to another, etc.)
- Wrath (Extreme or vindictive anger; vengeful punishment; revenge; judgment; ‘eye for an eye’, etc.)
- Sloth (Laziness, lack of care, lethargy, not bothering to do what is required, sluggishness, inaction or inactivity due to emotional state, e.g. lack of self-worth could also fall into this category)
Note: The deadline is 7th July 2019 and has now passed.
Editing Team:
Submissions Editors:
Our wonderful volunteer submissions/assistant editors will each be reading and shortlisting (for their sins!)…
- Tracie McBride
- Rebecca Fraser
- Noel Osualdini
- William Marchese
- Claire Fitzpatrick
- Kev Harrison
- Samson Stormcrow Hayes
We will also be applying an ‘anonymity process’ so the submissions editors won’t know whose story they’re reading.
Cover Artist:
Submission Details (Closed):
- Submissions must be 700 words (maximum, preferably exactly!)
- Try to stick to ONE of the above themes, not multiple. We need to know which category it fits best, and it will only be submitted to one ‘sin’ – Thanks.
- Avoid surprise endings if the category will give that away, as it’s no longer a surprise then!
- No support for bigotry or prejudice… of any kind. It’s okay if your characters are racist, homophobic, sexist, ageist, sizeist, or any other collective noun, but do make sure the story (and by implication, the author!) doesn’t support these bigoted, harmful views.
- EMAIL (Please don’t PM or submit via social media) your completed, proof-read story
- It can be simply formatted (attached as RTF or Word doc/docx) – use “double quotes” please for speech.
- Email to me initially at:- DillonStephen@hotmail.com and I will forward to the submissions editor for that ‘sin’.
- Please don’t include your name or other details in the attached story, but include these in the body of the email.
- Use the subject ‘Seven Deadly Sins – ‘ and the sin of your choice (pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, or sloth). Include in the subject the length of your story as in this example: “Seven Deadly Sins – Pride, 700”
- The deadline for this callout is 7th July, 2019.
- At that point if there are slots remaining in any category, we will extend the callout.
- There is no payment for your stories, so we are considering them donations.
- Contributors will receive a digital PDF copy.
- Print copies will be available to buy from Amazon.
- Profits will go to charity: water
- Please don’t include your name or personal details in the story submission, but feel free to include these in your email, thanks.
- Please help us out by sharing the link to this page and/or posts you see on FaceBook – where charity:water is concerned, every drop counts! Thanks.
