A Small Change of Plans

Though I have already started working on Incident at a Japanese Inn, I was approached by anthologist and editor Fred Patten to consider submitting to his upcoming anthology.

The official release for submissions follows:

FurPlanet Productions is announcing its next original short story anthology: 

Exploring New Places; an anthology of furry stories about going someplace new. That journey can be anything, from a comedy about someone going on a packaged vacation to an exotic resort where everything goes wrong, or a romance where they find Mr. or Ms. Right, to a horror story about an expedition to explore a new planet, or a historic drama about a sailing ship blown off course in a hurricane to an unknown continent. 

Length: 4,000 to 20,000 words. Lesser will be accepted. Longer … let’s discuss it. 

Opening: March 1 st , 2018. Deadline: May 31 st , 2018. To be published at Anthrocon 2018. 

Rating: G to PG. Keep it for all ages, for a family audience. 

No explicit erotica, but tasteful romance of any orientation is okay. Authors who want to contribute are urged to check with me (Fred Patten) first to make sure that their story ideas are not too close to others which are being submitted. Multiple submissions by an author will be considered, but simultaneous submission of a story to different anthologies will not be. 

Payment:  ½¢ per word upon publication and a contributor’s copy of Exploring New Places, a $19.95 anthology.  Contributors may buy additional copies at a 30% discount. 

Send submissions to fredpatten AT earthlink.net.

Now let me make it very clear. If Fred Patten asks me for a story, I'm going to do my best to make sure he's going to get a story.

I'm working on a short story I've entitled, In Search of the Creators and will reveal more about it in a future blog post.

Graphic courtesy of Max Pixel

Note: My completing the story does NOT imply automatic acceptance into the anthology. The divine right of editors outweighs the divine right of kings. If not accepted, the story will be released on my Wattpad site (and you should visit that link for some free stories from yours truly anyway).

The Shrine War Gets Some Good News

When you submit a short story to an anthology, the editor puts in in one of four categories.

1. The rejected pile are those stories that do not stand a chance to be considered. It does not necessarily mean the writing is bad. It could also mean the story's theme or subject matter is not in harmony with the theme or subject matter of the anthology.
2. The slush pile are those stories that are passable, but will only be considered if additional stories are needed to pad out the anthology. Have you ever read an anthology and came across a story that seemed an odd fit and you wondered how in the world it got in there? It was probably padding from the slush pile.
3. The finalist pile is proof that your story was well received and fits the theme and subject matter of the anthology, but the editor is holding out  for a final acceptance just in case a better story comes along.
4. The accepted pile is just that. Stories that will certainly be going into the anthology and a check is forthcoming.

Editor Fred Patten sent me an email informing me that The Shrine War is on the finalist pile and I am very content.

Wish me luck. I probably will find out mid-November if my labor of love gets moved to the accepted pile or the rejected pile. Either way, it was a great story to write and I don't regret an iota the time and research I put into the tale,

My Advice to Writers: 4theLuv Anthology Submission

Today I received a general invitation to submit to an anthology.

They wanted a 1,000 to 3,000 word story on the theme of Halloween, but until I went to their website, they did not say this was a 4theLuv market.

4theLuv means you get paid nothing. De nada.

But at least, you would be able to get a contributor's copy, right?

Nope. You had to buy it after it came out.

So let me get this straight. They want a part of my life just for the sheer joy of having my piece buried in an anthology that I have no assurance will be marketed well so at the very least I can get market exposure?

When I started out as a writer, I wrote for several anthologies like that and I was paid nothing. No problem. They stated that bluntly in their submission guidelines. They did not even send me a contributor's copy.

And where are those anthologies today? Well, because they were marketed poorly (actually they weren't marketed at all), they have dropped off the radar. I didn't even get market exposure for my work.

My advice is to take a hard look at any anthology you submit to. I'm not going to say 4theLuv markets are intrinsically bad, but just be fully aware of what you are getting.

Nothing.

Addendum: I have sent reprints for anthologies put together for charitable reasons. Speaking only for myself, I will submit without problem to a 4theLuv charitable market if I know the editor, support the charity, and know for a fact the monies will be ethically distributed.