Announcing our new theme, Strange Love! Strange Love will be published as a book for the iPad and Kindle. We will begin accepting submissions for Strange Love on October 30th.
Theme
Love is strange. Discuss.
The theme is open to interpretation, but note that we tend to prefer sarcasm over sap. Pieces that are quirky, dark, witty, or cringe-worthy generally get our attention.
As for what counts as “love,” anything that involves connection, passion, or obsession works well. A woman’s love for gambling -- sure. A cat’s love for the ‘nip -- fine. As for what counts as “strange,” that’s up to you.
R-rated stories are fine, but if you start crossing over into X-rated territory, we’ll probably ask for your characters to keep it in their pants.
We’ve published a sample story excerpt to get you in the mood.
Deadline
We hate waiting for word on a story, so we’re trying something new with Strange Love, a type of rolling submissions.
When you submit, you’ll get one of these responses within three weeks:
1. Direct Acceptance. Like love, sometimes you just know. If this happens, we’ll go directly into the editing process. If you’re amenable, we may even feature an excerpt on our blog to help people see what we’re looking for.
2. The opposite of acceptance. Yep, it starts with an “R”, and it happens to everyone. You can always try again.
3. Held until deadline. We anticipate this response for many pieces, and it means we’ll score them in our regular selection process in January.
We will accept submissions through January 5th, 2011.
Compensation
The prize for winning story submissions will be determined by the first six months’ sales. There will be a token advance of $10. We never charge a submission, review, or publication fee for contributors. Ever.
Length and Genre
Works in any genre are eligible, but fair warning that fiction and poetry tend to score the best in our reviews. Personal remembrances must be exceptional to make it in.
* Submissions may be up to 3000 words
* Shorter works are encouraged
* Flash fiction and poetry will absolutely be considered
Format and Submission
Submit pieces to submissions@softcopypublishing.com. Include the words “strange love” in the subject line. Submissions should be attached to the email as a .txt, .doc or .docx. Please avoid sending .rtf files. Name your file with words in the title plus your last name. Please don’t send us files named “strangelove.doc” or “softcopy.doc”. It makes it hard to tell them apart. ;) Please use a 12 pt font, double-space, and include page numbers. Don’t include your name on any page but the first, as we black out author’s names for our review process.
On the first page, please include:
* Author’s Name
* Email Address
* Postal Address
* Title
* Genre (Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction, Poetry)
* Word Count
* How you learned about us
You may submit up to two pieces simultaneously.
Selection
Inclusion in the collection is at the discretion of SoftCopy. Submission does not guarantee inclusion. Some pieces may be solicited by invitation.
Rights
Works should be original and previously unpublished. By submitting, contributors agree to grant SoftCopy Publishing:
1. First digital publication rights and exclusive digital publication rights for a period of six months from the publication date of the anthology
2. Non-exclusive digital publication rights thereafter
You retain the copyright to your work.
More information here.
This blog is no longer updated. Please instead visit Writers For Diversity for new opportunities for women/ LGBT writers and writers of color. Thank you.
