Deep Cuts Antho: Submission Guidelines

I saw this call for submissions on one of my loops and thought I'd share. Sounds like fun! Enjoy...

Deep Cuts
Submission Guidelines
Editors: E.S. Magill, Angel Leigh McCoy, and Chris Marrs

Deep Cuts: (1) songs on an album that do not get commercial air time.
(2) great songs that get overshadowed by an album’s hits.

Like the "deep cuts" on an album, there are good stories out there,
stories worth digging up and having another go at. In honor of Women
in Horror Month, we invite you to submit an original story and write a
recommendation for a “deep cut” horror story written by a woman
writer.

Here’s what we mean by “recommendation”: each submitter is asked to
write up to 150 words honoring a short story by a female horror
writer, telling why the story means so much to you and where it was
published. If your story is chosen, this short piece will be included
in the anthology.

We didn’t what Deep Cuts to be just a reprint anthology. So we came up
with the concept of combining new stories, recommendations, and select
reprints of some great horror stories by women writers.

This will be a horror anthology. We do not want splatterpunk, urban
fantasy, or supernatural romance (even though we do like these
subgenres). We will choose stories that do or don't contain
supernatural elements, but all the stories we choose will obviously
have been written with the intent to make the reader uneasy with the
lights off.

Yes, we’re honoring women writers but anyone can submit, man or woman,
so long as you’re over 18.

OPEN: June 1, 2012
DEADLINE: August 31, 2012
THEME: Horror
PAY: $0.05/word and royalty split

IMPORTANT:
• Include: your own short story submission and a cover letter with
your name, address, and email address through our automated system.
(See below.)
• Include: a 150-word (max) statement/recommendation honoring a short
horror story written by a woman that moved you or influenced your own
writing. We will take this statement into consideration when gauging
whether your story will fit in our anthology. Make it literary. We’re
getting some beautifully written recommendations.
• Name your file so that it makes sense. An impressive filename for a
fiction submission is: (lastname)-(word from title).RTF [like this:
mccoy-darkness.rtf]
• Story word count: 1000 – 5000 (Query for longer works).
• Use standard manuscript formatting.
• No simultaneous submissions to other publishers.
• No multiple submissions. We want to see only your one best story.
• Story must be horror.
• Gore, sex, and adult language welcome, but make sure it improves the story.
• Use good grammar, double-check the punctuation, and do a
spell-check. We prefer Chicago Manual of Style rules, and we will
reject a story if it’s a mess, even if it’s an amazing story.
• We will accept reprints. Make double sure the rights have reverted
to you. By submitting it to us, you affirm that the story is your work
and that it is free from any commitments that will conflict with the
rights you give us.
• We reserve the right to change these guidelines without notice.

RIGHTS: With this payment, we’re buying the worldwide rights
(exclusive for two years) to publish your story in print, audio, and
digital formats, and to use portions of it and your name to market the
anthology. You will be asked to sign a contract.
PUBLICATION GOAL: February 2013
Response Time: We will respond within 90 days after the final deadline.

Direct any questions you have to deepcuts111@...
.
Submit your entry via our automated system at
http://deepcuts.submishmash.com/submit/

Warning: Cuts May Be Deeper Than They Appear

QueryTracker.net: Conquering the Cliche

QueryTracker.net: Conquering the Cliche: Whether a plotter or a pantser, a novice or a pro, every writer will eventually do the same exact thing—and that's stare at the screen, fingers poised over keyboard, planning a character's next move.

How you handle your character's next move will set you apart from the rest of the writing masses. Genre matters not; length matters not. What matters is whether or not that next move is a cliché.

 

Continue reading this article at QueryTracker.net: Conquering the Cliche.

 

 

BLOOD RUSH: Book Two of the Demimonde

The second installment to my series is complete and safely in the hands of the editor.

Second books are like middle children. Of course we want them; we are so much in love with our first-borns that we are eager to spawn another creation of wonder. But, like middle children, second books have a personality of their own. They have different moods, different ideas about their destinies. We find out quickly enough that they are not clones of their older siblings—they are unique individuals.

My first book--Bleeding Hearts--was born in a moment of passion, an urge to write, to create, to express. My second book was planned, a calculated decision to continue the story and round out the protagonist’s world. Of course, I didn’t expect the story to take on a mind of its own.

It’s a pleasant surprise, actually. While writing the first book, I developed as a writer. There are so many fantastic resources out there for writers and one day I’ll have to make a list of the library I’ve amassed; not only books, but blogs and websites, communities, and on-line workshops. But it was passion that drove the writing.

Coming up on the sequel, I had a clearer idea of plot set-up, structure, character development—in short, the technical aspects of the novel. I labored over the first chapter, the inciting incident, the three-act story arc, the first page, the first ten lines. And slowly it dawned on me—while I was ensuring myself no major revisions would be necessary, passion wasn’t first and foremost my driving force. This book was officially (gasp!) work.

Middle children shouldn’t be labeled as laborious. When I was doing final edits last month, I needed to understand my novel for the individual story it is, not for the expectations I’d placed upon it. So with this in mind, I returned to my first job as a writer—which is a reader—and read it straight through without stopping to edit. (Difficult task indeed.)

By stepping back and looking through the eyes of a reader, I saw the story for what it truly was—saw the themes, the messages, the journey of the characters and the conflicts that filled their lives. I reacquainted myself with them, remembered who they were and why I wanted to bring them to life. And during the reading, the spark of passion ignited, unfurled, and reminded me how much fun it is to be a writer.

It renewed me.

I ran the draft through a bit of a test—pulled out the Writer’s Digest Yearbook edition of Novel Writing and “workshopped” a few of the articles, making notes and comparisons. I opened Donald Maass' Writing the Breakthrough Novel Workbook and read through several exercises. I combined my eagerness to write with the skills I've learned and hope to continue creating stories that will captivate readers.

Coupled with my rediscovered passion, I am ready to jump back in and continue the series with the same eagerness that I felt while writing the first book. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have a little incentive—now that I finished the second, I can finally, guiltlessly, write the third.

Let’s just take life one WIP at a time.